Visiting hour- Stanza 5

Question 1

“ward 7”

Answer 1

.Minor sentence
.This is effective as it emphasises the location of the patient he’s visiting, which is a difficult and significant place for him to visit as it holds the person he cares about. It highlights the turning point of the poem, and marks the point where the speaker will have to face reality and can no longer escape the spectre of death.

Question 2

“she”

Question 3

“a white cave of forgetfulness”

Answer 3

.Metaphor
.A vast, uninhabited cave is being compared to the wide, sterile ward which occupies the ill patient, whom the speaker cares for
.Just as a empty, vast cave is isolated and distant that is cut off from the rest of the world so too is the ward of the patient cut off from their family and the life she used to live
.This is effective as it makes clear that she is isolated, forgetful and lacks sensory awareness of her present state. It suggests that the patient is currently stuck in the space between life and death, emphasising how distant she is to reality and her inability to communicate with the speaker. The colour of white also links it to heaven, which further emphasises the inevitability of death.

Question 4

“withered”

Question 5

“trembles”

Question 6

“stalk”

Question 7

“too heavy”

Question 8

“wasted of colour”

Question 9

“glass fang”

Answer 9

.Metaphor
.The intravenous drip which is inserted into her arm is being compared to a vampire fang piercing her
.Just as a vampire fang will cause her pain and drain her blood so too will the drip inserted into her arm which stab into her skin and cause her deep suffering
.This is effective as it makes clear that the speaker is frightened of the drip which stabs into the skin of the patient, which makes the patient a victim as it drains the life from her body. It highlights how death is now imminent for the patient as her decaying body is now only kept alive because of the medical drip.

Question 10

“fixed”

Question 11

“not guzzling”

Question 12

“giving”

Question 13

“between her & me”

Question 14

“distance shrinks”

Answer 14

.Connotations of detachment, separation and diminishing
.This suggests that their once close relationship is now divided and separated due to her illness and pain. Although the speaker is physically close to her, he struggles to be emotionally or mentally close to her anymore. It emphasises how unnatural this detachment from each other is, their once powerful connection is diminished.

Question 15

“distance of pain…can cross”