Visting Hour: Form and Structure

‘Visiting Hour: Form and Structure’

“Visiting Hour” is a lyrical poem that primarily uses free verse to articulate the speaker’s experiences and emotions, contributing to the stream-of-consciousness narrative style.
The absence of any consistent rhyme scheme reflects the hectic, disorganised thoughts the speaker is having during the visiting hour.

The poem is composed of six unrhymed stanzas which vary in length. The variation and inconsistency in stanza length mimic the fluctuating psychological state of the speaker.
Each stanza presents different stages of the speaker’s journey, creating a chronological progression which aids the reader to track the speaker’s emotional movement.
The use of enjambment across stanzas offers a continuous flow of thought, reinforcing the sense of an ongoing, uninterrupted monologue.

MacCaig’s use of emotive language throughout the poem creates a strong and powerful image of the hospital setting, contributing to the overall dismal and melancholic atmosphere.
Words like “corpse”, “vanishes” and “black” tend to evoke feelings of demise, disappearance, and darkness which reflect the depressive state of the speaker’s mind.

The phrase “I will not feel” is repeated in the poem to emphasise the speaker’s attempt to suppress his emotions.
This repetition also portrays a gradual build-up of emotional intensity, suggesting the difficulty in confronting the reality of impending death.

The form and structure of “Visiting Hour” reflect the fluid and fragmented stream of consciousness of the speaker as he navigates a visiting hour at the hospital. The use of free verse, varied stanza length, enjambment and repetition all contribute to the overall melancholic mood of the poem. Emotive language deepens the poignant atmosphere, reinforcing the themes of grief, death, and emotional repression.