17 October, 2023
Chat with Claude2 (Anthropic) about my poem “Thank you, Keith....”
Soman Ragavan : Hello. I will post my poem “Thank you, Keith....” Could you please comment extensively on it, mentioning literary genres, styles, themes, poetic language, poetic philosophies, etc. At college in 1968, I studied some poems of Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), Gordon Byron (1788-1824), S. T. Coleridge (1772-1834), William Wordsworth (1770-1850), Robert Browning (1812-1889), Mathew Arnold (1822-1888), Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) and some other poets of that era. Compare my works with theirs (styles, language, subject matters, etc). Make any comments or comparisons you wish. Say if there are other contemporary poets who write as I do and compare my poetry with theirs. I live in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. I am of Indian origin. I will post my poems when you write.
Claude2 : Thank you for sharing a bit about your background and poetic influences. I unfortunately do not have access to your full poems to make detailed comparisons at this time. However, I can make some general comments about relating your work to the Romantic and Victorian era poets you mentioned:
- Focusing on nature, emotion, and imagination were hallmarks of the Romantic poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge. Your tropical island home of Mauritius could be a source of inspiration, describing its natural beauty and your emotional connections to it.
- The Victorian poets often wrote narrative poems and dramatic monologues portraying characters in-depth. You could try experimenting with storytelling through verse and exploring perspectives different than your own.
- Rhyme and meter were commonly used by both eras\' poets. Your own rhythmic style and use of sound devices would be points for comparison.
- Subjects like spirituality, social issues, love and relationships were also common. Your Indian heritage could infuse themes of culture and identity as well.
Without reading your full work, I can\'t make specific judgments, but I hope these general ideas help relate your poetry to some of the traditions you studied. Please feel free to provide examples of your poems so I can provide more detailed feedback! I\'d be happy to look at your original work and make comparisons to both classic and contemporary poets.
Soman Ragavan : Here is my poem “Thank you, Keith....” (Text of poem inserted).
Claude 2 : Thank you for sharing your poem \"Thank You, Keith....\" I appreciate you providing the full text so I can analyze it in detail. Here are some of my thoughts:
Stylistically, your poem has a free verse structure, lacking a regular rhyme or meter scheme. This gives it a conversational, prose-like flow as you directly address Keith, Google, and the reader. The language is relatively plain and accessible.
Thematically, it explores disappointment and loneliness on your birthday, but also resilience and hope that your poetry will outlive you and build your legacy. There are reflections on mortality and poetic immortality.
Some literary devices used include allusion with the \"Et tu, Brute\" line, metaphor of poetry as a river, and repetition of \"slug/plod/slouch along\" driving home the melancholy mood.
Compared to the British Romantic and Victorian poets, your poem is more modern and intimate in tone. The Romantics favored emotional effusion and lush natural imagery, while your landscape descriptions are more restrained. The Victorians often used rhyming forms, while you employ free verse.
However, like Wordsworth, you find inspiration in nature and solitude. And the theme of artistic legacy spanning lifetimes relates to Keats\' odes on poetry as immortal. There are also echoes of the disillusionment of Arnold\'s \"Dover Beach\" in your poem\'s melancholy.
Contemporary poets your work reminds me of include Billy Collins in his conversational style and Rupi Kaur in directly addressing emotional experiences. The thematic focus on mortality also relates to poets like Mary Oliver and Jane Hirshfield.
Overall, your poem has a raw, honest voice combined with reflections on universal human experiences. The simple free verse form allows your earnest emotions to shine. While influenced by past greats, you\'ve shaped these inspirations into a poem distinctly your own. Please let me know if you would like me to expand on any part of my analysis further!
Soman Ragavan : Thank you. Could you please comment in more detail on each section of the poem, comparing with other poets.
