taken from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Hospital_beds_for_Guantanamo_Captives.JPG/800px-Hospital_beds_for_Guantanamo_Captives.JPG
lucozade annotations to copy out!
In lines 1-6 the speaker makes clear her sense of incompetence. First of all her inability to do anything is expressed when she talks about the ‘sad chrysanthemums.’ This is transferred epithet. At this point it is not the flowers who feel sad but the girl speaking. She feels sad because she is unable to do anything to make her mum better. In the third line she states quite clearly ‘I am scared my mum is going to die’. She identifies very clearly for us here her fear of her mother’s death. She, obviously, doesn’t want her mother to die but she feels that that is what is going to happen. By stating this out loud she acknowledges that this is a possibility and infers that she has no control over it. In lines 5-6, we get a sense that the speaker is helplessly watching her mother in the bed. She says ‘she nods off and her eyes go back in head’. This is quite a scary image, like her mother is passing out. The girl can do nothing to stop it.
In lines 9-20 we get a clear sense that the mother is not very happy at being in the hospital, that she resents the fuss and is incredibly bored. First of all she attacks the doctors. She uses the metaphor ‘swarm of eyes’ to describe how they examine her body. She feels invaded and objectified. She is merely a problem for the doctors to solve, not a human with an illness. She speaks of their ‘white lies’, the falsehoods they tell her in order to stop her panicking about her illness. She begrudges this as she’d rather deal with the truth of her illness.
The magazines brought in to keep her occupied bore and upset her. The Woman’s Own is ‘too much about size’. The magazine articles tear healthy women apart for being too skinny or too fat. She finds this disturbing as she is wasting away due to her illness. She does not want to be reminded of how unhealthy she is.
She also hates the things people bring in to her as gifts. Yes, she is ill and wants to put healthy things into her body but she would also like luxuries and treats too. The use of, and wording of, a list emphasises all the treats she would like to have. The multiple objects listed shows how many delicious things she could have. The alliteration of ‘big brandy’ hammers into us how much she desires this treat – she wants it to be huge. Again this is repeated in the next item ‘generous gin’. She wants alcohol and a lot of it. Then she lists foods she craves – ‘biscuits’, chocolate gingers’ ‘dirty big meringue’. The use of ‘dirty’ tells us she knows these things are bad for her, but the excited tone here shows how much she is missing them, and infers that the hospital food and gifts are bland in comparison.
In stanza 5 Kay uses personification to describe the grapes with ‘no imagination’. Again this is transferred epithet. Really she means that her visitors are uncreative and bore her.
In lines 25-28, we get a sense that the mother is much calmer and serene by the end of the hospital visit. She is described as being ethereal (heavenly) in these lines. The hospital sheets are described as ‘billowing’ and ‘whirling’ suggesting a lightness to them, and therefore giving a sense that things are better. We get told that the mother’s face has become ‘light and radiant’, she no longer seems ill. Instead she appears to give off energy. We are told that the hospital table is ‘divine’. This is still linked to the mother and it suggests that the mother has become holy and pure.
The last line of the poem is effective as it gives a sense of hope about the mother recovering fully. The daughter is ‘singing an old song’. Throughout the rest of the poem she has been tense and worried. The fact that she is now singing suggests this tension has been released and that she feels positive. Her mother pepping up has in turn pepped her up.
