The people upstairs all practise ballet
Their living room is a bowling alley
Their bedroom is full of conducted tours.
Their radio is louder than yours,
They celebrate week-ends all the week.
When they take a shower, your ceilings leak.
They try to get their parties to mix
By supplying their guests with Pogo sticks,
And when their fun at last abates,
They go to the bathroom on roller skates.
I might love the people upstairs wondrous
If instead of above us, they just lived under us.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Ogden Nash's poem The People Upstairs

3 Comments

  1. Robert Lewis says:

    The last two lines of this poem are incorrect.
    From a published book of Ogden Nash poems the lines read:

    “I might love the people upstairs wondrous
    If instead of above us, they just lived under us.”

    This sounds more like Ogden Nash than the lines you have.

    • American Poems says:

      Robert, thanks for the input. So, the lines I had were:
      “I might love the people upstairs more
      If only they lived on another floor.”

      I have changed them to:
      “I might love the people upstairs wondrous
      If instead of above us, they just lived under us.”

      You’re right, this ending is much more in line with what Ogden Nash would write. I’m not sure how the error came to be, but I’m glad you pointed this out.

  2. Sally says:

    I LOVE YOUR POEM…… whoeva wrote, uh. . .

    cya

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