Visiting hour Quotes and Analysis

"Green and yellow corridors"

Colours have connotations of sickness, which further stresses the poets discomfort in these surroundings

"White cave of forgetfulness"

Metaphor is used, suggesting the white curtains or sheets are cave like (impenetrable). This conveys the isolation of the woman, and the poets exclusion from her

"A withered had trembles on its stalk"

Metaphor is used, suggesting the woman's body is brittle and frail, by comparing it to a dying flower. The image suggests the woman's body has deteriorated, but contains hope for regrowth (afterlife), as well as showing the love with which the poet looks on the woman

"glass fang"

Metaphor is used, suggesting the IV is vampire like. The horror in this image is shocking, which shows the poet's grief and distress at seeing the woman's condition, and being unable to help her

"black figure in her white cave"

Metaphor is used, referring to the universal image of death, as a physical entity. "Figure" also suggests the woman's blurred vision. This emphasises the isolation of the woman, as well as her impending and unavoidable death

"the round swimming waves of a bell"

Synaesthesia is used, as a visual image describes a sound (signalling the end of the visiting hour) "swimming" could suggest the poets dizziness (confusion) or tears. This is from the patients point of view, so further shows her isolation, and the poets isolation from her

"The hospital smell"

Effective opening grabs the readers attention, by referring to a very vivid and distinctive sensory image (the smell of the hospital) which the reader can relate to

"What seems a corpse/is trundled into a lift and vanishes/heavenward"

Enjambmeant is used to emphasise the last words of the lines, carefully chosen to suggest a finality in death. "Corpse" has connotations of an absence if life and "vanishes" further stresses the narrators view that death is absolute (maccaig himself was an atheist and didn't believe in an afterlife). "Heavenward", therefore, seems incongruous (out of place), although this is simply an example of the narrator trying to avoid the seriousness of the gist by creating a whimsical image

"I will not feel, I will not/feel, until/I have to"

Repetition is used to create the impression of the narrator chanting to himself under his breath, in order to avoid dealing with his emotions

"Here and up and down and there"

Unusual syntax (word order) is another example of the narrator trying to lighten the mood, while also emphasising the number of the nurses he sees. It suggests he it looking all around to find a distraction from his thoughts

"So much pain,so/many deaths.../so many farewells"

Repetition of "so" stresses frequency of the nurses unpleasant dealings, which supports the high esteem, perhaps envy, with which he regards the ability of the nurses to cope

"Ward 7"

A non sentence is used to jolt the reader, just as the narrator is jolted but his arrival at the ward where the patient lies. Caesura is also used to further emphasise the significance of the narrators arrival at the arrival at the ward. This is the turning point of the poem, as the narrator has now reached the patient and must face his emotions

"A withered hand/trembles in its stall"

Pronoun "it" is used to show the humanity of the woman has been diminished, suggesting the narrator doesn't feel she is truly alive anymore. Her body is merely an empty shell, while she is effectively dead

"Books that will not be read/and fruitless fruits"

Enjambment causes the last line to seem like a better addendum, which summarises the narrators despair at the hopelessness of his situation and the isolations both he and his patient have suffered

"Combs my nostrils"

Gives a sense of the persavie power of the smell, and his feelings of being invaded, showing his discomfort

"Corpse"

Connotations of death. Suggests he is preoccupied with the idea of death, as it isn't actually a corpse on the trolley

"Heavenward"

Incongruous with the poets beliefs (or lack of). Simply an example of the narrators using humor to avoid his emotions

"Miraculously"

Suggests the narrators admiration for the nurses abilities, while showing his own worry about the way he will cope with his emotions

"Farewells"

The ending of the verse 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 kind of journey. This, perhaps, shows the narrators desire to believe in an afterlife, especially at such troubling times

"White cave"

Holds connotations of isolation through confusion or sensory blankness (e.g. white noise)

"Not guzzling but giving"

The horror of the "glass fang" image is continued in the word "guzzling", but is then reversed by the positive word "giving". The use of the guttural g sound in the alliteration conveys the harshness or the narrators interpretation: he clearly sees the process as intrusive and pointless

"Clumsily...dizzily"

Shows the narrators overcome by his emotions leaving him dazed and confused

"Fainter"

Showing the woman's vision vision is blurred; the patient can see the narrator becoming less distinct with distance. Could also be a pun, since the narrator may be upset he is starting to feel faint

"Fruitless fruits"

The final words are contradictory/an oxymoron: how can fruits be fruitless? This captures the narrators despair at the pointlessness of the woman's death being prolonged, as well as at his inability to help: bringing the fruits had been fruitless (pointless)

“Nostrils/as they go bobbing along”

Synecdoche is used since not just his nostrils are moving along as the image suggests. This emphasis the overpowering smell of the hospital since it has blocked out his other senses