Dusting the Phone - Poetry

Question 1

DUSTING THE PHONE

Answer 1

I am spending my time imagining the worst that could happen.
I know this is not a good idea, and that being in love, I could be
spending my time going over the best that has been happening.
The phone rings heralding some disaster. Sirens.
Or it doesn’t ring which also means disaster. Sirens.
In which case, who would ring me to tell? Nobody knows.
The future is a long gloved hand. An empty cup.
A marriage. A full house. One night per week
in stranger’s white sheets. Forget tomorrow,
You say, don’t mention love. I try. It doesn’t work.
I assault the postman for a letter. I look for flowers.
I go over and over our times together, re-read them.
This very second I am waiting on the phone.
Silver service. I polish it. I dress for it.
I’ll give it extra in return for your call.
Infuriatingly, it sends me hoaxes, wrong numbers;
or worse, calls from boring people. Your voice
disappears into my lonely cotton sheets.
I am trapped in it. I can’t move. I want you.
All the time. This is awful – only a photo.
Come on, damn you, ring me. Or else. What?
I don’t know what.

Question 2

Dusting the phone - description

Answer 2

‘Dusting the phone’ is a poem about a person waiting for their lover to call. It has a pessimistic, desperate and powerless tone with a lurching and inconsistent speaker.

Question 3

What is the structure of this poem like?

Answer 3

• stream of consciousness
• free verse structure
• made up mostly of three line unrhymed stanzas
  —> this unregular and varied structure creates the inconsistent atmosphere

Question 4

techniques that are used and why

Answer 4

• caesuras
• enjambment
  this creates a feeling of disjointedness and irregularity that reflects the speaker’s inconsistent thoughts
• repetition of ‘sirens’ causes a feeling of panic
• imagery

Question 5

What are the important images in Dusting the Phone

Answer 5

References to the future:
‘is a long-gloved hand’ - It is concealed with the glove and the future stretches. It also could go in many different directions. - enigmatic, difficult to understand
also suggests the relationship is covered/secret
‘an empty cup’ implies needs unmet
CONTRASTING IMAGERY
‘a marriage. A full house.’ vs ‘One night per week in a stranger’s white sheets’ - commitment versus impermanence
The speaker’s thoughts are frantic and changeable, and her reflections on the future are quite negative, displaying the different situations that could occur.

Question 6

What is the double meaning in Dusting the Phone

Answer 6

‘waiting on the phone’ - double meaning/pun of ‘waiting for’ and ‘waiting on’
‘silver service’
‘I polish. I dress for it.’
—> shows the power imbalance in the poem
—> desperate tone/ hyperbolic - emphasises her loneliness

Question 7

what is the parallelism used in stanza I

Answer 7

‘I am spending my time imagining the worst that could happen’
‘I could be spending my time going over the best that has been happening’
—> shows the emotion of the speaker

Question 8

the negative auditory imagery used

Answer 8

‘heralding’
‘disaster. Sirens’
‘disaster. Sirens’
epistrophe: the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases/clauses

Question 9

what is the relationship between the speaker and her partner like?:

Answer 9

secretive: ‘Nobody knows’
power imbalance: ‘You say, don’t mention love. I try. It doesn’t work’
—> shown by the imperative verb ‘don’t’
—> caesuras create a nervous tone

Question 10

‘lonely cotton sheets’ reflects…

Answer 10

‘in stranger’s white sheets’
–> depressing, indicates a sadder future

Question 11

Final stanza commentary

Answer 11

‘I am trapped in it. I can’t move. I want you.
All the time. This is awful - only a photo.
Come on, damn you, ring me. Or else. What?

I don’t know what.’
- short sentences, more caesuras creating a convulsing feel to the poem
- very helpless, impotent end - no resolution whatsoever

Question 12

mood of the poem

Answer 12

• desperate
• nervous
• frantic/agitated
• frustrated
• develops into resentment
• powerless

Question 13

themes:

Answer 13

• unrequited love
• loneliness

Question 14

how does this poem present love?

Answer 14

• imbalance of power with unequal affections
• the relationship is precarious/insecure so the woman is more and more paranoid and erratic during the poem

Question 15

techniques used in this poem:

Answer 15

• personification of the phone
• semantic field and puns of ‘waiting on’ the phone
• caesuras to create the erratic pace and frantic tone
• imagery of the future

Question 16

words to describe this poem:

Answer 16

lurching, inconsistent, agitated, frantic, anxious, impotent,