Editing End Poem

{{Short description|2011 poem by Julian Gough}}
{{Distinguish|The End (poem)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2023}}
{{Wikisource|End Poem}}
The '''End Poem'''<!-- Normally rendered in title case but without quotation marks, as a proper noun rather than a title. --> is a poem by [[Julian Gough]] that appears in the [[end credits]] of the video game ''[[Minecraft]]''. It is the only narrative text in the mostly unstructured [[sandbox game]]. [[Markus "Notch" Persson]], ''Minecraft''{{'s}} creator, invited Gough to create the poem in 2011; it initially appeared in Beta version 1.9. The poem takes the form of a 1,500-word dialogue between two unspecified, godlike entities, discussing what the player has done in the game, which it compares to a dream. Critical reception of the poem has been mostly neutral to positive, often emphasising its oddness; it has been positively received among ''Minecraft'' fans.

In 2022, Gough wrote that he had never signed a contract with Persson's [[Mojang Studios]] nor with [[Microsoft]], which bought Mojang in 2014. Motivated by the poem's own words that "you are love" and the love he had received from fans of the poem, Gough decided to release [[s:End Poem|a version of the poem]] into the [[public domain]] rather than entering a legal dispute with Microsoft.

== Creation and use in ''Minecraft'' ==
{{infobox<!-- Adapted from {{external media}} -->
|bodystle="float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 1.5em 1.5em"
|above=External media
| abovestyle     = font-size:115%
|data1 = [[File:Nuvola apps mycomputer.svg|16px]] [https://www.theendpoem.com/ A Web implementation of the poem], similar to the formatting used in ''Minecraft''
}}
[[Julian Gough]] wrote the End Poem for the [[end credits]] of ''[[Minecraft]]'' at the request of [[Markus "Notch" Persson]].<ref name="parker" /> According to Gough, Persson contacted him in 2011, after [[tweet (Twitter)|tweet]]ing that he was looking for recommendations for talented writers. Gough says that Persson gave him broad latitude in composing a written work for the end of the game. Gough had played ''Minecraft'' in [[alpha version|alpha]] at a [[game jam]] but had not thought much of it, and was unaware of its popularity until Persson reached out to him. Gough played it some more and then wrote the poem.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chatfield |first=Tom |authorlink=Tom Chatfield |date=2012-01-09 |title=Ending an endless game: an interview with Julian Gough, author of ''Minecraft''{{'}}s epic finale |url=https://boingboing.net/2012/01/09/ending-an-endless-game-an-int.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=[[Boing Boing]] |language=en-US |archive-date=12 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112024241/http://boingboing.net/2012/01/09/ending-an-endless-game-an-int.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=gough-2022>{{Cite web |last=Gough |first=Julian |authorlink=Julian Gough |title=I wrote a story for a friend |date=2022-12-07 |url=https://theeggandtherock.substack.com/p/i-wrote-a-story-for-a-friend |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=The Egg and the Rock |via=[[Substack]] |language=en |archive-date=8 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508070936/https://theeggandtherock.substack.com/p/i-wrote-a-story-for-a-friend |url-status=live }}</ref> The poem debuted, alongside the rest of the end credits and the full endgame mechanics, in Beta version 1.9.<ref name=limer>{{cite web |last1=Limer |first1=Eric |title=''Minecraft'' Now Has an Ending Sequence and Credits |url=https://www.themarysue.com/minecraft-ending-sequence/ |website=[[The Mary Sue]] |access-date=1 May 2023 |language=en |date=11 November 2011 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502012312/https://www.themarysue.com/minecraft-ending-sequence/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The poem comes on-screen after players kill the [[Ender Dragon]], thus winning the game, and step into the End Portal.<ref name="parker" /> It begins with the words "I see the player you mean" in teal and a reply of the active player's name in green, followed by about 1,500 words of dialogue between the two speakers, whose identities are never established but have been described in ''[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]]'' as "god-like".<ref name=thielenhaus>{{cite web |last1=Thielenhaus |first1=Kevin |title=8 Weirdest Endings That Left Us Saying 'Huh?' |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/8-weirdest-endings-that-left-us-saying-huh/ |website=[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]] |access-date=1 May 2023 |date=30 August 2017 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010808/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/8-weirdest-endings-that-left-us-saying-huh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Small portions are intentionally rendered as glitched text.<ref name="creswell">{{cite journal |last1=Creswell |first1=Jacob |title=Does ''Minecraft''{{'}}s Ending Actually Mean Anything? |journal=[[Comic Book Resources]] |date=26 December 2022 |url=https://www.cbr.com/minecraft-ending-poem-meaning/ |access-date=2 May 2023 |language=en |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010807/https://www.cbr.com/minecraft-ending-poem-meaning/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The poem culminates with twelve consecutive lines starting "and the universe said", ending with:{{efn|Formatted similarly to as in ''Minecraft'', except with colours modified and names added for accessibility. In the game, these words appear before a dirt-textured background.}}
<blockquote>{{monodiv|1=<!-- From [[MOS:COLOR]]: "Ensure that color is not the only method used to communicate important information. Especially, do not use colored text or background unless its status is also indicated using another method". --><p style="color:#006161;margin-top:0;">[teal]&nbsp; and the universe said I love you because you are love.</p>
<p style="color:#006600;">[green] And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love.</p>
<p style="color:#006161;">[teal]&nbsp; You are the player.</p>
<p style="color:#006600;margin-bottom:0;">[green] Wake up.</p>}}</blockquote>

