Philip Larkin is one of my favourite poets, so I was surprised, when My Dad reminded me of his very famous poem from his Whitsun Wedding Collection, An Arundel Tomb, that I did not think of it when I visited there yesterday. I was obviously just so taken with the town and the Castle that I had no room for other thoughts. Nevertheless, here is Larkin, with his jaded tones, describing how our human intentions always fail at the last hurdle:
An Arundel Tomb
Side by side, their faces blurred,
The earl and countess lie in stone,
Their proper habits vaguely shown
As jointed armour, stiffened pleat,
And that faint hint of the absurd -
The little dogs under their feet.
Such plainness of the pre-baroque
Hardly involves the eye, until
It meets his left-hand gauntlet, still
Clasped empty in the other; and
One sees, with a sharp tender shock,
His hand withdrawn, holding her hand.
They would not think to lie so long.
Such faithfulness in effigy
Was just a detail friends would see:
A sculptor's sweet commissioned grace
Thrown off in helping to prolong
The Latin names around the base.
They would not guess how early in
Their supine stationary voyage
The air would change to soundless damage,
Turn the old tenantry away;
How soon succeeding eyes begin
To look, not read. Rigidly, they
Persisted, linked, through lengths and breadths
Of time. Snow fell, undated. Light
Each summer thronged the glass. A bright
Litter of birdcalls strewed the same
Bone-riddled ground. And up the paths
The endless altered people came,
Washing at their identity.
Now, helpless in the hollow of
An unarmorial age, a trough
Of smoke in slow suspended skeins
Above their scrap of history,
Only an attitude remains:
Time has transfigured them into
Untruth. The stone fidelity
They hardly meant has come to be
Their final blazon, and to prove
Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.
Our human intentions did not fail yesterday, we had a great day. Mother Nature decided once again to grant us a day of glorious sunshine, I believe we're having an Indian summer, however, I think I'm just going to call it summer seeing as the months of May to August were pretty poor. Coincidentally, as my husband and I were waiting at the traffic island to cross the road, we saw my mother's car, her driving, and my sister and her boyfriend as passengers. We welcomed the company and spent the afternoon strolling through the castle and the grounds and then later through the town.
The Castle is absolutely gorgeous: As a Briton I think we take castles and stately homes for granted, but even with hundreds of historical based school outings under my belt, i was still in awe of the stately rooms. The Duchess of Norfolk and her family still live in the castle for some of the year! It it's very reminiscent of Hogwarts, I felt envious as I reached the never-ending library, my imagination would have run riot if I had my hands on it as child. The gardens were beautiful, the Rose Garden in particular had the scent of summer with fuchsia pink roses still in bloom.
As you know I am a devout foodie and Arundel turned out to be quite a find in culinary terms. I found a fantastic deli, that had an abundance of cheeses, meats and wines. As it is National Cheese Week (yes, it is strange I know that) husband and I opted for some very pungent Stinking Bishop and some Smoked Goodwood, with fennel crackers from The Fine Cheese Co. There was also a butchers next door but sadly that was shut, I will return however, and recommend a trip to Arundel for anyone looking for somewhere with character and not a Burger King in sight!
Today being Sunday I have decided to cook a roast dinner, this week we will be having pork and crackling, homemade apple sauce and of course crispy roast potatoes and gravy. Then we'll settle down, tipsy on Riesling and eat our cheese with promises of going to the gym tomorrow. Hope you are having a great weekend
Adele xxx
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