"Please Hold," by Irish poet Ciaran O'Driscoll, satirizes an automated phone call during which the speaker attempts to pay a phone bill. As the speaker grows exasperated with the "robot" offering them "countless options"—which aren't really options at all—the poem's extreme repetitiveness and flat tone evoke the agonizing reality of modern technological systems. The poem suggests that these systems frustrate and dehumanize their users, disconnecting people from one another and making them feel expendable. "Please Hold" was published in O'Driscoll's 9th poetry collection, The Speaking Trees (2018).

• Read the full text of “Please Hold”

• “Please Hold” Summary

• “Please Hold” Themes

  • 

    The Limitations and Frustrations of Technology

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-52

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Please Hold”

  • Lines 1-6

    This is the ...
    ... to my needs.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-12

    Wonderful, says the ...
    ... great account number,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-17

    but I can ...
    ... for doing nothing.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-23

    This call is ...
    ... is the future.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-29

    I'm sorry, I ...
    ... just as robotic.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-36

    I scream Agent! ...
    ... of countless alternatives.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 37-40

    We appreciate your ...
    ... fucking Kleine Nachtmusik.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 41-45

    And the robot ...
    ... is the future.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 46-52

    And my translator ...
    ... future. Please hold.

    

    

    

    

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• “Please Hold” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Epistrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where epistrophe appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “says the robot”
    • Line 8: “number”
    • Line 9: “says the robot”
    • Line 10: “number”
    • Line 11: “number”
    • Line 12: “number”
    • Line 14: “account”
    • Line 15: “account”
    • Line 16: “nothing”
    • Line 17: “nothing”
    • Line 18: “says the robot”
    • Line 22: “says the robot”
    • Line 24: “says the robot”
    • Line 26: “Menu”
    • Line 27: “Menu”
    • Line 37: “Please hold.”
    • Line 38: “Please hold.”
    • Line 39: “Please hold.”
    • Line 49: “says the robot”
    • Line 50: “grow old. Please grow cold.”
    • Line 51: “Grow old. Grow cold.”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 43: “And”
    • Line 45: “And”
    • Line 46: “And”
    • Line 50: “Please,” “Please,” “Please”
    • Line 51: “Please,” “Grow,” “Grow”
    • Line 52: “Please”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Lines 2-3
    • Line 3
    • Lines 4-4
    • Line 4
    • Lines 5-5
    • Line 5
    • Line 6
    • Line 7
    • Line 8
    • Line 9
    • Line 10
    • Line 11
    • Line 12
    • Line 13
    • Line 15
    • Line 16
    • Line 17
    • Line 18
    • Line 19
    • Line 20
    • Line 21
    • Line 22
    • Line 23
    • Line 24
    • Line 25
    • Line 26
    • Line 27
    • Line 28
    • Line 29
    • Line 30
    • Line 31
    • Lines 32-33
    • Line 33
    • Line 34
    • Line 35
    • Line 38
    • Line 39
    • Line 40
    • Line 41
    • Line 42
    • Lines 43-44
    • Line 43
    • Lines 45-46
    • Line 48
    • Line 49
    • Lines 50-52

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Line 38: “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.”
    • Line 39: “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.”
    • Line 40: “Eine fucking Kleine Nachtmusik.”

  • Parataxis

    

    

    

    

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    Where parataxis appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-4: “We are already there, and it's the same / as the present. Your future, here, she says. / And I'm talking to a robot on the phone.”
    • Lines 23-24: “And my wife says, This is the future. / I'm sorry, I don't understand, says the robot.”
    • Lines 32-34: “We are already there and it's the same / as the present. Your future, here, she says. / And I'm talking to a robot on the phone,”
    • Lines 37-40: “We appreciate your patience. Please hold. / Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Please hold. / Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Please hold. / Eine fucking Kleine Nachtmusik.”
    • Lines 50-52: “Please hold. Please grow old. Please grow cold. / Please do what you're told. Grow old. Grow cold. / This is the future. Please hold.”

• “Please Hold” 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.

  • Account number
  • Agent
  • Alternatives
  • Guise
  • Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
  • Looting
  • (Location in poem: Line 10: “when I give him my account number.”; Line 12: “and a great account number,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Please Hold”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Please Hold” Speaker

• “Please Hold” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Please Hold”

• More “Please Hold” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Listen to the Poem Out Loud — A 2009 video of O'Driscoll reading his poem at a poetry slam.

    • The Poet's Life and Work — A short biography of O'Driscoll from Poetry International.

    • Southword Poetry Podcast Featuring O'Driscoll — Scroll down to episode 4 to listen to O'Driscoll talk about his poetry.

    • A Little Night Music Recording — Listen to Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"—the song playing over the phone while the speaker is on hold. 

    • Staying Human: Poetry in the Age of Technology — Former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith explains why poetry is an important antidote to the overwhelming presence of modern technology.

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