The poem scrolls across the screen over the course of about nine minutes; speeding it up by manually scrolling is made intentionally difficult.<ref name="gough-2022" /> It is the only narrative text in the game,<ref name="moloney">{{cite news |last1=Moloney |first1=Eoghan |date=2022-12-08 |title=Irishman who wrote ''Minecraft''{{'}}s revered 'End Poem' gives words away for free after declining to sign over rights to Microsoft |language=en |work=[[Irish Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irishman-who-wrote-minecrafts-revered-end-poem-gives-words-away-for-free-after-declining-to-sign-over-rights-to-microsoft/42206699.html |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010807/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irishman-who-wrote-minecrafts-revered-end-poem-gives-words-away-for-free-after-declining-to-sign-over-rights-to-microsoft/42206699.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the only text of significant length oriented toward the player.<ref name="anthony">{{cite journal |last1=Anthony |first1=Jason |date=2015 |title=Current Key Perspectives in Video Gaming and Religion |url=https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/bitstream/elib/3156/1/00104919-1.pdf |publisher=[[University of Bremen]] |issue=3 |pages=7–15 |access-date=1 May 2023 |journal=[[Gamevironments]] |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010810/https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/bitstream/elib/3156/1/00104919-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|p=10}} {{as of|December 2022}}, it has not been significantly modified from Gough's original version.<ref name="creswell" />

