In the poem “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan there are two ways to possibly read it: as an anti-technology poem or as a pro-technology poem. This poem can be read as being anti- technology because it discusses dreams of places that are natural such as meadows or forests. However it has turned them into a “cybernetic meadow/ where mammals and computers/ live together in mutually/ programming harmony”. Though this may sound positive it can be interpreted as the dissolution that computers and machines have over humans today. Where poets used to write about the beauty and complexities of nature, now they have fallen in love with technology, like the rest of the human race, and place it as an equal to nature.
This poem can also be read as pro-technology because of the positive tone throughout the poem. It speaks of the merging of technology and the natural world and having them live together in harmony. This is most clearly seen at the end of the poem where it speaks of “a cybernetic ecology/ where we are free of our labors/ and joined back to nature,/ returned to our mammal/ brothers and sisters,/ and all watched over/ by machines of loving grace”. This shows a clear desire for a relationship between humans and technology that is a trusting and nurturing one.
I personally feel that this poem is best read as being in favor of technology. It does not say anything that is outwardly negative about technology and seems instead to be trying to repair the damage done to technology’s reputation out of fear. It speaks almost lovingly towards computers wanting them to not be feared but embraced as much as the natural world is. Computers can have a dark side, just like nature such as with natural disasters and animals attacking, but in this poem it is compared to the softer side of nature. This seems to suggest that the two ttruly aren’t that different.
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