“Mr Bleaney” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Mr Bleaney”

“Mr Bleaney” Summary

“Mr Bleaney” Themes

• 

  The Dangers of Mediocrity

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-28

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Mr Bleaney”

• Lines 1-3

  ‘This was Mr ...
  ... They moved him.’

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-8

  Flowered curtains, thin ...
  ... bulb, no hook

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 8-10

  Bed, upright chair, ...
  ... ‘I’ll take it.’

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-14

  So it happens ...
  ... on to buy.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-17

  I know his ...
  ... four aways —

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-20

  Likewise their yearly ...
  ... house in Stoke.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  But if he ...
  ... off the dread

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  That how we ...
  ... I don’t know.

  

  

  

  

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“Mr Bleaney” Symbols

• 

  Garden

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 5-7: “Whose window shows a strip of building land, / Tussocky, littered. ‘Mr Bleaney took / My bit of garden properly in hand.’”
• 

  Bed

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 10-11: “So it happens that I lie / Where Mr Bleaney lay”
  • Lines 22-23: “lay on the fusty bed / Telling himself that this was home”

“Mr Bleaney” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Irony

  

  

  

  

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  Where irony appears in the poem:

  • Lines 5-7: “Whose window shows a strip of building land, / Tussocky, littered. ‘Mr Bleaney took / My bit of garden properly in hand.’”
  • Lines 8-10: “Bed, upright chair, sixty-watt bulb, no hook / Behind the door, no room for books or bags — / ‘I’ll take it.’”
  • Line 23: “Telling himself that this was home”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 8: “no”
  • Line 9: “no”
  • Line 15: “know,” “what time he came down,”
  • Lines 16-17: “why / He kept on plugging at the four aways —”
  • Lines 21-24: “stood and watched the frigid wind / Tousling the clouds, lay on the fusty bed / Telling himself that this was home, and grinned, / And shivered,”
  • Line 26: “no”
  • Line 28: “no,” “know”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “Flowered,” “frayed”
  • Line 4: “Fall,” “five”
  • Line 8: “Bed,” “bulb”
  • Line 9: “Behind,” “books,” “bags”
  • Line 10: “lie”
  • Line 11: “lay,” “stub”
  • Line 12: “same saucer-souvenir”
  • Line 18: “frame,” “Frinton folk”
  • Line 20: “sister’s,” “Stoke”
  • Line 21: “watched,” “wind”
  • Line 24: “shivered,” “shaking”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “curtains,” “thin”
  • Line 4: “within,” “inches,” “sill”
  • Line 5: “window,” “strip,” “building”
  • Line 6: “littered”
  • Line 21: “frigid wind”
  • Line 22: “Tousling,” “clouds”
  • Line 23: “grinned”
  • Line 24: “shivered”
  • Line 26: “no,” “show”
  • Line 28: “no,” “don’t know”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “room. He”
  • Line 2: “Bodies, till”
  • Line 3: “him.’ Flowered,” “curtains, thin”
  • Line 6: “Tussocky, littered. ‘Mr”
  • Line 8: “Bed, upright chair, sixty-watt bulb, no”
  • Line 9: “door, no”
  • Line 10: “it.’ So”
  • Line 11: “lay, and”
  • Line 12: “souvenir, and”
  • Line 13: “wool, to”
  • Line 15: “habits — what”
  • Line 16: “gravy, why”
  • Line 18: “frame: the”
  • Line 22: “clouds, lay”
  • Line 23: “ home, and”
  • Line 24: “shivered, without”
  • Line 28: “better, I”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “stayed / The”
  • Lines 2-3: “till / They”
  • Lines 6-7: “took / My”
  • Lines 8-9: “hook / Behind”
  • Lines 10-11: “lie / Where”
  • Lines 12-13: “try / Stuffing”
  • Lines 13-14: “drown / The”
  • Lines 16-17: “why / He”
  • Lines 18-19: “folk / Who”
  • Lines 21-22: “wind / Tousling”
  • Lines 22-23: “bed / Telling”
  • Lines 24-25: “dread / That”
  • Lines 26-27: “show / Than”
  • Lines 27-28: “sure / He”

• Aporia

  

  

  

  

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  Where aporia appears in the poem:

  • Lines 21-28: “But if he stood and watched the frigid wind / Tousling the clouds, lay on the fusty bed / Telling himself that this was home, and grinned, / And shivered, without shaking off the dread / That how we live measures our own nature, / And at his age having no more to show / Than one hired box should make him pretty sure / He warranted no better, I don’t know.”

“Mr Bleaney” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• The Bodies
• Tussocky
• Fags
• Saucer-souvenir
• Set
• Four aways
• Frinton/Stoke
• Tousling
• Fusty
• Hired
• Warranted

• (Location in poem: Line 2: “The whole time he was at the Bodies”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Mr Bleaney”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Mr Bleaney” Speaker

“Mr Bleaney” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Mr Bleaney”

More “Mr Bleaney” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Larkin Documentary — Watch the 2003 documentary "Philip Larkin: Love and Death in Hull."

  • The Poet Reads the Poem — Listen to Larkin reading "Mr Bleaney" with a short introduction.

  • A Biography of the Poet — Learn more about Larkin's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.

  • Larkin at the British Library — Browse the resources of the Philip Larkin Collection at the British Library.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin

  • Afternoons

  • An Arundel Tomb

  • A Study of Reading Habits

  • Church Going

  • Coming

  • Home Is So Sad

  • MCMXIV

  • Money

  • Next, Please

  • Poetry of Departures

  • Talking in Bed

  • The Trees

  • The Whitsun Weddings

  • This Be The Verse

  • Water