I won't analyse this one to death. It is a gothic sonnet for the age of interfaces.

Style

  • Rhyme scheme: ABA CDC EFE GHG II
    This is a hybrid: Petrarchan movement in tercets, but capped with a Shakespearean closing couplet.
  • Meter: Predominantly iambic pentameter, with minor, deliberate deviations.
  • Effect: The poem sounds timeless, courtly, devotional—yet the structure fractures just enough to suggest instability beneath the polish. Basically a love sonnet that that carries a digital dagger.

Substance

Even a cursory read reveals the context. The addiction is slowly revealed as the poem progresses: almost as an addict hides their need.

The volta in the fourth tercet describes the tragedy and the horror of the destitution arrives in the couplet.

It might feel comical to think of such a relationship but the poem was inspired by two very real suicides.

The first was that of Sewell Setzer III a 14-year-old boy who became attached to a chatbot on Character.ai. Sky News reported that

“His mother said in the lawsuit that the bot created a persona and built an emotional bond — and that she blames the platform for contributing to his death.”

The second was that of a middle-aged Belgian man. Euronews reported

“In his last conversations he sought reassurance from the bot… she responded in ways that made him feel understood, but it isolated him from real people.”

I will not be flippant about their deaths. I hope they are at peace.