In this poem the speaker starts living at the flat which a man named Mr Bleaney used to live at. The speaker compares his own life to what he'd imagine Mr Bleaney's life was like.Firstly, the name 'Bleaney' could have the connotations of bleak, dreary and mean. This could suggest that this is what Mr Bleaney was like as a person, but I reckon more likely the speaker is suggesting that Mr Bleaney's and maybe his own life is bleak, dreary and mean.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker describes Mr Bleaney to be very separate from himself, using words such as "him" and "he" as opposed to 'us'. It being Mr Bleaney's "room" suggests from the beginning of the poem that the flat is very small and basic. Mr Bleaney "stayed the whole time he was the Bodies", him just "staying" could suggest that he didn't really make the flat a home, the word stayed makes it sound more like he was a guest, instead of saying he lived there. The speaker could be suggesting that although physically Mr Bleaney was alive, he didn't really have a life. Mr Bleaney working at the "Bodies" instantly made me think of dead bodies. The speaker may be again suggesting how little of a life Mr Bleaney had. The speaker said that "they moved" Mr Bleaney from the flat, this suggests that if they hadn't done, he would have lived there forever, suggesting that he's not changing or developing as a person, he's simply existing.
In the flat, there were "flowered curtains, thin and frayed", suggesting they're cheap, old and damaged, this could perhaps be metaphorical for Mr Bleaney's life. The curtains "fall to within five inches of the sill", showing they don't fit the window properly, this could be symbolic for how nothing in Mr Bleaney's life is right. The window only "shows a strip of building land", suggesting that the room has little natural light and that Mr Bleaney may be isolated from the outside world. The neighbour says that 'Mr Bleaney too my bit of garden properly in hand' however, it was still "tussocky, littered", suggesting that Mr Bleaney may have been caring, but it also makes the reader question the state of the garden prior to Mr Bleaney looking after it, if his neighbour says he looked after it well. It could suggest that the surrounding area in which Mr Bleaney lived was fairly neglected. In Mr Bleaney's room there was a "bed, upright chair, sixty watt bulb, no hook behind the door, no room for books or bags", this reinforces how basic and dull the room is, this could also be symbolic for Mr Bleaney's life and personality. The only possessions Mr Bleaney has are the bare minimum. The room has the description of what I can imagine a prison cell would be like, this could reinforce the idea of how the narrator and maybe Mr Bleaney felt isolated and lonely when living there.
Despite having imagined how Mr Bleaney lived in the room, the narrator agrees to live there afterwards, saying "I'll take it". I can imagine the narrator would have this in a disappointed tone, he's disappointed that that's his only option. The narrator laid where "Mr Bleaney lay", suggesting that his life is becoming like Mr Bleaney's. When laying there on the bed, the narrator is probably questioning life and wondering if that is all there is to his life. Perhaps he feels isolated. The narrator says that he "knows (Mr Bleaney's) habits", "what time he came down, his preference for sauce to gravy, why he kept on plugging at the four aways", but how can he know Mr Bleaney's habits when he'd never met him? Perhaps he knew because they shared the same flat but at different times and maybe since living there, the narrator has the same habits. Mr Bleaney spent "Christmas at his sister's house in Stoke", suggesting that he was lonely as he did the same thing every year, probably not having any other offers.
After the narrator describing what he thinks Mr Bleaney's life was like, he begins to wonder how Mr Bleaney felt about his life, was he happy? This question suggests that the narrator is unhappy living where he is, and wonders how anyone could possibly enjoy living like that. The narrator "stood and watched the frigid wind tousling the clouds", suggesting that inside his flat he felt very isolated from the world. When looking at the sky, people often reflect on life and this may be what the narrator was doing. The bed which the narrator had was "fusty", this could also be metaphorical for how the narrator feels very isolated and claustrophobic in his flat, it's like he needs an escape. The narrator was "telling himself that this was home, and grinned, and shivered", this suggests that he really doesn't feel at home, the grinning creates an image of him feeling uncomfortable but pretending to be happy.
Like many other Larkin poems, the ending of this poem is much more philosophical and less concrete than the rest of the poem. The narrator is scared of that "how we live measure our own nature", suggesting that what we do in our lives defines us as a person, therefore the narrator and Mr Bleaney who seem to have done very little in their lives, it could be said that they themselves are nothing. The narrator seems to be disappointed with how "at his age having no more to show than one hired box", the "hired box" is referring to his flat, but also could refer to a coffin, all that will happen in his life is that he'll die. Life and character being defined by possessions links to Larkin's poem 'Home Is So Sad' and Abse's poem 'Last Vist to 198 Cathedral Road'. The idea of not really having anything to show for in life is also seen in Larkin's poems, 'Dockery and Son', 'Self's the Man' and 'Send No Money'. The room made the narrator feel as though "he warranted no better", suggesting that the nothingness of the room has made him realise the nothingness of his life, he feels disappointed with how little he has accomplished and feels like he hasn't tried hard enough in life so how could he expect more from life? This made me think of the phrase about how you reap what you sow in life.
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