"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
24 April 2006And she didn't know itErica T. Carter is a highly-respected contemporary poet, working primarily in blank verse. At least, I have high respect for her, given the fact that she's not a person at all, but an aesthetic language generation system. (The name comes from "Electronic Text Composition," bestowed upon the system by its creator, Penn lecturer Jim Carpenter.) Miss Carter, if you will, exhibits obvious strengths and severe limitations. Erin O'Connor elaborates:
Erica can't write sonnets or other strongly metered poetic forms, but she writes free verse with speed, ease, and, if her editors at poetry magazines are to be believed, great sensitivity. As such, she seems to me to be at once a remarkable testament to the artistic potential of code as well as a damning comment on the artistic pretensions of much contemporary verse.
Needless to say, I had to sample her wares. Offering up six words as seed values, I requested eight lines with the following criteria: abstraction, 65/100; lyric, 40/100; active verb use, 40/100; structure, frame; minimum one line in form of question. In about one minute per line she rendered this:
She is people.
Enshrouds surrounding, repeating on turnover. She is the town. Ghostlike piano after op plays. Turnover under other as capacity now gets to stagger, closing. Hides to his day, as good as labor. Sunset is great. What is the yellow sunset of life? I've seen worse. Indeed, I've written worse. Posted at 7:16 AM to Entirely Too CoolI now suspect that 99% of my e-mail is written by Erica. Posted by: McGehee at 8:43 AM on 24 April 2006I think McGehee is correct. I typed in these words: vermillion content blithe blissfully efficiently cardinal Redbuds and Spring. Erica wrote this poem: Spring Blithesome for people educates Vienna. Breezy touch lifts a skirt. The breezy climber sees whether to bring. Well, I do know that getting to an ethos often requires a breezy cover-up. |