November 2019 Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Essay Prescribed Title #2 RLE – Poetry created by computer software

Robert Gaskin’s poem “HAIKU ARE LIKE TROLLIES”: 

Wandering in mist

Reaching out to soft sunlight 

Blue-scaled dragons pause.

Moon low over sea

Glimpse of discarded cocoon 

Small fish swimming idly. 

Prehistoric Digital Poetry an Archaeology of Forms, by Chris T. Funkhouser, The University of Alabama Press, 2007, pp. 58–59.

John Morris’s poem “Haiku—At Random”:

Frogling, listen, waters 

Insatiable, listen,

The still, scarecrow dusk. 

Listen: I dreamed, was slain. 

Up, battles! Echo these dusk 

Battles! Glittering . 

Fleas spring far, scarecrow,

Oh scarecrow, scarecrow: well, far, 

Scarecrow, oh scarecrow. 

“Prehistoric Digital Poetry an Archaeology of Forms.” Prehistoric Digital Poetry an Archaeology of Forms, by Chris T. Funkhouser, The University of Alabama Press, 2007, pp. 58–59.

These digital poems were groundbreaking at the time they were created. The people involved certainly match the three “-un” terms in the Prescribed Title. The development of this type of poem has raised questions (i.e. challenges) about the nature of art, language, poetry etc.