Key quotes Flashcards
Assissi (10)
“Sat slumped like a half filled sack” "hands on backwards" “Clucking contentedly” “The ruined temple” “A voice as sweet as a child’s when she speaks to her mother” "eyes wept pus" "back was higher than his head" “sawdust might run” "outside the three tiers of churches built" “tell stories”
Visiting hour (7)
“fruitless fruits” The fruits he brings have no use, therefore they are fruitless.
“glass fang” this metaphor suggests that the medical drip is like a vampire, adding to the sense of fear the persona has surround the hospital visit.
“farewells” word choice suggests that the nurses will have lost people that they have become fond of in hospital, but continue to have the resolve to work there.
“The hospital smell combs my nostrils as they go bobbing along” his example of synecdoche shows the persona’s attempts to remain emotionally detached; rather than acknowledge the effects on the smell on his mental state, he comments of the effect it has on a single body part. It’s as if the nostrils are moving through the hospital, free of the person that they belong to.
“heavenward” pun – lift literally moves upwards, towards heaven. The rooms of a hospital patients sleep in are called wards.
“clumsily”
“green and yellow”
Hotel Room 12th Floor (6)
“Skirting like a damaged insect” simile – connotations of
insignificance, weak unpleasant creature.
“Midnight is not so easily defeated” personification shows that there is a constant battle
between dark and light, and the evil will always find ways to affect society.
“The frontier is never somewhere else” enjambment – emphasises how eternally
current this poem remains – the nature of society and the seemingly
inherent evil capacity that exists within humans as they exist together
will always be a problem – illustrated most subtly by the wild west
imagery that is ironically used to illustrate the brutality of both sides.
“Wildest of war whoops” alliteration
emphasises the unusual noises he is hearing.
"uncivilized darkness"word choice suggests that the night brings the worst parts of society out. “darkness” – connotations of evil.
“blood glazed on the sidewalks” enjambment emphasises the level of gore
displayed nightly, word choice of “glazed” shows sheer amount of blood –
unglamorous and undignified “sidewalks” – suggests it’s everywhere.
Aunt Julia (6)
“Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast.”
“She wore men’s boots”
“She was buckets and water flouncing into them”
“I could not answer her- I could not understand her”
“absolute darkness”
“But I hear her still, welcoming me
with a seagull’s voice”
basking shark (4)
“decadent townee” – he is making fun of himself. Decadent suggest that he is normally
consumed by the pursuit of indulgent pleasures in his life, rather than the essentials
that one requires. The sharks simplistic existence makes this comparison ever clearer in
the poets mind.
“wrong branch of his family tree” – central concern of the poem: have human’s gone
‘wrong’ in their evolution. Consider all the terrible things humankind does to itself; are
we truly the monster?
“So who’s the monster?” – rhetorical question – stanza opens with the question this whole poem has been leading to. It seems that the poet’s initial impression of the animal has been reversed. Despite initially describing it as a ‘roomsized monster’, MacCaig seems unsure that is it truly the case.
“roomsized monster with a matchbox brain” – the contrast between sizes is emphasised in the
metaphors used by MacCaig. The alliteration links together the comparison, emphasising the
difference between the huge body, and tiny brain.
brooklyn cop
“Built like a gorilla”
“he hoped it, he truly hoped it” - repetition emphasises the uncertaintyand the fear he feels every day he is facing danger, “truly” highlights the sincerity of the wish
“plunge” – falling uncontrollably – shows how easily the brutality of the city life in Brooklyn could take over – there would be nothing he could do to stop it.
“See you, babe” – clichéd phrase – suggests affection, although not overly intimate. Contrast between outward display of emotion and internal fears.
