visiting hour Flashcards
“smell”
pungent hospital antiseptic smell is something everyone is familiar with- the first thing that hits us- suggests feelings of discomfort
“combs my nostrils”
metaphor-image of a comb eye- wateringly being brushed through his nasal hair. the poet establishes a humorous mood to begin with, although the experience would bring tears to our eyes.
“green” “yellow”
WC-colours have connotations of sickness and disease: vomit, pus and etc. which further stresses the poets discomfort in these surroundings
“seems” “corpse”
WC- seems unclear weather the body is really dead, but the poet is allowing his imagination to wonder.
“vanishes”
WC- surreal/ darkly humorous
WC-“trundled”
gives the impression, that it is heavy and staff pushing it are business like, the tone is now less light hearted.
“heavenward”
WC-pun on humorous idea. body perhaps going only upwards but hot to heaven/ end stop line to show lift stopping at its destination. the image is surreal/ darkly humorous we often use humor to put how we actually feel about death.
“I will not feel” “I will not feel”
repetition- poet seems to be chanting to himself as if this is a manta(a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation) to control his emotions
” I have to “
WC- shows his realisation that he will eventually be forced to confront his emotions
“miraculously” “still clear” “their eyes”
WC- the poet admires their difficult job facing death regularly- “miraculously” - suggests he cannot understand how they can do this difficult job and remain untouched. remaining clear eyed and professional.
“so” “so” “so”
repetition- stresses the frequency of the nurses unpleasant dealings and the difficulty of doing such a job yet still moving on.
“lightly, swiftly, here and up and down and there”
structure(inversion)- unusual word order of common phrases: not here and there and up and down. this emphasises the number of nurses he sees and their random activities- tone has become lighter again by adverbs such as lightly and swiftly-WC
“Ward 7.”
short/minor sentence and cesura draws attention to the turning point in the poem. the caesura signals that he stopped-end of journey.
“white cave of forgetfulness”
metaphor- white curtains pulled around her/ her white room are cave like this shows isolation and the poets exclusion from her.
“withered hand trembles on its stalk”
metaphor- woman’s hand and wrist is brittle, frail and thin comparing it to a dying flower.
“glass fang”
metaphor- describes the IV drip as a vampire extended by the word choice of “guzzling” connotations of consuming- sucking away life.
alliteration of ‘g’ of “guzzling and “giving” draws attention to the fact that the drip is seeking to put life in not to draw it out however pointlessly(suggests poets negative tone/outlook)
“distance shrinks” “distance of pain”
she is alone with her pain which has formed a invisible barrier between them; he cannot reach her- emphasises his feelings of desolation and hopelessness at his inability to reach her.
“black figure in a white cave”
metaphor- contrast in colours highlights distance between patient and visitor. “Black figure” relates to grim reaper contrasting shades shows they’re from different worlds.
“clumsily” “dizzly” “swimming waves”
WC- bell ring to mark end of visiting hour.”clumsily” “dizzly” “swimming waves” (his tears), all suggests poet is struggling with his emotions.
“growing fainter” “not smaller”
suggests both that he is growing fainter in vision of the patient but “not smaller” implies that the visit has still been an important milestone for both of them.
“fruitless fruits”
oxymoron/paradox- useless gifts we give the dying: is a “fruitless” task. the paradox highlights how desperate and hopeless poets situation is.
