Gothic Poetry Generator

gotham.py

r"""

    gotham
    ~~~~~~

    Gothic Poetry Generator

"""

import sys
import random
import itertools


them = ['angels', 'mourners', 'shadows', 'storm clouds', 'memories',
        'condemned', 'hand of Heaven', 'stroke of death', 'damned',
        'witches', 'corpses', 'vermin', 'vampires', 'drunkards', 'convicts']
them_verb = ['follow', 'hover', 'approach', 'loom', 'taunt', 'hear',
             'laugh', 'surround', 'compell', 'scour', 'deliver']
adj = ['cold', 'dead', 'dark', 'frozen', 'angry', 'ghastly', 'unholy',
       'cunning', 'deep', 'morose', 'maligned', 'rotting', 'sickly', 'petty',
       'sharper', 'craven', 'bound', 'plaintive', 'mournful', 'rabid',
       'quivering', 'enchanted', 'tremulous', 'stubborn', 'swift', 'cursed',
       'haunted', 'wretched', 'bitter', 'rustling']
me_part = ['neck', 'heart', 'head', 'eyes', 'soul', 'blood', 'essence',
           'wisdom', 'sword']
feeling = ['pain', 'horror', 'frenzy', 'agony', 'numbness', 'fear', 'love',
           'terror', 'madness', 'torment', 'bitterness', 'misery',
           'melancholy', 'plight', 'lust', 'unworthy', 'humanity', 'dreary']
angst = ['care', 'understand', 'question', 'consider', 'forget']
me_verb = ['flee', 'dance', 'flail madly', 'fall limply', 'hang my head',
           'try to run', 'cry out', 'call thy name', 'beg forgiveness',
           'bleed', 'tremble', 'hear', 'give', 'offer']
thing = ['kisses', 'poison', 'tokens', 'servitude']
action = ['sever', 'crush', 'mutilate', 'slay', 'wound', 'smite', 'drip',
          'melt', 'cast', 'mourn', 'avenge', 'posses', 'thrust', 'make',
          'free', 'absolve', 'forsake']
place = ['witching hour', 'gates of hell', 'door', 'path', 'death', 
         'doom', 'oblivion', 'life ending', 'Hell', 'nothingness',
         'purgatory', 'void', 'earth', 'tomb', 'broken ground',
         'barren land', 'swirling dust', 'night', 'time ending',
         'domain', 'bed', 'sepulcher', 'demise']


def lorem_gotham():
    """Gothic Poetry Generator

    Uses Python generators to yield eternal angst.

    When you need to generate random verbiage to test your code or
    typographic design, let's face it... Lorem Ipsum and "the quick
    brown fox" are old and boring!

    What you need is something with *flavor*, the kind of thing a
    depressed teenager with a lot of black makeup would write.
    """
    w = lambda l: l[random.randrange(len(l))]
    er = lambda w: w[:-1]+'ier' if w.endswith('y') else (w+'r' if w.endswith('e') else w+'er')
    s = lambda w: w+'s'
    ing = lambda w: w+'ing'
    cap = lambda w: w.capitalize()
    punc = lambda c, *l: " ".join(l)+c
    sentence = lambda *l: lambda: " ".join(l)
    pick = lambda *l: (l[random.randrange(len(l))])()
    while True:
        yield pick(
            sentence('The',w(adj),w(them),'and the',w(them),w(them_verb)),
            sentence(cap(ing(w(them_verb))),'me to',w(place)),
            sentence('They',w(action),'my',w(me_part),'and',w(me_verb),'with all my',w(feeling)),
            sentence(cap(w(action)),'my',w(adj),w(me_part),'to this',w(place)),
            sentence('In a',w(place),'my',w(feeling),'shall',w(me_verb)),
            sentence('A',w(place),'where',w(them),w(me_verb)),
            sentence('To',w(them),'whose',w(thing),'be thy',w(feeling)),
            sentence(cap(punc(',', er(w(adj)),'than',w(adj),w(feeling)))),
            sentence(cap(er(w(adj))),'than',w(them),'in the',w(place)),
            sentence('I',w(me_verb),'in',w(feeling),'with',w(them)),
            sentence('I',w(action),w(adj),w(thing),'to thee'),
            sentence('O this',w(adj),w(adj),w(place)),
            sentence('Not even the',w(them),'can',w(them_verb),'me'),
            sentence(punc('!','My',w(me_part)),punc('!','The',w(feeling))),
            sentence('No one',s(w(angst)),'why the',w(them),w(them_verb + me_verb)),
        )


def lorem_gotham_title():
    """Names your poem
    """
    w = lambda l: l[random.randrange(len(l))]
    sentence = lambda *l: lambda: " ".join(l)
    pick = lambda *l: (l[random.randrange(len(l))])()
    return pick(
        sentence('why i',w(me_verb)),
        sentence(w(place)),
        sentence('a',w(adj),w(adj),w(place)),
        sentence('the',w(them)))


def main(args):
    """I provide a command-line interface for this module
    """
    print
    print "-~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~-"
    print lorem_gotham_title().center(50)
    print "-~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~--~*~-"
    print
    poem = lorem_gotham()
    for n in range(16):
        if n in (4, 8, 12):
            print
        print poem.next()
    print


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main(sys.argv)