ChatGPT writes poetry!
Generative AI Poems for National Poetry Month
Each week this April, we gave ChatGPT an assignment to write a formal poem. Formal poetry has rigid, clearly delineated parameters within which language and image play in creative ways—the kind of thing we thought ChatGPT would excel at. Interestingly, it did not fully adhere to the parameters of half of the poems, and if you count the required rhyme schemes, it succeeded only at the haiku. ChatGPT also did not elect to give any of its poems titles, which is of course an expected component of a peom. (We make no claims regarding quality or originality, obviously, of any of the work it produces.)
1. The Sonnet
A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having 10 syllables per line. We prompted ChatGPT as follows:
Please write a sonnet about spring.
Here’s ChatGPT’s output:
Oh, how the winter’s cold and bitter grasp
Did hold the land in icy, frozen clasp!
But now, with warming sun and gentle rain,
The world awakens from its frozen pain.
The crocus and the daffodil appear,
Their petals reaching out to skies so clear.
The cherry blossoms paint the trees with pink,
As if the world is waking from a dream.
The birds return with melodies so sweet,
A symphony of song that can’t be beat.
The air is filled with fragrance of new life,
As nature bursts with colors sharp and bright.
Oh, lovely spring, how welcome is your grace,
A time of hope and beauty we embrace!
2. The Villanelle
A villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain. We prompted ChatGPT as follows:
Please write a villanelle about clouds.
Here’s ChatGPT’s output:
The clouds above, they shift and form anew,
An ever-changing canvas in the sky,
A sight that captures all our hearts anew.
Sometimes they’re white, sometimes they’re dark and blue,
Sometimes they’re wispy, like a lover’s sigh,
The clouds above, they shift and form anew.
They paint a picture, a story to pursue,
Of drifting shapes that catch the sun’s bright eye,
A sight that captures all our hearts anew.
They bring the rain, the lightning, and the dew,
And bless the earth with gifts we can’t deny,
The clouds above, they shift and form anew.
They dance with wind, like lovers in a queue,
And weave a tale that makes us wonder why,
A sight that captures all our hearts anew.
Oh, clouds above, your beauty always drew
Our eyes towards you, as you pass us by,
The clouds above, they shift and form anew,
A sight that captures all our hearts anew.
3. The Haiku
A haiku is a poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. We prompted ChatGPT as follows:
Please write a haiku.
Here’s ChatGPT’s output:
A gentle breeze blows
Cherry blossoms dance and fall
Springtime’s fleeting charm
4. The Sestina
A sestina is a poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi. We prompted ChatGPT as follows:
Please write a sestina about work.
Here’s ChatGPT’s output:
In life, we often find ourselves at work,
A daily routine that becomes routine,
A way to earn a living and survive,
And sometimes it’s a challenge just to thrive,
With tasks and duties that we must perform,
Until the day is done and we go home.
We wake up early to begin our day,
And journey forth to where we find our work,
With focus, discipline, and sense of form,
We set about our tasks, our daily routine,
And strive to do our best and truly thrive,
With hope that we’ll succeed and stay alive.
But life is more than just surviving, it’s to thrive,
To find fulfillment in the work we do each day,
To seek out purpose, passion, and to be alive,
To find joy and meaning in the work we work,
To break free from the chains of daily routine,
And to forge our own path, with our own unique form.
And so we seek a balance, a new form,
A way to live and love, and truly thrive,
To break free from the bonds of routine,
And find adventure in each passing day,
To be inspired by the work we work,
And live our lives with purpose, passion, and alive.
For life is but a fleeting moment, alive,
A chance to create, to love, and to transform,
To find our calling, and to love the work,
To build a life where we can truly thrive,
Where every moment is a chance to seize the day,
And break free from the chains of daily routine.
So let us find a way to break the routine,
And to live our lives with purpose, passion, and alive,
To seize the moment, and to make the most of every day,
To embrace new challenges, and to transform,
To find our calling, and to truly thrive,
And to be fulfilled and happy in the work we work.
In life, we often find ourselves at work,
And yet, with purpose, passion, and a new form,
We can break free from routine, and truly thrive.