Visiting Hour Flashcards
“The hospital smell”
Technique: Simple, blunt language
Conveys that this is a familiar/recognisable smell that everyone associates with the hospital. It has become a universal experience.
“combs my nostrils”
Technique: Metaphor
Suggests that the smell is so potent that it separates the strands of hair in his nose. The odour assaults his
senses and overpowers him.
This shows how acutely/vividly he remembers his experience at the hospital, how impactful/important it was to him and his emotional state.
“as they go bobbing along”
Technique: Synecdoche (when a part stands for the whole.)/Humorous tone
Suggests the smell of the hospital is so potent that as he travels along the corridor, all his other senses are blocked out.
This ridiculous image, sparks a humorous tone which
suggests the poet is trying to distract himself from the
serious nature of the visit.
“bobbing”
Technique: word choice
Connotations: bouncing up and down, rising and falling, unsteadiness.
Hints at the poet’s disorientation in the hospital – he is going through the motions of the visit while trying to stay distanced to avoid thinking the worst of his relatives condition.
“green and yellow corridors.”
Technique: Word choice
Connotations: mucus, vomit, ilness, discomfort etc.
We sometimes say someone looks
green if they are sick.
This shows how unsteady the poet is feeling.
“What seems a corpse”
“seems”
Technique: Word choice
Connotations: being unsure/guessing at something.
This could suggest that the poet is making assumptions – death is on his mind so he assumes what he sees on the hospital bed is a dead body.
“What seems a corpse”
“corpse”
Technique: Word choice/Consonant sounds
Connotations: Death, lifeless, horror.
Highlights that death is commonplace in the hospital. This shows his sudden, harsh realisation of what could await him during his hospital visit.
The harsh consonant sounds ‘c’ and ‘p’ add to the feeling that this is a shocking sight for the speaker.
“What seems a corpse
is trundled into a life and vanishes
heavenward”
“trundled”
Technique: Word Choice
Connotations: moving something heavy and awkward, often without much grace of care, forcefully pushed or shoved.
Suggests that the trolley is manoeuvred into the lift as if it were a nuisance, just another job to be done. This could imply that people have become immune to death in the hospital.
“What seems a corpse
is trundled into a lift and vanishes
heavenward.”
“vanishes heavenward”
Technique: Metaphor/Enfambment
“vanishes”
Connotations: a sudden or permanent disappearance, shocking, unbelievable.
“heavenward”
Enjambment is used to emphasise this word, which ends up in a line of its own.
Both words reinforce the idea of the finality
and irreversibility of death.
The body going up in the lift is compared to a soul going up to heaven. This dark image reveals the poet’s fears about his losing his loved one as death is clearly on his mind.
“heavenward’ could be broken down to ‘heaven’ and ‘ward’ to suggest the ward the patient is being transferred to is one where the patients are sent when they are likely to die. This again implies that death is a part of the hospital environment.
“I will not feel, I will not
feel, until
I have to.”
“I will not feel, I will not
feel,”
Technique: Repetition
This reveals that poet is trying to keep his
emotions under control as he draws closer to the
ward. He is steeling himself, trying not to break
down. The repeated words become almost like a
mantra or chant designed to keep his emotions in
check.
“I will not feel, I will not
feel, until
I have to.”
“until
I have to”
Technique: Enjambment
Emphasises the final words of the stanza “I have to” which end up in a line of their own. This reveals that as much as the speaker is trying to keep his emotions in check, deep down he is aware that eventually they will
get the better of him.
Ultimately, he will not be
able to avoid ‘feeling’ forever and will have to
give in to his grief; it is inevitable.
“Nurses walk lightly, swiftly”
Technique: Consonance (the repetition of
consonant sounds in more than one
word)
This emphasises the fast, efficient pace of the nurses as they walk along the wards – a crisp, sharp sound is repeated.
“here and up and down and there”
Technique: Unusual syntax (ordering of the
words in the sentence)
Links to the busy nature of the hospital with nurses rushed off their feet. The ‘disordered’ nature of the line may be linked to the idea of him feeling things are not quite right/out of kilter. He feels disorientated and
overwhelmed.
“their slender waists miraculously
carrying their burden”
“slender waists miraculously”
Technique: Word Choice
“miraculously”
Connotations: admirable, awe striking, marvelous, surprisingly.
“slender”
Connotations: petite, fragile, attractive, graceful.
Suggests that MacCaig is in awe of the nurses ability to carry out such an intensive job despite their fragile appearance.
"carrying their burden of so much pain, so many deaths, their eyes still clear after so many farewells."
“so much…so many…so many”
Technique: Repetition
Emphasises the large amount of suffering the nurses bear witness to every day.
This again shows MacCaig’s admiration of them as he sees their strength in their ability to work so close to loss of human life. How can they remain so professional when they see a loss approaching or passing by?
