Sound & Sense: Computing Poetry

An open thread for notes on what you’re thinking, reading, and doing

Michel Dorigny, Erato, muse de la Poésie lyrique, c. 1650 (Wikimedia Commons)

A year and a half ago, I asked ChatGPT to compose some poetry:

Me: Write heroic couplets about carp.

ChatGPT: In the still waters of the pond,
Where lilies gently sway and nod,
There swims a fish of golden hue,
A carp, so graceful, strong and true. . . .

Me: Heroic couplets are pentameter.

ChatGPT: Yes, that’s correct! Heroic couplets are a form of poetry that consists of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter. Here is an example of a heroic couplet in iambic pentameter:
The fish that swims within the crystal streams,
With golden scales and gentle, flowing grace, . . .
Is more than just a creature of the deep,
But a symbol of the beauty we can keep.

Me: Write rhymed pentameter couplets about carp.

ChatGPT: In the still pond, where lilies bloom and nod,
There swims a fish of golden, shimmering hues,
A carp, so graceful, strong and full of grace,
A denizen of the underwater blues. . . .

Me: Write rhymed couplets.

ChatGPT: Sure! …