pymesomake 0.3.0

An implementation of the mesostic generation algorithm Andrew Culver developed for John Cage.

PyMesomake

PyMesomake is a Python 3 implementation of the mesostic generation algorithm Andrew Culver developed for John Cage.

Installation

Windows

I only use Windows for testing in my projects but these instructions work for me on a vanilla Windows 10 VirtualBox virtual machine:

0. If you don't already have Python on your system download and install the current release from python.org.

1. Open a Command Prompt.

2. Run this command.

pip install pymesomake

3. Download the punkt tokenizer from Python's Natural Language Tool Kit.

python -m nltk.downloader punkt

4. Download this file, containing the text of Genesis.

5. Run this command, making sure to provide the correct path to wherever you've downloaded the Genesis text.

python -m pymesomake --sourcefile=Downloads\genesis.txt --mesostring="these are the times that try men's souls"

You should see a mesostic on your screen. Congratulations.

macOS

I do most of my development work on Macintosh hardware so my setup is somewhat customized. If you've done any programming on your Mac it's likely you've already installed Xcode, the homebrew package manager, and maybe a version of Python 3.

0. Install a current release of Python 3 on your Mac. This guide is as good as any.

1. Open a Terminal window.

2. Run this command.

pip install pymesomake

3. Download the punkt tokenizer from Python's Natural Language Tool Kit.

python -m nltk.downloader punkt

4. Download this file, containing the text of Genesis.

5. Run this command, making sure to provide the correct path to wherever you've downloaded the Genesis text.

python -m pymesomake --sourcefile=Downloads/genesis.txt --mesostring="these are the times that try men's souls"

You should see a mesostic on your screen. Congratulations.

Linux

coming soon

Usage

python pymesomake --sourcefile='data/genesis.txt' --mesostring="these are the times that try men's souls"

Acknowledgements & Resources

Andrew Culver

• post to silence mailing list that inspired this code
• compilation of computer programs used by John Cage

The Holy See

• source of Genesis text. HTML source subjected to these minimal edits:
  • removal of page navigation elements
  • removal of chapter headings (e.g., "Chapter 6") and line numbering (e.g., "[1:30]")

Marjorie Perloff contextual essays

• John Cage Conceptualist Poet
• The Music of Verbal Space: John Cage’s “What You Say”

Reminder to Maintainer

Publish thusly:

python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
twine upload dist/*