"All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan

In Brautigan’s poem, he describes two contrasting ideas as harmony together. The ironic thing is that nature and technology has always repelled each other. Although his words, if read literally, describes how wonderful technology has come together with nature, the overall tone is more sarcastic because of the word choices he uses.


In the title itself, “All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace,” the personification of machines loving seems to be odd. Machines are viewed as artificial technology that has no capacity for feelings. In the first stanza, he uses the words “programming harmony.” Even though harmony is a good thing, the word programming makes it seem artificial which makes it fake. In the second stanza, he describes a scene where electronics are all over the forest and nature. The scene does not seem appealing because it degrades the beauty of nature. In the last stanza, Brautigan says that in a “cybernetic ecology” we will be “joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters.” This seems like technology has taken over and mankind will be degraded back to living in the wilderness along with all the other animals that have been affected by our technological dominance. His urgency in the parenthesis also suggests that technology is growing fast and soon it will take over.


Even if nature and technology overwhelm each other, Brautigan’s poem can be seen as hopeful that technology and nature will come together in harmony to create some sort of utopia. During his time, technology was becoming a great hit and created great convenience for everyone.


This poem can also be viewed as pro-technology because Brautigan implies machines as a God by saying we are “all watched over by machines of loving grace,” and at the same time “we are free of our labors.” It can also be interpreted that machines and technology take over so we can go back to being in nature and be carefree.


Although Brautigan’s poem can be read both ways, I think the anti-technology interpretation is a better way to see it. Since the poem was written in the hippie era, I believe many people did not want technology to dominate and many were in favor of a more natural environment. The poem also described very unlikely images of machines and nature working together, thus enhancing the irony that these two can coexist.

Imagery in Robert Frost's "Design"

Images:
dimpled spider fat and white
white heal-all
moth
white piece of rigid satin cloth
ingredients of a witches' broth
snow drop spider
flower like a froth
dead wings like a paper kite
flower being white
wayside blue and innocent heal-all
kindred spider
white moth
design of darkness

In Robert Frost's sonnet, "Design," he creates a scene about a spider eating or killing a moth in a flower. The words dimpled and fat, which are used to describe the spider suggests that he has eaten or is living well in the flower. The peculiar thing about this seemingly normal scene is that the flower, spider, and moth are all white. He uses the lines "assorted characters of death and blight" and "like the ingredients of a witches' broth" to point out that the three things have to come together for this scene of death to happen. Even though the first stanza is describing a scene, the subjective adjectives suggest that it is something unpleasant and possibly wrong. There is a bit of irony in this scene because death happens in a heal-all flower.

In the second stanza, Frost starts to ask questions about why this has to happen. Frost uses adjectives like "innocent" and "kindred" to bring the whole scene to a more philosophical point of view. He ponders why the flower had to be white, what made the spider do this, and why the moth had to fly by. The answer to his own questions are answered at the volta where it means that everything was already predestined so each organism had no choice of what their fate is; therefore the outcome of this scene was already decided or "designed" by a creator or higher being. Frost probably used the color white to oppose the "darkness" in this design. Since white is a color that represents purity and innocence, then why did something dark (the killing of another creature) had to happen? In Frost's last line he writes, "if design govern in a thing so small." This line can be the answer to the previous question and it can be interpreted as how even the small things in life are all designed or destined to do what they do and we can not help it.

This small scene about the spider eating a moth in a flower is a microscopic view of a bigger picture. The reader can walk away with many interpretations of this poem. The death in the flower can suggests that no place is actually safe because we don’t know what is lurking beyond. As for the moth and spider, it was destined that they would meet and the moth becomes food.

TITLE OF MY BLOG

My middle school days were the most carefree times of my life. It was the period of my life where I got in trouble the most yet I had a lot of fun. I was finally able to roam the city without a chaperon and my curfew was extended to 8 p.m. In those few years, my friends and newfound environment laid a foundation for who I am today. This was also when I was labeled with the nickname "Monster." "Monster" was not given to me because I was mean or because I terrified other children; however, it was because my friends thought I was "dangerous in an adventurous sense." I climbed trees, jumped off roofs, and did things girls normally wouldn't do. I remember that "Monster" was given to me when I was hanging out with all my friends at a local KFC where we all gave each other nicknames. Although my friends I made in college and some from high school do not know this nickname, my friends from middle school still call me Monster and it has grown onto me. Monster is not just a nickname given to me by my friends; it is also a precious memory of my earlier years where those experiences and moments led me to understand how the real world really is. 

Lil or Lilz has always been a shortcut to say my name. Ever since elementary school, my friends and other classmates have called me by a shorter version of my name. So with the combination of my two nicknames, I’ve chosen Monsterlil as my title. Although my nickname has no relevance to literature, it is the first significant thing that comes to mind when naming a blog because it represents me.