The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope

by Ray Bradbury

A poetry collection from a master of fantasy celebrates the familiar and unusual in verses dealing with subjects from Ty Cobb to dinosaurs and strawberry shortcake to the Vatican

Genres: Poetry, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories

98 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).

The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".

Reviews

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the three books of Bradbury's poetry I have read, this one may be the best. It is less scattered and more concise than "When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" and it is consistently higher quality material than the poems collected in "Where Robot Mice and Robot Men Run Round in Robot Towns," a book which felt very thrown together.

The poems here deal with typical Bradbury themes: paeans to the aspirations of human endeavor (including art, science and exploration), gentle nostalgic reflections of childhood, meditations on aging, quirky odes to famous people (including this time Ty Cobb and Louis Armstrong) and even poems exploring the relationship between science and faith.

One of my favorite poems in this collection were "And Yet the Burning Bush has Voice" which deals with that last theme; it seems to express Bradbury's sense of the tension between the mystic and the logical. I also found memorable the poems "To an Early Mornng Darning-Needle Dragonfly" and "Too Much" which both deal with the utter delight the author takes in being alive, despite the inherent perils of living. I also liked "Everyone's Got to be Somewhere," which had one of the strongest character voices I have read in all of Bradbury's work, stories and poems included.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, quirky, and existential poems in Bradbury's usual style. Ranges from scifi space to and ode to a man who stole second base. Really enjoyable.

[Evan Liss · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 feels right for this. All of the poems were at the very least okay, but some were outstanding. I'm not sure if they all belonged together in this book, but I had fun nonetheless.

my favorite of them:

THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE STARS

They have not seen the stars,
Not one, not one
Of all the creatures on this world
In all the ages since the sands first touched the wind
Not one, not one,
No beast of all the beasts has stood
On meadowland or plain or hill
And known the thrill of looking at those fires;
Our soul admires what they, oh, they, have never known.
Five billion years have flown in turnings of the spheres
But not once in all those years
Has lion, dog, or bird that sweeps the air
Looked there, oh, look. Looked there, ah God, the stars;
Oh, look, look there!
It is as if all time had never been,
Or universe or sun or moon or simple morning light.
Their tragedy was mute and blind, and so remains.
Our sight?
Yes, ours? To know now what we are.
But think of it, then choose - now, which?
Born to raw Earth, inhabiting a scene
And all of it, no sooner viewed, erased, gone blind
As if these miracles had never been.
Vast circlings of sounding light, of fire and frost,
And all so quickly seen then quickly lost?
Or us, in fragile flesh, with God's new eyes
That lift and comprehend and search the skies?
We watch the seasons drifting in the lunar tide
And know the years, remembering what's died.
Oh, yes, perhaps some birds some nights
Have felt Orion rise and tuned their flights
And turned southward
Because star-charts were printed in their sweet
genetic dreams-
Or so it seems.
But, see? But really see and know?
And, knowing, want to touch those fires,
To grow until the mighty brow of man Lamarckian-tall
Knocks earthquakes, striking moon,
Then Mars, then Saturn's rings;
And, growing, hope to show
All other beasts just how
To fly with dreams instead of ancient wings.
So, think on this: we're first! the only ones
Whom God has honored with his rise of suns.
For us as gifts Aldebaran, Centauri, homestead Mars.
Wake up, God says. Look there. Go fetch.
The stars. Oh, Lord, much thanks. The stars!

[Hank Hoeft · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had read this slim volume of poetry without knowing who the author was, I still would have been able to guess they were written by Ray Bradbury even though I'd never read any of Bradbury's poetry before and in fact didn't know he wrote enough to make a collection big enough to publish as a book. The same themes of the universe being a place of limitless wonder, the human animal being a creature of boundless imagination, the mix of science and magic, and the nostalgia of an older, earlier America that permeate so much of his prose, are so prominent in these poems. The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope is only 98 pages long, but this book took me just as long to read as a much thicker novel, as each poem had be read slowly, and savored.

[Robert Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought that The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope was a collection of short stories. No where on the cover does the title mention poetry. Didn't know that Ray Bradbury wrote poetry. He covers everything from Ty Cobbs to dinosaurs and strawberry shortcake. The book reads fast, and a person can get through it in a couple of days. The poems are sharp and witty. I recommend this book if you are looking for something different from Ray.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate. I liked very few of the poems, but the ones I liked left an impression. He also would reference many other poets and artists which each time I identified one felt like winning a trivia contest. My favorite poem was: To an early morning darling-needle dragonfly.

[Bryan Mcquirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gabe this book a try to see the other side of Bradbury's writing. I didn't really connect with any of the poems. It was an okay book, and luckily short. This seems to cater to the diehard fans of Bradbury, who feel the need to devour everything he has written.
2.5 stars

[Eduardo Vardheren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aquí hay más poemas de ciencia ficción y me encanta que Bradbury haya hecho un poema que especula sobre lo que pudo haber sido la ciencia ficción para cavernícolas. También es interesante ver cómo ciertas de sus inquietudes espirituales se mezclan con la poesía y la cf.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'm really not a poetry person (had to read for a school assignment and then ignored it for a couple of years), but some of these I did enjoy.

[PJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of these were good but tbh didn't love (maybe I don't get poetry though). it all felt a little too on the nose. like I get it you wrote these during the Cold War??? like ok and ?

[Cooch · Rating 3 out of 5]

31/2 stars

I have loved day Bradbury ' s prose works - especially his short stories. Genius. However, to my mind, he's no poet.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's my preference to devour words when I read, so I generally am not a fan of poetry because it requires savoring to fully appreciate it. Unless it's something like Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" which make profound observations without need of a classical education to decipher it, the poetry has to be really good for me to slow down and enjoy the flavors. Bradbury's poetry doesn't fit that caliber. I much prefer his prose.

That said, the best of them all was the absurd "Ode to Ty Cobb, Who Stole First Base from Second". I also enjoyed "The Past is the Only Dead Thing that Smells Sweet", "You Can't Go Home Again, Not Even if you STAY there", "The Bike Repairmen" (referencing the Wright Brothers), and "Everybody's Got to Be Somewhere".

[Cail Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look into the mind of Ray Bradbury. While he has many poems dedicated to infinite space and wild beings, much of the material is based off his travels to ancient ruins or ruminations on childhood summers. I digested this book over the course of two months, partaking with other reads. The poems require care and attention, as the layers and imagery Bradbury evokes are substantial. A must for Bradbury fans.

[Krista Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew Bradbury wrote poetry (and loved Impressionist painters) - now having said that, I prefer his short stories and novels.

Even so, some great poems to post for National Poetry Month; "They Have Not Seen the Stars", "The East is Up" (both for astronomy classes), "If Peaches Could Be Painters", "Two Impressionists", "Within a Summer Frame" (for art classrooms), and "Satchmo Saved" (P.E.).

Thanks Ray!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Bradbury's poetic prose, but I must say I prefer his prose quite a bit over his actual poetry. It's good, but not as great as I expected it to be when I first tried his poetry.

[Rafael Munoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very inspirational. In my opinion, it spoke about the relationship between religion and technology. If you like Ray Bradbury You'll like this book.