Hotel Room, 12th Floor: Stanza 2

Hotel Room, 12th Floor: Stanza 2

‘Hotel Room, 12th Floor’: Stanza 2

Description of the Night Scene

• The second stanza brings in the night, transforming the atmosphere from calm to chaotic.
• Setting details like “uncivilised darkness” and “warwhoops” vividly portray the wild, unruly side of the city.

Use of Imagery

• MacCaig further employs powerful imagery to depict the city’s transformation.
• Phrases like “a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect” and “the broken bones of a dead city” paint a dark, violent picture of New York at night.

Symbolism

• The “damaged insect” metaphor symbolises the city’s struggle against its innate wildness.
• MacCaig also likens New York to a “frontier”, suggesting its similarity to the untamed wildlands of early America.

Use of Sound

• MacCaig uses sound effectively to convey the chaotic nature of the city.
• Sounds like “warwhoops” and “sirens” contribute to the unsettling atmosphere and give a sense of danger and turmoil.

Ominous Tone

• The stanza captures an ominous tone, furthered by references to “war” and “wild west”.
• It suggests that underneath the city’s modern facade, there is an inherent wildness and unruliness akin to the frontier lands.

Summary

• In the second stanza of ‘Hotel Room, 12th Floor’, MacCaig effectively captures the contrasting side of New York - its wild, chaotic and somewhat sinister nature at night.
• His use of vivid imagery, sound, and symbolism pushes readers into thinking about the complexities of modern city life.