Word Choice Flashcards
1.”combs my nostrils”
Gives a sense of persuasive power of the smell, and his feeling of being invaded, showing his discomfort.
2.”green and yellow corridors”
Colours have connotations of sickness, which further stresses the poet’s discomfort in these surroundings
3.”corpse
Holds little relation to life, suggesting the finality of death. The harshness of the sound shows the poet’s distress and painful emotions he is facing.
4.”heavenward”
Incongrous with the poet’s beliefs(or a lack there of) as MacCaif was an atheist. Simply an example of him using humor to avoid his emotions.
5.”miraculously”
Suggests the narrator’s admiration for the nurses abilities, while showing his own worry about the way he will cope with his emotions.
6.”farewells”
The ending of the verso on this word draws attention to it, which underlines the purpose of his visit defined as “good wishes on parting”, the word is suggestive of the possibility the people will meet again and that those departing are going on some bad journey. This perhaps shows the narrator’s desire to believe in an afterlife, especially at such troubling times.
7.”white cave”
Holds connotations of isolation through confusion or sensory blankness (eg, white noise)
8.”not guzzling but giving”
The horror of the image of the “glass fang is continued by the word” guzzling” but then is reversed by the positive word “giving”. The use of the guttural ‘g’ sound in alliteration conveys the harshness of the narrator’s interpretation; he clearly sees the process as pointless and intrusive.
9.”clumsily…..dizzily”
Shows the narrator is overcome by his emotions leaving him dazed and confused.
10.”fainter”
Showing the woman’s vision is blurred; the patient can see the narrator is getting fainter with distance. Also a pun since the narrator may be so upset he is starting to feel faint.
11.”fruitless fruits”
The final words are an oxymoron: how can fruits be fruitless? This captures the narrator’s despair at the pointlessness of the woman’s death being prolinged, as well as his inability to help:bring the fuit has been “fruitless” (pointless)