== Reception ==
An early impression by Eric Limer in ''[[The Mary Sue]]'' was sharply critical, calling the End Poem "nothing but a bunch of text that scrolls down the screen excruciatingly slowly for an excruciatingly long time", which "reads like a stereotypical [[JRPG]] ending mashed up with some stuff written by a highschooler who just discovered post-modernist literature."<ref name="limer" /> Subsequent commentary leans more favourable: Kevin Thielenhaus in ''The Escapist'' calls the poem "mysterious, and kind of weird, and probably not what most of us were expecting from a ''Minecraft'' ending".<ref name="thielenhaus" /> ''[[The Atlantic]]''{{'s}} James Parker calls it "a goofy/beautiful metaphysical text".<ref name=parker>{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=James |date=2014-05-22 |title=''Minecraft'': The Most Creative Game Ever Made |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-game-that-conquered-the-world/361615/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=[[The Atlantic]] |language=en |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010808/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-game-that-conquered-the-world/361615/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Ted Litchfield in ''[[PC Gamer]]'' describes it as "warm and humanistic" and compares it to the 2015 video game ''[[Undertale]]'' and the 2017 multimedia narrative ''[[17776]]''.<ref name="litchfield" /> Gough himself has called the work an "oddity" and "peculiar".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gough |first=Julian |authorlink=Julian Gough |date=2021-05-20 |title=Another Day, Another Riot, another world: Julian Gough on Toasted Heretic 30 years on |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/another-day-another-riot-another-world-julian-gough-on-toasted-heretic-30-years-on-1.4567481 |access-date=2023-05-01 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |language=en |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502012310/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/another-day-another-riot-another-world-julian-gough-on-toasted-heretic-30-years-on-1.4567481 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:End Poem tattoo (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A tattoo quoting from the poem, set in a font similar to ''Minecraft''{{'s}}. Gough used an image of the same tattoo when discussing the poem's impact.<ref name="gough-2022" />|alt=A pale white arm, tattooed with the quote "and the universe said I love you because you are love", all lowercase and in a Minecraft-like font.]]Jason Anthony in ''[[gamevironments]]'' and Matthew Horrigan in ''[[Acta Ludologica]]'' both highlight the End Poem's comparison of video games to dreams;<ref name="anthony" />{{rp|pp=10–12}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Horrigan |first1=Matthew |date=2022 |title=Nulltopia: Of Disjunct Space |url=https://actaludologica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AL_2022-5-2_Study-4_Horrigan.pdf |journal=[[Acta Ludologica]] |language=EN |publisher=[[University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius]] |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=58–70 |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502013816/https://actaludologica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AL_2022-5-2_Study-4_Horrigan.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|p=17}} Anthony also discusses the poem's relevance to the theological implications of ''Minecraft'' players' ability to create and destroy worlds.<ref name="anthony" />{{rp|pp=10–12}} Jacob Creswell in ''[[Comic Book Resources]]'' also analyses the poem's commentary on dreams and its reference to life as "the long dream" in comparison to "the short dream of a game".<ref name="creswell" /> Creswell notes the dissimilarity between the lengthy poem and the minimalist game, but concludes that they fit well together, writing that "[t]he poem disagrees with the idea that the player is nothing compared to the grand scale of the universe" and that "[t]he game's code creates a world that players invest time and care into, much like their real lives".<ref name="creswell" /> Similarly, in ''[[MIT Technology Review]]'', [[Simon Parkin]] observes that most players will never encounter the poem in-game, but finds that the two share a sentiment of creation through dream, which Parkin views as revealing the game's "somewhat evangelical" nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parkin |first1=Simon |author1-link=Simon Parkin |title=The Secret to a Video-Game Phenomenon |journal=[[MIT Technology Review]] |date=July 2013 |volume=116 |issue=4 |pages=79–82 |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2013/06/14/177798/the-secret-to-a-video-game-phenomenon/ |access-date=4 May 2023 |id={{EBSCOhost|88370119|dbcode=a9h}} |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504034122/https://www.technologyreview.com/2013/06/14/177798/the-secret-to-a-video-game-phenomenon/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''[[Irish Independent]]'' describes the End Poem as revered by the ''Minecraft'' community.<ref name="moloney" /> A number of fans have tattoos of excerpts, particularly from the "and the universe said" portion,<ref name="moloney" /> which Gough has described as "beyond moving".<ref name="gough-2022" /> 

