Eletelephony Poem

Today we will learn about a funny poem that was written by one of the most famous poets of all time named Laura Elizabeth Richards. The poem ‘Eletelephony’ makes us imagine a funny elephant who tries to use the ‘telephant’. Laura Richards, in her poem, wants the readers to have a laugh about how animals can be as clever as human beings and start using telephones to talk to other elephants.

The poem also tells us that the elephant is new to such kinds of telephonic machines. This is also one of the reasons why the poet wants us to imagine how witty and funny it would be to imagine elephants making calls through a telephone. We will read this funny poem in this article and we will also understand the Eletelephony poem summary. So let's start!

Eletelephony Poem

Once there was an elephant,

Who tried to use the telephant-

No! No! I mean an elephone

Who tried to use the telephone-

(Dear me! I am not certain quite 

That even now I’ve got it right.)

Howe’er it was, he got his trunk

Entangled in the telephunk;

The more he tried to get it free,

The louder buzzed the telephee-

(I fear I’d better drop the song 

Of elephop and telephong!)

                                                                                        By: Laura Elizabeth Richards

Eletelephony Poem Meaning

The Eletelephony poem explanation suggests that the poem was only written to create a humorous effect on the minds of kids. This is because it is almost impossible for elephants to use the telephone machine on their own. This is the sole reason why the poet feels that kids should have a laugh about it. The receiver of the telephone would be gigantic because elephants have large ears and the sight of them talking over the phone would surely make you laugh.

However, after reading the poem, we can understand that the poet might be in her childhood days when she is imagining a scenario where elephants have discovered a new machine named ‘Elephone’.

Elephant Trying to Make a Call

The first four lines of the poem are all about the imagination of the poet. She tells the readers that there is a strange yet funny elephant who is trying to use the telephone that has been designed for elephants. Funnily, the poet cannot believe that even such kinds of things would be possible in reality. Therefore, she says, “Dear me! I am not certain.

Even now I’ve got it right.”

Elephant is Confused About How to Use the Telephant

In the next couple of lines, the poet describes how the elephant is using the elephone. She says that the elephant has entangled the elephone in his trunk to get a good hold of it. But, the elephant could not get it which is why “The more he tried to get it free,

The louder buzzed the telephee-”

Theme of the Poem

The poem, Eletelephony, is based on one of the biggest animals living on the planet, the elephants. The poet imagines that these large emotional creatures would one day start to use telephones to call other elephants, which seems to be quite funny because it is impossible in reality. The poet wants to showcase her love for animals through this poem, which surprisingly, also becomes the theme of the poem.

Funny Elephant

Eletelephony Poem Summary

Eletelephony poem PDF may be available on several websites but the summary in this article would be enough to understand what the poet wants its readers to learn through this poem. Not only kids but adults too can laugh about such witty and humorous poems because of their nonsensical imaginations. The poet wants to say that it is great to sometimes think of things that are not possible in reality and smile about them because we need to be happy in our lives. Similarly, this poem is one of those poems that does not discriminate between reality and wacky imagination.

So, in this article, we learnt a humorous poem with its summary and also the Eletelephony poem explanation. We tried to understand the imagination of the poet through the poem. We hope this article was beneficial for you.