Please Hold, Ciaran O'Driscoll

significance of the title

• a refrain that echoes throughout the entire poem - almost haunts the speaker/mocks technology taking over the world

• ‘hold’ emphasises the lack of human connection and touch and the stagnation of the dystopia that technology brings

form

• free verse

• 2 long stanzas

• satirical poem - derives humour from the familiarity the reader might feel

• heteroglossia (3 voices → speaker, wife, robot as an allegorical figure for technology holistically)

main themes

• technology

• satire

• humanity/age

limitations and frustrations of technology

• expressed through refrains of “and my wife says ‘this is the future’” by the robot and the wife, whose voices become intermingled and hard to discern from one another, suggesting the parasitic nature of technology

• refrain of '“eine kleine nachtmusik. please hold.” (“one small night”) is a diatribe against the incessant nature of the answering machine → monotony of the hold music creates familiarity + humour that he becomes so angry at such gentle sounding music

• the anaphora, epistrophe, and inflected repetition create a jarring rhythm to mimic the frustration the speaker feels on the phone with the frustration the reader feels reading the poem

• "inflected repetition/refrain of “[x] meet my needs” → humans haven’t truly progressed, have created something that outshines them in intelligence and the dangers of that

the last stanza

• “please do what you’re told” → warning against becoming mindlessly obedient to technology’s demands

• “grow old” with waiting for the robot to answer + commenting on how society exploits/preys on the older generation not being able to keep up with the rapid advancement of technology

• “grow cold” meaning to end technology (always humming, electrical, warm)/willing the digital age to die/satirising the fact that technology means the older generations are being left behind

• “please hold” - final cold statement signifying the triumph of technology over humanity/plea for humanity to prevail and to hold one another tangibly once again