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Analysis of "The Boarder" by Louis Simpson

Poem found here: "The Boarder" by Louis Simpson
Notes about the poet: Louis Simpson




There's two different versions of this poem, one that has adjustments on every other line, and then this one where it's left adjusted.  In either case, the inequity in lines seems purposeful.

But first, let there be light.  When? "The time is after dinner."  The first quatrain and the first half of the second quatrain focuses on different types of light: cigarette glow, TV sets, and the moon.  All these things illuminate, and add to an ambiance of a noisy romance "Glasses begin to tinkle." 

Then there's a change in the second half of the second quatrain, "love keeps her appointments--"  The dashes, to me, indicate a change.  Why?  It feels so different than the rest of the poem. 

If we look at the punctuation in the first stanza there are semi-colons which brings the individual images together for cohesiveness sake, and the dash, where it only appears there, creates a sense of distance from he pause and then we get the dialogue of "Harry's here!"  / "I'll be right down."

Then the image changes to "the pale stranger."  In my imagination, this is the boarder who is upstairs and the person coming down was someone he made love to in "the furnished room."  There is no concrete details that lead me to this conclusion, but it fits the narrative unlike him in this situation.

Oh no, the boarder, this pale stranger just lies on his back and juxtaposes two images, "paper roses, how they bloom," and "ceiling cracks."

There something romantic, but inauthentic with paper roses. The bloom part of the roses cuts since, if you believe in the in-authenticity of the paper roses, the idea of the always in bloom -- always in a forced perfect state goes along with the idea of a lover that, on paper, is perfect.

But it isn't.  "Love keeps her appointment" -- something distanced

The sound of the words, "ceilings crack" breaks the sound of the poem which felt soft with words, but note how there's only one crack in the ceiling.  One so obvious when looked at in another angle, one that won't be fixed if not seen.

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