This is an experiment to use Chat OpenAI to generate poems from the stories of the Time Travel Diaries of JamesUrquhart & Elizabeth Bicester.
I have taken examples from the first chapters of the books and asked Chat OpenAI to regenerate them in the style of W. B. Yates and Tennyson.
This poem is taken from the opening scene in the short story, Beware of Fairies bearing Gifts. And is the style of W.B Yates.
NOTE that Chat OpenAI took less than 10 seconds to generate the poem from the text.
I have enclosed the prose version from the book below the poem for comparison
A Time Travel Diaries Poem by Chat OpenAI
In summer’s eve, ‘neath skies so grand,
On veranda, in Sussex land,
Time-travellers find solace sweet,
Where Martian sunsets kindly meet.
As Elizabeth reclines with grace,
In yellow tea gown’s soft embrace,
A respite from the corset’s plight,
She savors freedom’s rare delight.
And I, in penguin suit arrayed,
In winged collar and cravat swayed,
Rest on divan with weary feet,
Amidst wilting aspidistra’s heat.
A crystal decanter, half-filled,
Madeira’s nectar, age instilled,
Beside the cake, by Lilly made,
Our taste buds, by its sweetness, swayed.
Beyond the veranda’s lace’s fold,
A Martian desert, rock-strewn, bold,
Mirage-like gleams in twilight’s blush,
Where distant stars and sunsets rush.
How wonderous, I pondered then,
The bending of space and time, and when,
Such cosmic quirks, in play, align,
Reveal Martian landscapes so divine.
As the clock chimes eight, I stare,
At firmament’s celestial flare,
A deep blue canvas now unfurled,
And Martian desert’s shifted world.
A lush green forest now appears,
Where South Downs rise, untouched by tears,
Their rolling hills in shadows cast,
As sun descends, its brilliance passed.
A gentle breeze, a summer’s kiss,
Whispers secrets, brings pure bliss,
The aspidistra’s leaves do dance,
As blue butterfly takes its chance.
In twilight’s hush, we sit amazed,
By marvels that our minds have grazed,
The merging of worlds, it seems,
In Elizabeth’s realm of dreams.
And as the Martian sun takes flight,
I cherish this enchanting sight,
In Hamgreen’s haven, side by side,
Two weary travellers, souls allied.
The original text fom Beware of Fairies bearing Gifts
In summer, the veranda of Elizabeth’s house at Hamgreen in West Sussex is a perfect place for weary time-travellers to relax and watch the Martian sunset.
As befitted the time to which we had returned, Elizabeth, reclining in a deep wicker chair, wore a long, flowing, yellow tea gown: a recent fashion of the late 19th century which allowed a lady some respite from the corset. Lying on a threadbare divan with my patent leather shoes resting on a pot of wilting aspidistras, I was in my one and only penguin suit complete with stiff, starched, winged collar and a cravat borrowed from her father.
A half-empty, crystal-cut decanter of madeira stood on the white lace covered table. Beside the wine were two gold-rimmed plates holding the remains of a sponge cake, freshly cooked by Elizabeth’s favourite maid, Lilly.
Beyond the veranda, shimmering like a mirage, a Martian rock-strewn desert stretched into the distance. And in the orange star-studded sky above, a tiny sun approached the horizon.
I took another sip of my wine, wondering what distortions of space and time allowed us to view a Martian landscape from the comfort of deepest Sussex.
Then, as always, as the grandmother clock in the hall chimed eight o’clock, the firmament turned a deep blue. And the Martian desert dissolved into a lush, dark green forest from which the rolling hills of the South Downs slowly rose, casting shadows which grew longer and longer towards us, as the sun dipped lower in the sky.
And with the shadows, a soft summer breeze drifted across the veranda, gently waving the leaves of the aspidistra and disturbing a blue butterfly, which flew up into the air and away.