General Introduction
Mr. Bleaney is the defining work of Phillip Larkin. The poem first appeared in 1955 in The Listener. It was later included in Larkin's own collection known as The Whitsun Weddings. The poem features the lifestyle of a lonely person referred to as Mr. Bleaney. One thing to note here is Larkin had already used the name in his first novel Jill. But it is difficult to relate the two because Larkin has not provided enough details. What do we know, for sure, is the outcome of modernity hidden in Mr. Bleaney, the person as well as the poem.
PS: The speaker is not Mr. Bleaney
Development of Situation
The poem opens upon the landlady, introducing the speaker to the previous occupant of the room, Mr. Bleaney. She tells us that Mr. Bleaney lived there for a serious amount of time who worked in a car factory "The Bodies". The room is thin and shabby. The scene from the window is filled with litter and grass clumps. She asserts that Mr. Bleaney "improved" her garden.
The room has many shortcomings like there is no hook to lock the door, a chair with a straight back, a poorly lit lightbulb and no space to fit in the speaker's luggage. The speaker decides to rent the room and to adopt every habit of Mr. Bleaney.
The addressor wonders if Mr. Bleaney was fearful of the life of modern people. The poet gets the notion from the small room that it was all Mr. Bleaney had learned in his entire life.
Themes
The only theme this poem carries is the loneliness of modern life. It is well said that the big the city, the more lonely you are. The poet reflects on the small and untidy room where Mr. Bleaney used to live. The small room is his storyteller of his habits which may only include his work in the car manufacturing factory, smocking while laying in bed and listening to the radio. To simply put, Mr. Bleaney lived a solitary and dull life characterized by a lack of ambition and change. But the most disturbing thing for the addressor is his following of the Bleaney's ways. But it is not limited to the poet itself, we ourselves have fallen a victim to the limitations observed by Mr. Bleaney. Due to lack of trust, we are limiting our scope of intimacy only to ourselves and the confinement of the new generation to the closed walls of our home will render them useless not only for themselves but also for their society.
Figurative Analysis
The poem contains a number of literary devices. It is filled with different symbols. The landlady's garden has been used as a symbol of failure and wasted potential of humanity. The symbol of bed, as suggested by the poet, is a symbol of the consequences of the mistakes previously mentioned. The poem also comes bundled with irony. Irony occurs when the landlady is referring to her garden's good condition witch is actually an indicator of the dryness inside it.
Setting and Imagery
The poem takes place in the room of Mr. Bleaney. The possible period of this poem is the 50s. The images used in this poem help the readers capture the dingy picture of Mr. Bleaney's room. The images may include like, "Flowered curtains, thin and frayed", "a strip of building land", "Stuffing my ears with cotton-wool", "frigid wind" and "Tousling the clouds".
Structural Analysis
This poem is made of twenty-eight lines. Which are further divided into seven stanzas of four lines each, thus forming seven quatrains. The rhyme scheme of this verse is ABAB which is repeated in each stanza. The poem follows the rhythmic pattern of iambic pentameter. The diction used in this poem is colloquial.
Conclusion
Mr. Bleaney is Larkin's masterpiece which showcases our own dreary picture of unambitiousness and confinement in our modern time.
how we live measures our own nature
