What is the meaning behind Suzanne?

History of the Poem~ Who is Suzanne?
Originally written in 1966 in Cohen's first collection of poems. He originally wrote it about the relationship he had with his friend's, Québécois sculptor Armand Vaillancourt, wife, Suzanne Verdal. Although the poem makes us think that they had a physical relationship, she assures us in the following interview that he had wanted to make things physical but she had refused. http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/verdal.html.
He also states that the description of their physical love was merely in his mind, and it was what he had fantasized about, "for you've touched her perfect body/with your mind".
The poem was turned into a song for the first time by Judy Collins, which became a massive it. She had changed some parts of it, but he released his own version in 1967 on his debut album "Songs of Leonard Cohen".

Context/What does the poem mean?
So much of the poem has direct truth behind it. For example, in the first verse, "...takes you down/to her place near the river.../and she feeds you tea and oranges/that come all the way from China". According to both Suzanne and Leonard, he used to visit her cottage near the St. Lawrence river and they would have tea and mandarin oranges. Suzanne believes that they were incredibly in love, in an emotional sense only, and this was what inspired the song. In her interview with CBC, she talks about how she literally was always "...wearing rags and feathers/from Salvation Army counters".

How does the poem progress?
There are a few subtle differences in the chorus of each verse, first with "and you know that she can trust you", and then "and you think maybe you'll trust him" and finally, "and you know that you can trust her". It shows that the poem starts with one point of view, him believing that she can trust him and then shifting to the thoughts in her head, as she is contemplating whether to trust him. It then ends with the first point of view again, and this time he can trust her as well. It shows a very beautiful and natural progression a friendship or love would take.

What are the symbols in the poem/song?
river- St. Lawrence river as well as the river of life that connects them
lighthouse- a small chapel on the edge of the river where they sometimes went together