Reagan Logan

Mr. Feudo

English IV AP

22 April 2021, 6:02 PM

Poetry Analysis (Q1) Prep.

In the poem “The Landlady” by P. K. Page, the narrator portrays the landlady as a

complex individual in that she both is detached from and not a part of the lives of her tenants, but

she is also invested in and knowledgeable about their lives. The poet reveals this complexity

through the usage of specific, literal examples and metaphors.

The poet uses specific and literal examples of the landlady’s understanding of her tenants

to help the audience understand the fullness of her knowledge about the boarders' lives, as well

as her actual physical distance from them. In the beginning of the poem, it is revealed that she

regularly “pads on the patient landing like a pulse, unlocks their keyholes with the wire of sight,

searches their rooms for clues when they are out, pricks when they come home late.” This

invasion of privacy reveals the involvement the landlady has in the boarders’ lives, but also that

she does not necessarily interact with them often, choosing instead to study their temporary

homes (which she acknowledges throughout the poem as secret) while they are out. Later, this is

explained further when the poem reveals that she believes “their cupboards and the secrets of

their drawers, their books, their private mail, their photographs are theirs and hers.” As she

thinks these items also belong to her, this serves as another testament to how close to the tenants

the landlady feels to her tenants. However, the admission that their private items and secrets are

just that, private and secret, shows that she understands the actual distance between her and her

unaware tenants.
 Metaphors are also used throughout the poem to highlight the landlady’s complex

character, as they reveal her feelings both on her perceived closeness with the boarders and the

actual estrangement between them. After describing phone calls, the poem reads that “her

ticklish ears advance and fall back stunned.” This alludes to a mouse listening in on

conversations, of an anxious invader in a home people presume to be private. The metaphor

created here portrays the landlady as the above, cementing her curious but quiet nature. Later, a

simile is used in reference to her concerning behaviors: “And like a lover must know all, all, all.”

This comparison to a close companion of her tenants shows the landlady’s sense of entitlement

to their lives, but also a self-awareness in that this simile acknowledges that she is not in fact

their lover.

Ultimately, the poet uses specific examples and metaphors to solidify the complexity of

the landlady’s character, revealing the conflict of knowing her boarders’ personal information

but not being in their lives.