Visiting hour (poetry) Flashcards
Visiting hour stanza one
The hospital smell
Combs my nostrils
As they go bobbing along
Green and yellow corridors
Visiting hour stanza 2
What seems a corpse
is trundled into a lift and vanishes
Heavenward.
Stanza 3
I will not feel, I will not
Feel until
I have to.
Stanza four
Nurses walk lightly, swiftly, Here and up and down there, Their slender waists miraculously Carrying their burden Of so much pain, so Many deaths, their eyes still clear after so many farewells.
Stanza five
Ward 7. She lies in a white cave of forgetfulness. A withered hand trembles on its stalk. Eyes move behind eyelids too heavy to raise. Into an arm wasted of colour a glass fang is fixed, not guzzling but giving. And between her and me distance shrinks till there is none left but the distance of pain that neither she nor I can cross.
Stanza 6
She smiles a little at this black figure in her white cave who clumsily rises in the round swimming waves of a bell and dizzily goes off, growing fainter, not smaller, leaving behind only books that will not be read and fruitless fruits.
The hospital smell combs my nostrils as they go bobbing along green and yellow corridors
“The hospital smell combs my nostrils,” is an example of a metaphor which is using the word combs and nostrils to tell us the smell was almost painful and emphasise how bad the smell of the hospital was.
“My nostrils as they go bobbing along,” is an example of synecdoche where the poet describes only the nostrils as the whole of the poets body to emphasise how overwhelming the smell is.
“Green and yellow,” Visual imagery is used and the colours green and yellow are associated with illness to show the poets thoughts of how unclean hospitals are.
What seems a corpse is trundled into a lift and vanishes heavenward.
“What seems a corpse,” is use of word choice and the words “what seems”tells us that it is only the poets thoughts that make the person seem dead and corpse makes us think that they are dead. This shows that the poet is thinking about death because of how quickly he assumes the corpse is dead.
“Vanishes heavenward,” is also use of word choice to show the poets thoughts of death because he thinks the “corpse” is going to heaven.
I will not feel, I will not feel until I have to.
“I will not feel, I will not feel,” is an example of repetition which emphasises how important it is to the poet how he cannot feel any emotions by repeating the words.
“Will not,” is an example of word choice which is in the future tense telling the reader that MacCaig is preparing himself for something in near future and shows how committed he is to not feeling any emotions.
“Until I have to.” Uses word choice to show that the poet knows that he will have to deal with his emotions at some point but that the poet wants to delay that as much as possible.
Nurses walk lightly, swiftly here and up and down there,
“Lightly, swiftly,” is an example of word choice to make the nurses seem elegant and youthful.
“Here and up and down there,” is an example of word choice, the words aren’t in the right order it usually goes “up here and down there,” which emphasises the mental turmoil and disconnection from his usual thoughts by showing jumbled up words and jumbled up thoughts.
Nurses walk lightly, swiftly here and up and down there,
“Lightly, swiftly,” is an example of word choice to make the nurses seem elegant and youthful.
“Here and up and down there,” is an example of word choice, the words aren’t in the right order it usually goes “up here and down there,” which emphasises the mental turmoil and disconnection from his usual thoughts by showing jumbled up words and jumbled up thoughts.
Their slender waists miraculously carrying their burden of so much pain, so much death.
“Their slender waists,” is word choice of “slender” to make the nurses seem thin and young and emphasise how astounded he is that they can cope with the job.
“Miraculously,” is word choice which shows that the poet is envious and astounded the nurses can sope with their job.
“So much pain, so much death,” is used as repetition to make the reader reflect on the loss and grief of the nurses and emphasise how much they have to deal with on a day to day basis.
Their eyes still clear after so many farewells
“Their eyes still clear after so many farewells,” is a metaphor which uses “eyes still clear,” to emphasise the lack of tears in the nurses eyes and show how emotionally strong the nurses are.
So many farewells is used to emphasise once again the emotional toughness of the nurses by emphasis of the number of death.
Ward 7. She lies in a cave if forgetfulness.
“Ward 7.” Is an example of caesura which is a full stop which makes a pause in a poem, in this example it is to show that the poet himself is stopping before he goes into the ward and reflecting on what he might see in there.
“She lies in a white cave of forgetfulness.” Is a metaphor which is telling the reader that the patient is lying under her bead sheets and implies that her illness has something to do with memory problems.
The “white cave,” is visual imagery which associates the patient with the qualities of the colour white showing innocence and peace, as well as the connotations of heaven.
Caesura is used to make the reader reflect on all of the thoughts of the poet and what they mean.
A withered hand trembles on its stalk
“Withered,” is an example of word choice which shows how weak and old the patient is because withered means that something is near death and has dried out like a plant.
“Trembles on its stalk,” is a metaphor which compares the arm of the patient to a plant stalk to give the connotations of weakness and extend the idea of the patient being like a plant.
