Visiting Hour Flashcards
“The hospital smell combed my nostrils”
“The hospital smell” on its own line immediately sets the scene. The smell of the hospital is unique and something that most people have experienced. This quickly evokes readers own experiences helping them to sympathise with the speaker
Word choice of “combs” connotes closely searching or rummaging through something. This highlights how pungent and unpleasant the smell of the hospital is as it is reaching right into his nose hairs
“My nostrils as they go bobbing along green and yellow corridors”
This is a synecdoche where the persons nostrils are used to represent the whole speaker. This helps to strengthen the idea of the overpowering smell of the hospital as it suggests that all other senses are blocked out allowing him to suppress his feelings of pain coming from other senses
Word choice of “bobbing” connotes moving up and down joyfully or having a spring in your step. This highlights that the speaker is trying his best to stay cheerful and positive by suppressing the pain he feels about the imminent death of his loved one
The use of the colours “green and yellow” connotes colours of sickness and germs. This contacts to the usually white, clean hospital which helps to highlight the unpleasantness of the visit as the speaker can only see the negative side of the hospital and the germs that lie within it.
“What seems a corpse”
Word choice of “corpse” connotes the medical and legal word for a dead body. The immediate assumption that the patient is dead reveals the speakers inner turmoil as death is at the forefront of his mind as he is worried for the life of his loved one.
This word choice is also very impersonal which is further strengthened by “what” at the start of the line. This dehumanises the patient making them seem more like an object which mirrors his feelings that he is suppressing because he doesn’t want to consider that it may be a actual person dying
“Trundled into a lift and vanishes heavenward”
Word choice of “trundled” connotes doing something clumsily and with little care. This suggests that the moving of patients is a very repetitive, everyday experience and that they are moved in a very unceremonious way. Whilst the speaker is struggling to cope with the visit, the hospital staff, who regularly deal with life and death are shown to be coping fine
Word choice of “vanishes” connotes disappearing suddenly and forever. This suggests how unexpected death can be and how it is permanent and something final.
“I will not feel, I will not feel, until I have to”
Repetition of “I will not feel” is used to suggest the speaker is repeating this phrase either out loud or in his head to trick their mind into avoiding and delaying the feelings within about the imminent death of his loved one
Short dramatic statement “I have to” highlights the speaker knows he cannot avoid his feelings for long and the pain he is going to experience is inevitable
“Nurses walk lightly, swiftly”
Word choice of “swiftly” connotes doing something quickly and promptly. This helps to highlight the efficient, easy and carefree way the nurses to about their rounds. This contrasts to the third stanza where the nurses seem careless, but now they seem to lend a delicate and light touch to the work they do
“Here and up and down and there”
The unusual syntax emphasises the large number of nurses and their ability to appear everywhere all at once. This word order highlights that they are always on the move and how efficient they stay despite the difficult, varied tasks they face from one patient to the next. This also contacts to the speaker who is struggling to get control of his emotions to face this visit
“So much pain of so many deaths”
The repetition of “so” stresses the sheer number of patients and the hard situations the nurses face everyday, emphasising how difficult the job is. The nurses are able to distance and protect themselves from the pain and emotional suffering, while the speaker is unable to do this and death is still at the front of his head as he goes in for visiting hour
“Their slender waists miraculously carrying their burden”
Word choice of “miraculously” connotes extraordinary and admirable. This suggests how amazed the speaker is at the nurses mental resilience and ability to deal with so much suffering despite them being physically delicate
“Carrying their burden” is a metaphor. Literally a burden is a heavy weight however in this context it is the emotional baggage the nurses carry within them. This is an effective metaphor as it highlights how difficult is is to deal with all the suffering the nurses face daily
“Ward 7.”
The use of a caesura suggests the pause the speaker takes before entering the ward where his loved one is. He stops to gather his through and compose himself which suggests he knows he is about to face great amounts of pain
“She lies in a white cave of forgetfulness”
This is a metaphor. Literally the patient is surrounded by privacy curtains. Effective metaphor as it highlights how isolated the patient feels as she is cut off from the rest of the ward
The word choice of “forgetfulness” connotes having poor memory and amnesia. This suggests she is barely conscious and losing a grip of really which highlights death is near
“A withered hand trembles on it’s stalk”
This is a metaphor. Literally “withered” usually suggests a dying flower that was once fresh. In this context is highlights that the women who was once young and full of life is now frail and dying
Word choice of “trembles” connotes shaking and twitching. This highlights how weak and frail the women is as she is struggling to to do basic things such as moving her hand
“Into an arm wasted of colour a glass fang is fixed not guzzling but giving”
Word choice of “wasted” connotes something pointless or something that is no longer useful. This suggests the patients arm is very pale, lifeless and no longer functioning properly highlighting her death is near.
“Glass fang is fixed but guzzling but giving” is a metaphor comparing a life-giving needle to a vampires fang. Literally a vampires fang is something that drains the life out of someone however in this context it is saving her life. This is an effective metaphor as it highlights how frightened the speaker is about the obscene intrusion into the living body of the patient. He must then snap himself back into result and realise that, despite his horror, the IV is necessary and is saving her life
“Distance shrinks until there is none left but the distance of pain that neither she nor I can cross”
The repetition of “distance” is used to emphasise the physical closeness between them yet the metaphorical barrier that is between the, as they can’t connect or communicate with each other due to her illness or condition. The speaker feels helpless and useless as there is nothing he can do to help.
Use of enjambment of “I” being poised at the end of the line helps to highlight just how isolated and alone the speaker feels as he sits by the end of her bed as they can’t communicate like they used to
“Black figure in her white cave”
Contrast is highlighted through this phrase as the white cave from stanza 5 is mentioned again but this time it has been invaded by the black figure. A black figure has connotations of death or a grim reaper. This highlights that the patient is vaguely aware of her surroundings but the end is near for her which is suggested through the connotations of the black figure
