Norman MacCaig
Visiting Hour
Visiting Hour
 Understanding
After reading through the poem,
write down what you think is
happening in the poem.
 Themes
Do you notice any themes at this stage?
Stanza 1
 How
does the poet help us be there
with him, in our minds?
 What do the lines “The hospital
smell…bobbing along.” tell us about
the effect of the hospital smell on the
poet?
 What are the connotations of the
colours green and yellow in this
context?
Stanza 1
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The poet is making his way along the
hospital corridor to ward 7 where his
seriously ill relative lies.
In stanza 1, the scene is set by reference to
the poet’s senses.
The ‘hospital smell’ is typical of most peoples
experience of hospitals.
The poet creates mood through his word
choice – “combs my nostrils.”
Suggests the smell is so pungent and
unpleasant to him that it reaches right up
into his nose hairs.
“green…yellow” suggests colours of vomit,
pus – again emphasises his discomfort and
unpleasantness of visit.
Stanza 1
SYNECDOCHE
 Lines 2/3 “nostrils…bobbing along”
 Of course his whole body is moving along
the corridor – not just his nostrils.
 The synecdoche focuses attention on the
nostrils in order to strengthen the idea of
the hospital smell being so overpowering, all
other senses are blocked out.
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Stanza 2
“What seems a corpse
is trundled into a lift and vanishes
heavenward.”
 What
do the words in bold tell you
about the poet’s mood at this point?
 What is the effect of enjambment?
Stanza 2
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We know what is on his mind as when he sees the
trolley, he immediately assumes it is a dead body.
“vanishes heavenward” – in fact goes up in a lift,
but as far as poet is concerned, its on its last
journey.
He is clearly worried about his sick relative – has he
come too late?
Enjambment – the effect is to emphasise the last
word of the line (his thoughts of death and finality)
“Trundled” suggests the lack of care taken by the
porter – as if the poet thinks there is no point
taking care as the person is dead. Supports his
feeling of hopelessness.
Stanza 3
 The
poet repeats the words “I will not
feel.” To whom do you think he may
be saying these words and why?
 How
does the repetition and rhythm
add to the overall effect of the verse?
 Explain
the last line of this stanza.
Stanza 3
The poet appears to be talking to himself.
The repetition intensifies the control he is
trying to impose on himself, denying his
feelings as they are too painful.
 Together with the staccato rhythm of this
short verse with its monosyllabic words, the
repetition heightens the atmosphere of
tension.
 The last line shows the poet making a
conscious effort to be detached – he knows
he will have to face up to the situation
eventually, but not yet.
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Stanza 4
 Comment
on the syntax (word order)
of the line “here and up and down and
there.” What effect does it achieve?
 What is the effect of the linking word
‘and’?
 What do these details tell us about
the poet’s attitude to the nurses?
 What does he reveal about himself in
his observations of the nurses?
Stanza 4
This verse gives the sense of bustle in a busy
hospital through the description of the nurses.
 Unusual syntax in line 12 highlights the ubiquitous
(appear to be everywhere) nature of the nurses, as
if they are everywhere at once.
 The repetition of “and” emphasises the distance
the nurses cover and gives an impression of the
speed they move at.
 There is a contrast in how the nurses and the poet
cope with death. “Burden” conveys the extent of
his anguish, yet the nurses are able to deal with
many deaths “their eyes clear”.
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Stanza 5
Comment on the effect of the full stop in
“Ward 7.” Also, what is the effect of the
use of the numeral 7?
 Find 3 examples of metaphor in this verse
and explain the comparison being made,
how appropriate the image/metaphor is,
what is the effect it has/connotations?
 Comment on the use of enjambment in lines
29-30.
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Stanza 5
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“She lies/in a cave of white forgetfulness.”
The bed is screened off by a white curtain like a
cave. “Forgetfulness” because she is barely
conscious.
It is appropriate because she is cut off from the
rest of the ward as effectively as if she were in a
cave on the side of a cliff. Due to the coma, she
cannot communicate with the poet, nor he with
her.
