The following poem is a portrait of an experienced hospital nurse.
The greater masters of the commonplace,
Rembrandt and good Sir Walter¹—only these
Could paint her all to you: experienced ease
And antique liveliness and ponderous grace;
The sweet old roses of her sunken face;
The depth and malice of her sly, grey eyes;
The broad Scots tongue that flatters, scolds, defies;
The thick Scots wit that fells you like a mace.
These thirty years has she been nursing here,
Some of them under Syme², her hero still.
Much is she worth, and even more is made of her.
Patients and students hold her very dear.
The doctors love her, tease her, use her skill.
They say 'The Chief' himself is half-afraid of her.
¹ Sir Walter: Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish novelist and poet
² Syme: James Syme, a celebrated Edinburgh surgeon
The nurse is presented as
- Agentle and self-effacing.
- Bformidable yet greatly valued.
- Cfrail and near the end of her working life.
- Dbitter and unloved by those around her.
About this product
This is a full practice mock for section 1.