{"id":681,"date":"2017-06-13T17:28:12","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T17:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/?page_id=681"},"modified":"2023-01-19T11:06:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T10:06:49","slug":"the-machine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/the-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

A poem about the Linotype from the book “In the Beginning was The Word” by David Andrus.<\/p>\n

1954:
\nCentral S.S., Hamilton<\/p>\n

The Linotype is just a machine<\/i>
\nwe are told
\nlike any other machine.<\/i><\/p>\n

But this is wrong-
\nat the age of 14 I am
\ncaptivated by this ungainly
\nword-making device,<\/p>\n

seduced by its handles,
\nwheels, pulleys, gears, cams,
\nfingers, arms and jaws,
\nits thousand mysteries of
\nbrass and steel.<\/p>\n

And for a decade
\nwe grapple at a distance,
\nthe machine and I,
\nits secrets whispered to me
\nby men with wooden legs,
\nmen born in other centuries.<\/p>\n

It is the first obsession
\nto shake me,
\nand carries me into time
\nlocked against its molten heart,
\ntroubling my dreams
\nagain and again,<\/p>\n

and again near the end,
\nas the machine stumbles on
\nits iron feet,
\nplunges from its pinnacle
\ninto the soft, deep pages next to
\nGutenberg and his moveable type.<\/p>\n

1982:
\nSeldon Printing, Hamilton<\/p>\n

the last machine is hauled into
\nthe street and sold for scrap metal.<\/p>\n

\u00a92001 David Andrus<\/p>\n

Did you enjoy this poem? <\/strong>If so, you may be interested to know that it appears in “Printers’ Tales”<\/strong><\/a> available as a paperback or ebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A poem about the Linotype from the book “In the Beginning was The Word” by David Andrus. 1954: Central S.S., Hamilton The Linotype is just a machine we are told like any other machine. But this is wrong- at the age of 14 I am captivated by this ungainly word-making device, seduced by its handles, … Continue reading “The Machine”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-681","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Machine - Metal Type<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A poem about the Linotype mechanical typesetting machine by David Andrus from the book "In the Beginning Was the Word"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/the-machine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Machine - Metal Type\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A poem about the Linotype mechanical typesetting machine by David Andrus from the book "In the Beginning Was the Word"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/the-machine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metal Type\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-19T10:06:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MTPrinting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-machine\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-machine\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Machine - Metal Type\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-13T17:28:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-19T10:06:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"A poem about the Linotype mechanical typesetting machine by David Andrus from the book \\\"In the Beginning Was the Word\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-machine\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-machine\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-machine\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Machine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metal Type\",\"description\":\"Yesterday\u2019s Technology . . . 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