Right now I’m in Electronic Literature with Dr. Whalen. We just read the book The Policeman’s Beard is Half-Constructed: Computer Prose and Poetry. This book contains pieces written by a computer program. In the first part of the book, several of the poems focus on electricity and how the speaker requires it to exist. I couldn’t help by make the connection with the first stanza of “I Sing The Body Electric.” For reference, here is that first stanza:

“I sing the body electric, / The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them, / They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, / And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul.”

Here is a quote from The Policeman’s Beard is Half-Constructed: Computer Prose and Poetry:

“More than iron, more than lead, more than gold I need electricity. / I need it more than I need lamb or pork or lettuce or cucumber. / I need it for my dreams.”

What do you all make of this comparison? How are the two speakers similar or different?

Connection with Electronic Literature
Tagged on:

48 thoughts on “Connection with Electronic Literature”

Leave a Reply

css.php