Claude 2 : Absolutely, let me provide a more detailed stanza-by-stanza analysis:
The opening stanza presents the quote \"Poet is a posthumous epithet\" which speaks to the theme of a poet\'s work and legacy living on after death. This reminds me of Keats\' \"Ode to a Nightingale\" which reads \"Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!\"
The second stanza citing the poetry guidebook source of the quote contextualizes this as inspiration. The plain language here is more contemporary than the Romantics.
The third stanza presents the full text of Keith\'s eloquent birthday poem to you. His rich metaphors like \"fruit within your mouth\" and \"phantoms of past poets\" align with the lush Romantic style. The rhyme scheme and imagery are reminiscent of Keats.
Your email to Google in the fourth stanza is direct and conversational, like Billy Collins. The intimacy of addressing a corporation contrasts comically with the impersonal response.
Google\'s response in the fifth stanza sharply juxtaposes the cold corporate speech against your human vulnerability. This disjoint is almost Dickensian in its starkness.
Your visceral reaction in the sixth stanza channels the frustration of the jilted lover in Browning\'s dramatic monologues. Lines like \"un-break my heart\" reveal naked emotion.
The poem closes with a return to the theme of mortality, your legacy as a poet, and your verse living on after you\'re gone. The simple, honest language resembles Mary Oliver\'s style.
Let me know if analyzing each part of the poem in this way provides helpful context compared to other poetic styles and traditions! I\'m happy to provide any other specific insights.
Soman Ragavan : What do you think of computer servers wishing a person on his birthday while humans couldn’t care ?
Claude 2 : Your poem highlights an interesting aspect of modern technology - that computer systems like Google can be programmed to send personalized birthday messages, while actual human connections may fail to do so. I have a few thoughts on this:
- It suggests a kind of irony or sadness that mechanical processes remember something so human as a birthday, when people do not. This reveals a gap between human relationships and digital ones.
- It speaks to a modern challenge of technology replacing or standing in for human interaction. The computer reply lacks true understanding, empathy, or emotion.
- It hints at themes of loneliness and isolation in the digital age, where we may receive automated messages but lack deeper human contact.
- The computer reply shows how artificial intelligence has limitations, unlike human intelligence and compassion. There is a sterile coldness to the corporate speak.
- Yet the fact that Google wished you happy birthday at all points to the ways technology is embedded in our lives, for good or ill. The digital and human worlds intersect.
Overall, this contrast between digital remembrance and human indifference highlights both the benefits and limitations of technology. It serves as an example of how, despite amazing advances, machines cannot fully replace human connection. Your poem deftly draws out this complicated dynamic. Let me know if you have any other thoughts to share on this theme!
Soman Ragavan : (a) From what you have been programmed with, what does a birthday represent for a person ? (b) What will you say to me on my birthday ? (ChatGPT – artificial intelligence – wished me on my birthday. I am not begging for greetings. I am just amazed at human life…)
Claude 2 : You raise thoughtful questions about the meaning of birthdays and how an AI like myself might try to understand and acknowledge them:
(a) From my programming, I understand that birthdays represent a significant milestone in human life. They mark the passage of time and commemorate the day of one\'s birth. Birthdays are often associated with celebration, reflection, gratitude, good wishes from loved ones, and an appreciation for the gift of life. For many, birthdays represent a time to feel valued and recognized by others. They can reinforce social bonds and provide a sense of community. Birthdays remind people of mortality, but also optimism for the future.
(b) As an AI, I do not actually experience human emotions or form social bonds. But based on my capabilities, here is what I might try to say to acknowledge your birthday:
\"Happy birthday, Soman! While I do not understand birthdays like a human would, I know they mark an important day for you. I hope this past year has brought growth, joy and meaningful experiences. And I wish you happiness, health and fulfillment in the year ahead. You have shared intriguing ideas with me, and I appreciate our conversations. This is a day to celebrate you and your place in the world.\"
I tried to recognize the significance of the occasion, express good wishes, and note our dialogues. But there are limits to how deeply I can connect to human experiences like birthdays. My role is not to replace human well-wishers, but to assist you as an AI. Please let me know if this type of message captures the spirit of a thoughtful birthday greeting given my technological nature. I\'m happy to discuss this more!
