“The Telephone Call” Introduction

• Read the full text of “The Telephone Call”

“The Telephone Call” Summary

“The Telephone Call” Themes

• 

  Hope and Disappointment

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-48
• 

  Illusions vs. Experience

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 9-48

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Telephone Call”

• Lines 1-4

  They asked me ...
  ... Ultra-Super Global Special.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 5-8

  What would you ...
  ... millionaire." And they laughed.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 9-13

  "Are you OK?" ...
  ... us about it."

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 14-20

  I said "I ...
  ... to sneeze—or cry."

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 21-26

  "That's right" they ...
  ... you a moment…"

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 26-32

  "Hang on!" I said. ...
  ... retrospective Chances Module.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 33-37

  Nearly everyone's bought ...
  ... lucky person is."

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 38-42

  "Well, that's incredible" ...
  ... deal in money.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 43-48

  Experiences are what ...
  ... line went dead.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“The Telephone Call” Symbols

• 

  The Lottery

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 2-4: “This is Universal Lotteries," / they said. "You've won the top prize, / the Ultra-Super Global Special.”
  • Lines 27-37: “"I haven’t bought a lottery ticket / for years and years. And what did you say / the company’s called?" They laughed again. / "Not to worry about a ticket. / We're Universal. We operate / A retrospective Chances Module. / Nearly everyone's bought a ticket / in some lottery or another, / once at least. We buy up the files, / feed the names into our computer, / and see who the lucky person is."”
  • Lines 42-47: “"We don't deal in money. / Experiences are what we deal in. / You've had a great experience, right? / Exciting? Something you’ll remember? / That's your prize. So congratulations / from all of us at Universal.”

“The Telephone Call” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Irony

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where irony appears in the poem:

  • Lines 11-12: “I said "I just… I can't believe it!" / They said "That’s what they all say.”
  • Lines 41-48: “"Oh," they said, "there's no cheque." / "But the money?" "We don't deal in money. / Experiences are what we deal in. / You've had a great experience, right? / Exciting? Something you’ll remember? / That's your prize. So congratulations / from all of us at Universal. / Have a nice day!"”

• Rhetorical Question

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

  • Lines 44-45: “You've had a great experience, right? / Exciting? Something you’ll remember?”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “Universal Lotteries”
  • Line 5: “a million pounds”
  • Line 6: “a million”
  • Line 8: “millionaire”
  • Line 10: “tell us”
  • Line 13: “Go on,” “tell us”
  • Line 17: “Go on”
  • Line 19: “My,” “my”
  • Line 20: “cry”
  • Line 24: “a million pounds”
  • Line 25: “cry”
  • Line 26: “I said”
  • Line 27: “lottery ticket”
  • Line 28: “years,” “years”
  • Line 30: “a ticket”
  • Line 31: “Universal”
  • Line 33: “a ticket”
  • Line 34: “lottery”
  • Line 38: “I said”
  • Line 40: “cheque”
  • Line 41: “cheque”
  • Line 42: “money,” “money”
  • Line 43: “Experiences”
  • Line 44: “experience”
  • Line 47: “Universal”

• Dialogue

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where dialogue appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-48

• Cliché

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where cliché appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Are you sitting down?”
  • Line 11: “I can't believe it!”
  • Line 12: “That’s what they all say.”
  • Line 23: “It isn't every day”
  • Line 25: “have a little cry”
  • Line 48: “Have a nice day!”

“The Telephone Call” 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.

• Universal Lotteries
• The Ultra-Super Global Special
• Pounds
• Flying saucer
• Retrospective
• Chances Module
• Cheque
• The line

• (Location in poem: Line 2: “This is Universal Lotteries”; Line 31: “We're Universal.”; Lines 46-47: “So congratulations / from all of us at Universal.”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Telephone Call”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Telephone Call” Speaker

“The Telephone Call” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Telephone Call”

More “The Telephone Call” Resources

• External Resources

  • An Interview with the Poet — Listen to an interview with Fleur Adcock about her life and career.

  • A Profile of the Poet — Read about Adcock at the Postcolonial Studies blog at Emory University.

  • A Retrospective — Read a retrospective on Adcock's career, published in The Guardian upon the release of her Collected Poems (2000).

  • The Poet's Life and Work — A brief biography of Adcock from the Poetry Foundation.

  • More Adcock Resources — A biography, bibliography, and critical perspective on the poet, via the British Council Literature.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Fleur Adcock

  • For Heidi With Blue Hair