Mr Bleaney - Philip Larkin

“‘This was Mr Bleaney’s room.’”

“Was” - Past tense and possession in the landlady’s dialogue suggests a past connection with Mr Bleaney.

“He stayed the whole time”

Time reference - possibly a weak attempt to persuade the prospective lodger.

“he was at the Bodies”

“Bodies” is a colloquialism for a car manufacturing plant but in this context it has connotations of death.

“Flowered curtains, thin and frayed”

Metaphor for inhabitant’s life. A life of missed opportunities and one which falls short of expectations. The repeated f sound (fricatives) create a soft, fading effect that reflects the worn-out, neglected condition of the room and, by extension, Mr Bleaney’s.

“Upright chair”

Metaphor for inhabitant’s life. Lack of comfort.

“Sixty-watt bulb”

Metaphor for inhabitant’s life. Dark imagery which emphasises the box like room (coffin allusion) and the fading light of Mr Bleaney’s.

“No hook”

Metaphor for inhabitant’s life. Impermanent and temporary.

Enjambment

The speaker is trying to cut off the only bit of life he can hear - he craves isolation.

“plugging at the four aways”

Allusion to the football pools. Illustrates Bleaney’s hopeless persistence in potentially trying to better his life.

“Flowered… frayed… fall”, “Frinton folk”, “frigid wind… fusty bed”

Fricatives - reinforce the poems bleak, quiet, and monotonous atmosphere.