![]() One could relate this to life in a nursing home because the occupants are there to live, while repeating the same cycles of everyday life until they pass away. “Nine-to-five,” also a phrase, is used to describe a conventional and possibly tedious job that is monotonous. The term is often used to describe the appearance of men who work the traditional nine-to-five workday. Through his use of diction, each line in Sir Betjeman’s poem has an underlying meaning supported with connotative terms and expressions to illustrate tone.ĭiction’s effect on tone is evident within the very title of this poem, "Five O'Clock Shadow," which is a beard growth visible late in the day on a man whose face was clean-shaven in the morning. The diction in Sir John Betjeman’s “Five O’Clock Shadow” enhances the narrators feeling of ongoing agony and despondency to show the conditions of the nursing home and the emotional impact it has on its occupants. The quick pain of a cut-throat razor, removing this five-o-clock shadow on your soul, sometimes seems more desirable than the bored futility of these periods even to those who know they will eventually recover. Not even allowed out of bed to sit on a chair the bedclothes feel that much heavier because you feel you don't need them at 5 o'clock in the same way as you would at midnight. The frustration at not even being able to choose what music to listen to on the tranisitor all add to the pall, or shadow, cast on the day. The isolation you feel even in a crowded ward as you hear the cars driving away. The rejection you feel coupled with the dejection that you are not leaving with them. ![]() Even the ward sister has left albeit temporarily and is relaxing in her office with a cup of tea. Doctor's rounds are over and they too have escaped for a round of golf. Those of us who have spent time in hospital know the mental anguish that descends once the afternoon visiting is over and your visitors have left. I-Like-Rhymes - What a vivid picture is conjured up by these few verses.
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