all watched over by machines of loving grace
All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.
I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.
I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.
questions
1. Every time the poet repeats "I like to think," he follows with a remark in parentheses. List these remarks. What is he impatiently hoping for?
2. The imagery in this poem is striking because it mixes two categories of things that we normally think of as having nothing in common What are these two categories? (Look at lines 4, 12, 13, and 14).
3. Are machine usually regarded as the enemies of nature or the guardians of nature? How are thet viewed in this poem?
4. Why is the phrase "machines of loving grace" unusual and surpirsing?
5. This poem is a vision of the future, but in what sense might it be said that we already live under the guardianship of machines? Do you think of them as machine of "loving grace"? Explain why or why not?
6. Do you think any part of this poet's vision can come true? Would you want his vision of the future to come true -- or do you find it unappealing? Explain.
7. Would you call this poem optimistic or pessimistic in tone? Why?
2. The imagery in this poem is striking because it mixes two categories of things that we normally think of as having nothing in common What are these two categories? (Look at lines 4, 12, 13, and 14).
3. Are machine usually regarded as the enemies of nature or the guardians of nature? How are thet viewed in this poem?
4. Why is the phrase "machines of loving grace" unusual and surpirsing?
5. This poem is a vision of the future, but in what sense might it be said that we already live under the guardianship of machines? Do you think of them as machine of "loving grace"? Explain why or why not?
6. Do you think any part of this poet's vision can come true? Would you want his vision of the future to come true -- or do you find it unappealing? Explain.
7. Would you call this poem optimistic or pessimistic in tone? Why?
| all_watched_questions.pdf |
