Ogden Nash

The People Upstairs

The People Upstairs - meaning Summary

Annoyance with Noisy Neighbors

Ogden Nash’s poem humorously depicts a speaker driven to exasperation by the nonstop, absurd behavior of the neighbors upstairs. Through a series of exaggerated images—loud music, constant celebrations, and physically disruptive antics—the speaker catalogs the intrusion into everyday life and ends with a blunt wish that the noisy household lived on a different floor. The tone mixes comic irritation with resigned acceptance of urban living.

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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 more If only they lived on another floor.

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