In 1775, Alessandro Volta invented the electrophorus, a simple device for generating static electricity repeatedly without a Leyden jar, in Como, northern Italy. The device consisted of a metal plate placed on a statically charged resin disk, which could be lifted to produce a spark and then replaced to generate another charge indefinitely. Unlike previous electrostatic generators that required continuous rubbing, the electrophorus could produce an unlimited number of charges from a single initial electrification, making electrical experimentation far more convenient and accessible across Europe.

The electrophorus's ability to produce electrical charge repeatedly from a single initial impulse provided a metaphor for creative and intellectual processes that poets would find compelling. The idea that a single inspiration or initial spark could be renewed indefinitely through a mechanical process resonated with Enlightenment and Romantic theories of imagination. Volta's invention in Como, a small Italian city rather than a major capital, also represented the dissemination of scientific knowledge beyond traditional centers of learning, a democratization of knowledge that paralleled the literary movement toward vernacular and regional voices.