Analysis of Visiting Hour by Norman Maccaig

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Analysis of Visiting Hour by Norman Maccaig

The poem "Visiting Hour" by Norman Maccaig is a very emotional one.

The poet helps you to understand the situation and his feelings by the

use imagery and word choice.

"Visiting Hour" is written in the first person as the poet himself is

going to hospital to visit a very close relative who is severiorly

unwell and is dying. The poet is having an emotional effect as he is

having different thoughts as the poem progresses. I think that the

poet is trying to contain his feelings by not expressing them freely.

The opening stanza begins with the metaphor "The hospital smell combs

my nostrils." This suggests that the poet is sensing that there is a

strong, disinfectant smell. The metaphor is unusual but very

effective. It almost suggests the poet is feeling a bit of pain and

sets the mood for the rest of the poem. The setting is partly

described with the phrase "green and yellow corridors." The colours

are usually associated with hospitals which makes his word choice more

effective.

The beginning of the second stanza also helps you to understand the

poets situation and his feelings. "What seems a corpse is trundled

into a lift and vanishes heavenward." The description describes a body

descending further and further away until it aboard the lift. It

suggests that the poet is thinking about the possibility of death and

thinking about life after death. I think that the poet has opted for

the word "heavenward" as it states that the poet is looking at life

after death.

The metaphor "I will not feel, until I have to" begins the third

stanza. This suggests that the poet is trying not to fe...

... middle of paper ...

...s stanza effectively convey the idea of the patient

being in a critical state.

The final stanza begins with the effective metaphor "She smiles a

little at this black figure in a white cave." It suggests that the

poet is feeling the odd one out. The poets situation is not helped

when he "clumsily rise in the round swimming waves of a bell." My

personal reaction would be that he would still be feeling empty

inside. The poet ends the poem by phrasing "leaving behind only books

that will not be read and fruitless fruits." This suggest that the

time for the patient has come and she is about to die.

Norman Maccaig has portrait himself in an emotional manner while on

his way to the hospital to visit a close relative. The use of imagery

and word choice has helped the reader to understand his situation and

his feelings.

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