"Telephone Conversation" has a single stanza, 37 lines total, free verse (no rhymes), and a narrative form that is both internal, expressed via conversation, and external, communicated through dialogue. The poem was published in May 1876 in the New York Tribune under the pseudonym "Oliver Wendell Holmes." It was later included in his collection Merely English (1877). The poem describes two conversations between an unnamed man and woman. The first conversation takes place at 11:30 on a weekday morning in April, and the second conversation occurs at 3:15 on Sunday afternoon in August. Both conversations last for about 20 minutes. During each conversation, the speaker notes various events that occur, such as calls being made or received on a telephone. At the end of each conversation, the speaker adds a comment on what has happened during that time. Holmes based "The Telephone" on his own experience with the new technology. In fact, he used information from interviews he conducted with businessmen to write this poem. He claimed in interviews that he could remember specific details from each of his conversations because they lasted so long. Although written more than 100 years ago, "The Telephone" remains relevant today.