In the Theatre

This poem is a poem based on the perspective of Abse's brother, who was a dresser to a well known surgeon. It talks about one particular surgery,  in which Dr Wilfred Abse is a dresser for a well known brain surgeon opperating on a patient with a brain tumour under only local anaesthetic, making him awake throughout the surgury, in Wales. The surgeon is described as incompitent and towards the end of the poem the patient starts to talk, before he dies. The main theme is a disregard for human nice, as well as title's wrongly advertising people and the connection between the body mind and soul. There is a stronger rhyme scheme at first which disappears reflecting the patients life. 

Stanza 1:

• 'sister saying' is alliteration emphasizing the fact she is only saying things not doing anything. Also set's scene as it suggests Nun which suggests it is back in time, as well as hinting what is about to happen is ungodly. 
• 'sister thinking' contrasts what she says with patients to what she really thinks.
• 'only two more left' suggests she is selfish.
• 'the patient' is anonymous possibly because the persona is detaching himslef from something that will die, or because he is having brain surgery he is loosing his mind and personality. 
• 'small voices, small lies' suggests it is meaningless and they are tip toeing around the truth, trying not to think about it. AS well as drifting consciousness. 
• 'blink again and again' may suggest he will sleep/die?
• 'nothing untoward' shows them justifying themselfs, these lies are expected and necessary. 
• 'because of the fingers of Lambert Rogers' suggests fickle hope resting on merely fingers. Shows patients lack of control and the control the doctor has as he is named, given status, he gets the credit and judgement. 
• 'rash as a blind man's' shows that despite his status this name is no more use than anyone else's in this situation. Alternatively because blind peoples other senses are hightened this could reflect his expertise. 'rash' suggests making quick un thoughtout decisions and mistakes. 
• 'soft brain' suggest vulnerability, as well as hinting the man is stupid for letting the surgeon do it to him. 

Stanza 2:

• 'horror' shows how this event is seen as a terrible thing, but actually they were trying to help. 
• 'growth still undiscovered' suggests the surgeon is bad, and that this is part of the patient, possibly suggesting the doctor is taking part of his mind/soul away. 
• 'ticking it's own wild time'  connotes a bomb, reflecting how the his death is inevitable and how when he dies it affects the people around him too, linking to the end of the poem. 'wild' also suggests the poem is evil, uncontrollable and out of societies norms however possibly natural, linking to the growth being part of him. 'ticking' suggests running out of time and 'it's own' shows a lack of control. 
• 'brain mashed' shows the surgeon just ruining the patient. Graphic imagery. 
• 'probes braille path' shows how much it is about feeling the tumor and his medical ineptitude.  
• 'desperate fingering' suggests he is not actually helping. 
• 'two more on the list' shows the people not thinking and caring about this specific patient. 

Stanza 3:

• 'cracked record in the brain' may suggest the brain can;t function the same because of what the surgeon has done, or is ruin, will no longer be able to play. Could link to memories going over and over or a broken soul. 
• 'ventriloquist voice' suggests the patient has become just a dummy body controlled by the surgeon, has lost freedom and personality and is being touched unlike a human. 
• 'cried' denotes his pain.
• 'leave my soul alone' is harrowing giving a sombre tone, and this repeated gives idea of broken record. 'leave' command shows trying to regain power and cry suggests the surgeon was ruining not only the body but the soul, he felt like it was altering him. 
• 'patients eyes too wide' links to how he should not be awake going through this, as well as suggesting he is seeing something more that people don't understand. suggests what is happening is unnatural.
• 'shocked' and 'petrified' shows how what is happening to this patient affects others, they havent seen anything like it. 

Stanza 4:

• 'voice so arctic' shows he is in a distance place they don't understand, 'cold' suggesting he is dead. 
• 'cry so odd' shows a lack of understanding. 
• 'had nowhere else to go' shows they took away his life, irrepareably altered him, had to escape, last life is escaping him. 
• 'antique gramaphone wound down' suggests it was the end of his time, he is dying and his words are being quietened. Could suggest becoming a machine, loosing personality.
• 'words began to blur' words making you who you are shows he is loosing himself in dying, loosing freedom of speech and all power.
• 'cease at last' shows it is a good thing. 
• 'silence matched the silence under snow', could show an understanding of death, with is to most completely unknown and cold, but also pure and natural. Snow blankets something ugly which could also be death. People are so silent they are almost lifeless.  

Links:

• understanding of death 'days'
• wrongly advertised 'essential beauty' 'send no money'
• humans being bad