The poet is immediately aware that she is not
accessible to him, or him to her. “White” adds to
the feeling of inaccessibility, as if he is seeing her
through a white haze or white noise – which
impedes communication.
Stanza 5
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“A withered hand/trembles on its stalk,”
“Withered” is appropriate as she is dying and “stalk”
suggests the weakness and thinness of her arm
The trembling hand and eyes moving behind eyelids
are her fluttering uncontrolled attempts to reach
him, so he too, is alone with his pain.
The enjambment emphasises the heaviness of the
patient’s eyelids and the effort she is making to
open them, to communicate with him.
The flower image gives a sense of fragility and her
beauty in the eyes of the poet who looks at her
with love.
Stanza 5
“Into an arm wasted/of colour a glass fang is
fixed/not guzzling but giving.”
 Vampire image intensified by alliteration conveys his
abhorrence at the sight of the drip feeding blood
into her arm.
 He sees the needle as a fang biting into her arm,
like a vampire drinking her blood.
 “wasted of colour” adds to impression that blood is
being taken rather than given.
 Effectively conveys his pity for the suffering of the
patient, his distress and the feeling that the whole
process is pointless and intrusive.
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Stanza 5
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“And between her and me/distance/that
neither she nor I/can cross.”
He bends to kiss her but she doesn’t
respond.
She is alone with her pain which has formed
an invisible barrier between them.
The image conveys his feeling of desolation
and hopelessness at the inability to reach
her.
His isolation is emphasised by the
enjambment – “I” poised at the end of the
line.
Stanza 6
How has the poet changed from the way he
was at the beginning of the poem?
 Comment on the effectiveness of:
The metaphor in line 34
Pun (play on words) in line 35
Paradox ( two opposing ideas) in line 37
Oxymoron (contradiction) in line 38 and
Alliteration in line 38.
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Stanza 6
When the bell rings at the end of visiting
hour, he leaves in a highly emotional state.
 Metaphor – “clumsily rises/in the round
swimming waves of a bell.” he escapes from
his distress like a drowning man to dry land.
 His self control has collapsed as he now
stumbles “clumsily” from the ward.
 “swimming” could suggest his eyes filled with
tears, as well as his head swimming with the
emotion of the experience.
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Stanza 6
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Pun “growing fainter” – the poet would grow
fainter with distance from the patient and he is so
upset he feels faint.
Paradox “Books that will not be read” and
Oxymoron “Fruitless fruits” intensify his distress
and confusion.
She is beyond his reach and he can do nothing for
her. She is past reading or eating. He has gone
through the motions of a visit but knows his
presence has made no difference to the final
outcome.
Alliteration intensifies the futility of the situation.
Visiting Hour
The themes of this poem are facing death
(both of the patient and the loss of a loved
one), inevitability of death (it is impossible
to stop) and problems of communication.
 It is written in FREE VERSE (it has no
pattern or rhyme)
 It is written in the FIRST PERSON – poet
can express his feelings from the inside,
which an observer would be unable to
detect. We see his feelings as genuine.
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Visiting Hour
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS (speaking
to oneself, an interior monologue) style
makes us sympathise with the poet as we
can put ourselves in his position and
identify with his feelings.
 We arrive with him, walk through the
corridor with him and leave with him – this
increases the emotional impact of poem.
 We follow the build up and release of his
feelings.
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Visiting Hour
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The overall structure contributes to the
atmosphere and mood.
Stanzas 1-3 are short, staccato and create a
sense of place, atmosphere and the poet’s
feelings
Stanza 4 – sense of busy hospital
Stanza 5 – main action, sense of hush in the
presence of dying woman.
Stanza6 – opening of floodgates of poet’s
emotions in face of his inevitable loss.
Visiting Hour
Think about…
 Is it less of an ordeal for the dying
person than the one left behind?
 Dying is something we have to do
alone, despite being surrounded by
loved ones?
 How realistic do you find the poet’s
feelings?