Poem : "Mr. Bleaney" by Philip Larkin - analysed in full

The poem Mr Bleaney has three characters: Mr Bleaney; the house owner; and the new tenant, but centres around the life of one character, Mr Bleaney. The poem focuses on the house in which Mr Bleaney had a rented room for a number of years, until he moved out, or perhaps died. A new tenant is introduced to the vacated room, and he decides to stay. From the description of his old room and its …

…our lives reflects our character: "How we live measures our own nature." Also, the mysteriousness surrounding the disappearance of Mr Bleaney is dredged up again, with the ambiguous "Hired box," - meaning either the rented room, or a coffin. At the very end a non committal "I don't know." reminds us of the fact that the new tenant is merely presuming, and that contrary to what it seems, we don't know Mr Bleaney after all.