“Green and yellow corridors”.
The description of the colours of the wall has connotations of disease, infections and vomit. This shows us once again that he is finding the visit discomforting and uneasy.
As the narrator watches the nurses in the hospital, he can’t help but think highly of them and considers them to possess an angelic quality:
“Nurses walk lightly, swiftly,
here and up and down and there.”
This lexical choice deliberately emphasises the way he thinks that they are remarkable as they are so efficient and seem to be everywhere at once due to their tremendous business. Linking the words with ‘and’ makes these lines have a sort of rhythm; this reinforces the idea of the hospital being so busy. Furthermore, he notices their lean physiques:
“Their slender waists miraculously
carrying their burden”.
He feels that the nurses are so tiny and graceful but they play a massive part in the running of the entire hospital; they may be small but they are the ones who visitors lean on in times of anguish. No outsider could tell just by looking at them what they have gone through.
“Their eyes
still clear after
so many farewells”.
He is getting closer to his destination, so he talks of pain and farewells which he is anticipating to be the outcome of his visit. He acknowledges that the nurses have experienced a lot in their line of work and respects that they can still remain so composed and brave after all the deaths they have seen whereas he feels he can’t bear the sorrow of losing just one relative. Upon his arrival, he states:
“Ward 7.”
The use of the abrupt statement followed by a full stop shows how he stops completely in his tracks. He is finally ready to confront his feelings. The digit seven is more effective than the word because it allows the user to see through MacCaig’s eyes. He has feared this moment for quite some time and is preparing himself for what lies ahead.
As the narrator enters ward 7, he witnesses a frail, exhausted figure whose:
”A withered hand
trembles on its stalk”.
In the metaphor, the woman’s hand is compared to a withered flower; it highlights how fragile she really is. The word choice is excellent because like the withered flower, this woman is dying and her arms as so thin, they are almost stalk-like. The flower imagery also suggests the woman’s former beauty which the narrator can still see. The reader feels a great deal of sympathy at this point, both for the woman and the narrator who has to endure her physical weakness without being able to do anything to help.
“And between her and me
distance shrinks till there is none left
but the distance of pain that neither she nor I
can cross.”
MacCaig realises that she can’t respond to him at all, she is isolated in her bubble of pain and suffering and neither of them can do anything to rupture the communication barrier that is separating them; they are worlds apart. The reader feels heartbroken because he is trying to reach out to her and it must be heart-wrenching for him to know that there is nothing he can do.
Once he enters the ward, he sees his relative lying vulnerably in a hospital bed:
“She lies
in a white cave of forgetfulness”.
A vivid image is illustrated in this metaphor of a single, isolated bed, cut off from the ward around by a white curtain similar to a cave in a cliff. It presents the reader with the notion that she is alone in the world; in a coma incapable of communicating with anyone.
In stanza 5, the narrator notices the tubes connected to her:
“Into an arm wasted
of colour a glass fang is fixed,
not guzzling but giving”.
The image formed here is of a bright-eyed; crazed vampire roughly feeding on pale skinned prey. He feels as if the needles are adding to her suffering and not helping her in any way. The choices of words such as “guzzling” make the reader cringe as they conjure up obscene images. Again through his negative word-choice, the narrator’s discomfort is made clear.
Nearing the end of the poem, MacCaig absconds with his emotions running wild:
“Who clumsily rises
in the round swimming waves of a bell”.
This line holds deeps connotations of the sea, salt water and tears; implying that his vision is blurred because of the tears built up in his eyes. All of his thoughts and feelings are making him dizzy and he can’t manage it, as if he is drowning in his sorrow. He has lost all self control, which is why he “clumsily rises” and leaves the ward. The use of oxymoron in:
“Leaving behind only
books that will not be read
and fruitless fruits”
makes clear how he feels that the entire visit has been of no benefit to him or her; her condition is beyond his reach. He explains that the books will not be read because she is heading for death and the fruits are “fruitless” because they will too be of no use to her, she can’t consume them; defeating their purpose. He departs feeling saddened that his presence was making no difference to the path she was heading towards.
Overall, “Visiting Hour” is extremely emotional and moving as MacCaig uses effective techniques to convey his feelings to us and it makes the reader more aware of overpowering feelings which people sometimes feel they have to hide. As I have visited a sick relative, I can relate to the whole experience and the feelings conveyed. We can imagine the scenes vividly through the narrator’ eyes due to his focus on senses; sight and smell and the unusual, sophisticated metaphors give us a strong picture of how ill his relative is. MacCaig demonstrates an exceptional poem in which he bares his feelings and his ingeniously written piece has left a long-lasting impression on me.
