'’hospital smell combs my nostrils’’
Metaphor
- the smell is overpowering- it becomes a comb brushing through nose hair.
- Poet established a playful mood at the beginning.
’’ go bobbing along’’
Synecdoche:
- of course, not just his nostrils are moving along, as the image would suggest.
- This emphasises the powerful nature of ‘the hospital smell’’, since it has blocked out his other senses.
'’Green and yellow’’
Word choice
- The colours have connotations of sickness, which further stresses the poet’s discomfort in these surroundings.
'’corpse’’
‘‘vanishes’’
‘‘Heavenward’’
Enjambment:
- poet uses enjambment to highlight words associated with death.
’’ I will not feel, I will not feel’’
Repetition:
- poet seems to be chanting to himself- trying to control his emotions.
'’Here and up and down and there’’
Structure
- the unusual word order is emphasising the number of nurse he sees and their activity.
’’ Miraculously’’
Word choice
- Poet admires the difficult job nurse have facing death regularly.
- Suggests he cannot understand how they do it.
’’ of so much pain, so many deaths’’
Repetition
- of ‘‘so’’ stresses the frequency of the nurses’ unpleasant dealings.
’’ Ward 7 ‘’
- A minor sentence draws attention to this turning point in the poem.
- The speaker has arrived at his destination.
’’ white cave of forgiveness’’
Metaphor:
- suggesting the white curtains or sheets are cave like.
- this shows the isolation of the woman, and the poet’s exclusion from her.
’’ withered hand trembles on its stall.’’
Metaphor
- suggesting the woman’s body is brittle and frail, by comparing it to a dying flower.
’’ withered’’
‘’ trembles’’
‘‘wasted’’
Word choice ‘’ withered’’, ‘’ trembles’’, ‘‘wasted’’ all suggest the patient is close to death.
'’Bobbing’’
Word choice
- has pleasant connotations, as though he is trying to trick himself into thinking the experience won’t be as bad as he anticipates.
'’guzzling but giving’’
Alliteration
- the harsh sound of the alliterative g conveys a sense of bitterness. The speaker feels the medication is both intrusive and ineffective.
'’black figure in her white cave.’’
Metaphor:
- contrast in colours highlights distance between patients and visitor.
'’black figure’’
- could relate to grim reaper - returning to death theme.
'’swimming waves of a bell’’
Word choice
- implies he is overwhelmed or drowning in his emotions as he recognises the bell’s significance.
synaesthesia
- where one sense, in this case sight, is used to evoke another, the sound of the bell marking the end of visiting hour.
For the speaker though, this bell has much deeper connotations -
it represents the last time he will see the patient.
’’ fruitless fruit’’
Paradox/ oxymoron
- The final image of the books and the oxymoronic fruitless fruits stand as reminders of the proximity of death.
- paradox highlights how desperate and hopeless the speaker’s situation is and ends on a sad note of despair.
Key themes
- Facing death
- Isolation
Themes connect with
- Assisi
- Aunt Julia
- Memorial
- Sounds of the day
