Mr Bleaney

The poem 'Mr Bleaney' is about the persona exploring the room that Mr Bleaney used to own in order to rent it from him. During this he compares his life to Mr Bleaney's through the objects that Mr Bleaney had in his room.
Firstly, the rhyme scheme of the poem reflects the poem as it is quite a straight-forward ballad rhyme scheme which suggests that so was Mr Bleaney and the persona's life. Throughout the poem there are also descriptions that suggest the simplicity of Mr Bleaney's life and the lifestyle that he has come to acquire. "Flowered curtains, thin and frayed" suggests that the curtains are old, neglected and poor. The view from the window is of "building land" which suggests that it is ugly, desolate, cheap and not picturesque. The description of the facilities of the room are also quite basic which shows similarity to a prison cell, "Bed, upright chair, sixty-watt bulb, no hook". This room could also symbolize quite a basic person and a metaphor for his life. The persona also connects with Mr Bleaney through the lack of life that this room has to offer him. This can be seen through "stub my fags on the same saucer-souvenir". This is quite casual as there is no entertainment therefore leaving the persona to contemplate existence and life. "The jabbering set" however suggests a difference to the Mr Bleaney's life from the persona as Mr Bleaney had other sounds in his room whereas the persona has cut himself off from everything. In this poem it also suggests that the persona knows that he has nothing fulfilling in his life and this connects with Mr Bleaney as he they both plug "at the four aways". This gives them hope however this is only vague and doesn't give them much of a practical chance.
However, in the last two stanzas of the poem the persona seems to have a epiphany of reality as he tells "himself that this was home". This suggests that he is trying to convince himself to make the most of it as this is all he has to offer himself. The persona has got to put up with this as he has no choice. The word "dread" at the end of stanza 6 could imply different things such as that this is what the persona is thinking but as that he is dreading the way that his life is going to be. "That how we live measures our own nature" could be implying that this is Larkin's view as it sums up what he has been saying in the whole poem. "One hired box" is also quite interesting because the persona is literally summing up the room that he is renting but also that the next hired box he will be in will be a coffin.
I believe that as the persona does not know the inner life of Mr Bleaney he has no idea of how Mr Bleaney would have felt in this situation and due to this he trying to convince himself that his own life is better when in fact it's not. This therefore suggests that Larkin is judgemental, an expecting type of person, quite philosophical, a deep thinker and bleak. I believe that the whole poem is asking the question what is the point in living?