"Hotel Room, 12th Floor" is a free verse poem written by the Scottish poet Norman MacCaig, first published in MacCaig's 1968 collection Rings on a Tree. The poem, which was was inspired by one of several trips MacCaig made to the United States in the mid-1960s, describes a visitor's impressions of New York City from the vantage point of their high-up hotel room. The speaker is unimpressed by the city's massive skyscrapers and compares New York after dark, when the sounds of sirens and violence fill the streets, to the old American frontier. The poem suggests that civilized society is something of an illusion and that the violent side of human nature is inseparable from human progress.
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This morning I watched from here
a helicopter skirting ...
... the PanAm skyscraper.
But now midnight ...
... from foreign places.
Its uncivilised darkness ...
... ups and acrosses
But midnight is ...
... canyons and gulches—
police cars and ...
... glazed on sidewalks.
The frontier is ...
... the midnight out.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
"The Enduring Appeal of Norman MacCaig" — Read an article about Norman MacCaig's poetic legacy.
"When Native Americans Were Slaughtered in the Name of 'Civilization'" — An article from History.com about clashes between white settlers and native peoples on the American frontier.
The American Frontier — Learn more about the history of westward expansionism in the U.S.
The Empire State Building — Check out the official website of the famous New York City landmark.
Norman MacCaig's Life and Work — Learn more about Norman MacCaig via the Scottish Poetry Library.