visiting hour Flashcards
a body “vanishes heavenward” in an elevator.
the poets fear of death is made apparent by this metaphor- though it is just a patient in a stretcher, going up in an elevator, due to the theme of death playing in the poets mind, he assumes that the patient is both dead, and is making the journey into the afterlife. this shows that, from the moment the poet has stepped into the hospital, he fears his loved ones condition, and what may come of them due to their illness- he fears mortality and the fact that he may have to part ways with this person and be left alone, also linking to the theme of isolation.
“she lies in a white cave of forgetfulness”
this metaphor compares her hospital bed and the curtains that surround it to a cave. as it is only her in the bed, it can be said that the poet see’s her as lost somewhere, encased by forgetfulness, trapped, alone. this shows her in a state of isolation, as she is left to fight her illness by herself, and suffer alone.
“a withered hand trembles on its stalk”
this metaphor compares her hand to a dying flower, and her arm its stalk. the word “withered” has connotations of being weak, physical deterioration, and decay, and a “stalk” is easy to break and snap. just as a flower is fragile and gradually loses its beauty and colour as it dies, so too is her appearance disheartening and saddening to the persona.
“a glass fang is fixed”
this metaphor/personification comparing an in drip to a creature such as a vampire that brings pain, shows the poets discontent with the equipment. though it is not bringing pain to her in a physical sense, it brings pain and suffering to him in a mental sense for he must see her in this way.
“swimming waves of a bell”
this metaphor comparing a bell to an endless force (the ocean/sea) suggests that the moment lasts an eternity to the poet, and threatens to overwhelm him as he leaves her for what may be the last time. this fear of leaving her and the moment lasting so long links to isolation as he ponders how it will be without her- after this moment is in the past.
