All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

This poem can be interpreted differently all depending on how you think the author is speaking. If you think the author is being literal, he seems very pro technology, however if you think the author is speaking in a sarcastic tone, the whole message of the poem seems opposite.

“I like to think,” people often use that when they are referring to something that isn’t actually true, for example, they like to think all people are good, but in the reality of things that’s not true. In this poem Brautigan is saying, “I like to think…” and then saying utopian things with nature and technology. This leads me to believe that although the poet would like to think that these things are possible, they would never happen. Also in the last line “all watched over by machines of loving grace,” seems very positive if loving grace is taken sarcastically, however the poet could be referring to machines taking over, which is what some people fear.

If you look at Brautigan’s poem in the literal sense however, he is speaking some very pro technology things. Quotes such as “Mammals and computers living together in mutually programming harmony,” and “deer stroll peacefully past computers as if they were flowers,” and very pro technology things. Also in the last stanza the author talks about having machines take over all of our labors so we can relax and enjoy nature, which seems appealing if both could exist in perfect utopia with each other.

I think the anti technology interpretation is more accurate. Mainly when the author says, “I like to think…” it definitely gives me the impression that the author doesn’t think any of the things he says are possible. Naturally if machines and nature cannot live in, “programming harmony,” with each other, that means that the author thinks there will be disputes between them.

This Living Hand

This living hand, now warm and capable

Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold

And in the icy silence of the tomb,

So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights

That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood

So in my veins red life might stream again,

And thou be conscience-calmed—see here it is—

I hold it towards you.

John Keats

Imagery

Living hand- warm and capable of grasping

Cold hand- Icy silence of the tomb, haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights

Wish thine own heart dry of blood

Red life my stream again

I hold it towards you

In this poem, it seems that the author is on the brink of death and recognizes it in the first four lines, in lines five and six however, I feel the imagery is at its best and they explain the main point of the poem. “That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood” “So in my veins red life might stream again.” The imagery in line five “thine own heart dry of blood,” is of course referring to death, which is interesting considering that the author is no longer talking about himself dying anymore, he is talking about someone else’s wishes. Which leads me to believe that the author is anticipating what his acquaintance, possibly a lover, will experience with his passing, which would be joining him in death. I feel that line six enforces this claim with, “so in my veins red life might stream again.” Red life is of course blood, except I don’t think it means blood literally in this line, instead I think it represents his lover killing herself to being with him, to have him appear lifelike again. These two lines give me an overall understanding of this poem and what the author is trying to say. The author is speaking to his lover, and although he may feel alive warm and capable of holding her now, he thinks he is going to die soon. So if they were to go cold, he would be with her in spirit. He is also telling her that although she may want to end her life to essentially be with him again, she should not have these thoughts because he will be with her forever. He enhances that idea by the very ending of the poem “I hold it towards you.” This line follows the overall imagery of his hand and that he still holds it towards her, which I think is his way of saying something like, “forever yours” or “I will always be with you.”