"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.

• Read the full text of “Hotel Room, 12th Floor”

• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Summary

• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Themes

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    Civilization and the Darkness of Human Nature

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-21

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Hotel Room, 12th Floor”

  • Line 1

    This morning I watched from here

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 2-5

    a helicopter skirting ...
    ... the PanAm skyscraper.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-7

    But now midnight ...
    ... from foreign places.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-9

    Its uncivilised darkness ...
    ... ups and acrosses

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-14

    But midnight is ...
    ... canyons and gulches—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-18

    police cars and ...
    ... glazed on sidewalks.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-21

    The frontier is ...
    ... the midnight out.

    

    

    

    

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• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Symbols

  • 

    Darkness and Light

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-9: “But now midnight has come in / from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness / is shot at by a million lit windows, all / ups and acrosses”
    • Lines 10-11: “But midnight is not / so easily defeated.”
    • Lines 15-18: “police cars and ambulances racing / to the broken bones, the harsh screaming / from coldwater flats, the blood / glazed on sidewalks.”
    • Lines 20-21: “And no stockades / can keep the midnight out.”

• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect / the Empire State Building”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “the Empire State Building, that / jumbo size dentist’s drill”
    • Lines 6-9: “But now midnight has come in / from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness / is shot at by a million lit windows, all / ups and acrosses”
    • Lines 12-14: “hear / the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through / the glittering canyons and gulches”

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-11: “But now midnight has come in / from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness / is shot at by a million lit windows, all / ups and acrosses / But midnight is not / so easily defeated.”
    • Lines 13-14: “the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through / the glittering canyons and gulches—”
    • Lines 19-21: “The frontier is never / somewhere else. And no stockades / can keep the midnight out.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “here / a”
    • Lines 2-3: “insect / the”
    • Lines 3-4: “that / jumbo”
    • Lines 4-5: “landing / on”
    • Lines 6-7: “in / from”
    • Lines 7-8: “darkness / is”
    • Lines 8-9: “all / ups”
    • Lines 10-11: “not / so”
    • Lines 11-12: “between / a”
    • Lines 12-13: “hear / the”
    • Lines 13-14: “through / the”
    • Lines 15-16: “racing / to”
    • Lines 16-17: “screaming / from”
    • Lines 17-18: “blood / glazed”
    • Lines 19-20: “never / somewhere”
    • Lines 20-21: “stockades / can”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-11: “But now midnight has come in / from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness / is shot at by a million lit windows, all / ups and acrosses / But midnight is not / so easily defeated.”
    • Lines 20-21: “And no stockades / can keep the midnight out.”

  • Synecdoche

    

    

    

    

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    Where synecdoche appears in the poem:

    • Lines 16-18: “to the broken bones, the harsh screaming / from coldwater flats, the blood / glazed on sidewalks.”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “helicopter skirting like,” “insect”
    • Line 4: “dentist’s drill”
    • Line 7: “from foreign,” “Its uncivilised darkness”
    • Line 11: “bed, between”
    • Line 13: “wildest,” “warwhoops,” “continually ululating”
    • Line 14: “glittering,” “gulches”
    • Line 16: “broken bones,” “screaming”
    • Line 17: “from coldwater flats”
    • Lines 17-18: “blood / glazed”
    • Line 20: “somewhere else”
    • Lines 20-21: “stockades / can keep”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “dentist’s drill”
    • Line 11: “bed, between”
    • Line 13: “wildest,” “warwhoops”
    • Line 14: “glittering,” “gulches”
    • Line 16: “broken bones”

• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Vocabulary

  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 Empire State Building
  • PanAm
  • Uncivilised
  • Ululating
  • Gulches
  • Frontier
  • Stockades
  • (Location in poem: Lines 2-3: “a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect / the Empire State Building”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Hotel Room, 12th Floor”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Speaker

• “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Hotel Room, 12th Floor”

• More “Hotel Room, 12th Floor” Resources

  • External Resources

    • "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.

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