== Copyright status ==
Gough was reluctant to include the line "The Universe said I love you because you are love"{{efn|Misquoted in Gough's essay as "The universe loves you because you are love"<ref name="gough-2022" />}} because he did not believe it at the time; however, after two [[psilocybin]] trips near [[Apeldoorn]], Netherlands, he stated that he realized that he had been hiding from the love that fans had expressed for the poem and that he had to "complete the circuit" and "accept, and act on" that line of the poem.<ref name="gough-2022" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gault |first1=Matthew |date=2022-12-08 |title=Guy Who Wrote ''Minecraft''{{'}}s Ending Poem Makes It Public Domain After Taking Shrooms |language=en |work=[[Vice News]] |department=Motherboard |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gn3q/guy-who-wrote-minecrafts-ending-poem-makes-it-public-domain-after-taking-shrooms |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010809/https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gn3q/guy-who-wrote-minecrafts-ending-poem-makes-it-public-domain-after-taking-shrooms |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a December 2022 post on his [[Substack]] blog, ''The Egg and the Rock'', Gough wrote that he had never signed any contract with Persson's [[Mojang Studios]] over the poem, rather relying on an informal agreement that Mojang could use it in the existing [[Windows]] and [[OS X]] versions of the game.<ref name="litchfield"/><ref name="gough-2022" /> He said that he was paid €20,000 ({{inflation|EU|20,000|2011|fmt=eq|cursign=€}}) and corresponded with Mojang managing director Carl Manneh about signing a formal agreement, but did not reach any prior to Mojang's sale to [[Microsoft]] in 2014.<ref name="litchfield">{{cite web |last1=Litchfield |first1=Ted |title=The writer of ''Minecraft''{{'}}s ending poem wants to 'liberate it from the corporate economy' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/the-writer-of-minecrafts-ending-poem-wants-to-liberate-it-from-the-corporate-economy/ |website=[[PC Gamer]] |access-date=2 May 2023 |language=en |date=12 December 2022 |archive-date=11 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211223315/https://www.pcgamer.com/the-writer-of-minecrafts-ending-poem-wants-to-liberate-it-from-the-corporate-economy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The full legal implications of the resulting situation were unclear,<ref name="litchfield" /> and Gough wrote that he did not wish to have any legal dispute with Microsoft.<ref name="gough-2022" /> Explaining his psilocybin-induced realization, he then placed the poem (specifically [[s:End Poem|the version he had sent Persson]]) into the [[public domain]] using a [[CC0]] dedication.<ref name="moloney" />

Microsoft did not respond to press inquiries about Gough's blog post, which Gough alleges led an unnamed global news organisation to "los[e] their nerve" about running a piece that would have confirmed his narrative. Jez Corden of ''[[Windows Central]]'' expressed scepticism that a lack of comment would have exerted any pressure on such an organisation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corden |first1=Jez |title=Did Microsoft scare the media into not covering ''Minecraft''{{'}}s 'The End' copyright drama? |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/did-microsoft-scare-the-media-into-not-covering-minecrafts-the-end-copyright-drama |access-date=12 May 2023 |work=[[Windows Central]] |publisher=[[Future plc]] |date=8 January 2023 |language=en |archive-date=11 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211223314/https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/did-microsoft-scare-the-media-into-not-covering-minecrafts-the-end-copyright-drama |url-status=live }} Citing: {{cite tweet |number=1611031552472793089 |last=Gough |first=Julian |authorlink=Julian Gough |user=juliangough |title=Hmmm. I just had a bizarre experience, involving a global news organisation and a trillion dollar corporation.}}</ref> Sean Hollister of ''[[The Verge]]'' speculated that the obstacle for news organisations was the difficulty of verifying that Gough had never signed a contract.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hollister |first1=Sean |title=Microsoft doesn't own the rights to ''Minecraft''{{'}}s ending—no one does, its author claims |url=https://www.theverge.com/23542539/minecraft-end-poem-julian-gough-microsoft-mojang-no-contract-public-domain |access-date=20 June 2023 |work=[[The Verge]] |date=6 January 2023 |archive-date=30 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330220304/https://www.theverge.com/23542539/minecraft-end-poem-julian-gough-microsoft-mojang-no-contract-public-domain |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Minecraft}}

[[Category:Minecraft]]
[[Category:2011 poems]]
[[Category:Irish poems]]
[[Category:Fictional elements introduced in 2011]]
[[Category:Narrative poems]]