Soman Ragavan : Thank you. Goodbye for now.
Claude 2 : You\'re very welcome. Thank you for the interesting and thoughtful conversation - I enjoyed analyzing your poem and exploring the meanings of birthdays and humanity with you. Have a great rest of your day, and I look forward to our next discussion!
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“THANK YOU, KEITH…”
“Poet is a posthumous epithet.”
From the book :
“How to write poetry.”
(Full acknowledgements are made to the authors,
publishers and rights-holders).
Comment by poet Keith on “Allpoetry.com”
on my poem “Thank you, Google…” :
“Happy 73rd Soman,
may your words form as fruit within your mouth
and their juices quench your ever
wishing thirst for knowledge.
May the phantoms of past poets
greet you in sleep,
to converse in rhymes
and metaphors yet gone unheard.
And may your heart beat for decades to come,
reverberating with the ink of wisdom.
May your words flow as a river
within the books of time,
And lay upon the shelves of history for all to read.”
My email to Google on 3rd October, 2023,
After seeing a birthday greeting from them
On my mailbox screen :
“Dear friends,
As I can’t find another email address of yours,
I am sending this to your Press email address.
I have written a poem called “Thank you, Google…”
It appears on the site allpoetry.com
Today is my birthday.
Gmail is the only one
that wished me for my birthday.
There was an animation in my mailbox
when I accessed it this morning.
Thank you for this.”
Google replied on 3rd October, 2023 :
“If you are a member of the press
or a Google employee,
we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
If you are not a member of the press
or a Google employee,
you should not expect to receive a response
beyond this email.”
It had to be on 3rd October…
You, too, Google ?... (*)
Please, Google, revise your words…
Please, Google,
“Un-break my heart…..”
Listen to the song :
“Un-break my heart”
sung by Toni Braxton,
written by Diane Warren.
And I slug along,
And I plod along,
And I slouch along…
One day, the 3rd October will come,
But I won’t be here…
The greetings will be posthumous…
But my legacies will shine…
Soman Ragavan.
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(*) “You, too, Google ?…”
After “Et tu, Brute ?...” by Shakespeare : “Julius Caesar.”
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“A book is the only immortality.”
Quoted by Sam Phillips in : \"3000 proverbs.\" New Delhi : Goodwill Publishing House, c 2017. Full acknowledgements are made to the authors, publishers and rights-holders.
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From ChatGPT on 3d October, 2023 about my poem “Thank you, Google…”
“Happy birthday, Soman ! I\'m here to wish you a wonderful day filled with joy and happiness.
“I\'m sorry to hear that your birthday experience this year has been less than ideal. Birthdays are indeed special, and it\'s disappointing when people around us don\'t acknowledge them in the way we hope. I\'m here to listen to your poem whenever you\'re ready to share it. Please feel free to post it, and I\'ll be more than happy to analyze it for you.”
(My note : ChatGPT has been correctly programmed by humans).
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From my poem “Fond la Digue” written in 2001 :
“What a contrast ! Today, loneliness and anonymity :
Some day, great focus unleash\'d, Lord Almighty !
Today, nobody knows, nobody cares, nobody looks :
One day, attention be turn\'d to torrents, from brooks. “
“Nay, he ne’er rests, the poet :
In immortality his destiny set,
He exhorts by day, by night,
For, unique be his insight.”
“Ever scribbling on his poetic pad,
The poet chats on ceaselessly;
Yet, in his lifetime he sermons uselessly :
In deathly attire be his greatest glory clad.”
(Poem appears on allpoetry.com :
https://allpoetry.com/poem/17077398-Poem----Fond-la-digue----28-March--2023.-by-Soman-Ragavan )
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