Poem Analysis - Store Room

An Unsettling Calm

Leonard Cohen’s “Store Room” is a poem steeped in unease and resignation. Its repetitive structure and list-like refrains create a sense of being trapped in a cycle of anxiety and helplessness. The poem’s tone is initially dismissive, attempting to minimize the source of disturbance, but it gradually reveals a deeper, more profound sense of dread. The mood shifts from denial to reluctant acceptance, culminating in a unsettling stillness. The poem explores themes of vulnerability, the erosion of personal boundaries, and the pervasive nature of an unnamed threat.

The Mundane Masking the Menace

The poem masterfully contrasts the extraordinary with the ordinary to highlight the true source of unease. The speaker initially dismisses dramatic anxieties – “It's not the wind,” “It's not the snow,” “It's not the news of burning towns.” These grand, external forces are deemed less impactful than the actions of an ordinary individual. This juxtaposition suggests that the real threats are not always the spectacular, headline-grabbing events, but rather the subtle, insidious intrusions that chip away at our sense of security and peace. The focus on daily routines, like “Share your toast, maybe spill some coffee from your cup,” emphasizes the vulnerability of everyday life to disruption.

The Thief of Peace: Vulnerability and Loss

A central theme of "Store Room" is vulnerability and the erosion of personal boundaries. The “man taking what he needs from the store room” is a recurring motif, acting as a symbol of an unwanted intrusion. The store room is not described in literal terms. The store room symbolizes all that is kept private: peace, security, autonomy, and resources. This ongoing theft of "what he needs" slowly diminishes one's reserves. The poem suggests that the woman in the poem does not want to give and the man has nothing left to take or give from her, symbolizing an emotional exhaustion and a draining of intimacy.

Symbolism of the Unseen Intruder

The repeated image of "a man taking what he needs from the store room" is the poem's central symbol. The man represents a constant, insidious force of loss and violation. The lack of detail about the man’s identity heightens the sense of unease; he is not a specific individual, but rather a representation of something far more pervasive and uncontrollable. The "store room" itself symbolizes the speaker's inner resources, sense of security, and perhaps even their soul. Each time the man takes something, a piece of the speaker is lost, leaving them feeling increasingly depleted and defenseless. In the last stanza the speaker mentions that "He's got nothing left to choose and you've got so much more to lose" symbolizing that while the intruder has taken all he can, the speaker is about to be left completely empty.

Resignation and Acceptance

The poem concludes not with defiance or resistance, but with a weary acceptance. The advice to "go to sleep and change the locks when you wake up" seems futile, almost sarcastic, given the persistent nature of the threat. There is a sense of resignation as the speaker realizes the inevitability of the loss, even if they take steps to prevent it from happening. The final line is repeated in the ninth line, "It's not the wind" which seems to come to the realization that even the grandest problems can be overcome but one can never escape the thief. "Store Room" leaves the reader with a lingering sense of unease, suggesting that some intrusions are unavoidable, and that the constant threat of loss is an inherent part of the human experience.