Today (February 2) those of us with roots in Pennsylvania join enthusiasts from everywhere as we look to mythical groundhog Punxsutawney Phil for a forecast concerning prolonged winter or early spring. This morning Phil's forecast was bleak but not unexpected: we will have six more weeks of winter.
This news that our winter is only half over has led me to a poem (found in the illustrated anthology Talking to the Sun, edited by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell, published in 1985 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art):
Another Sarah by Anne Porter (1911-2011)
for Christopher Smart
When winter was half over
God sent three angels to the apple-tree
Who said to her
"Be glad, you little rack
Of empty sticks,
Because you have been chosen.
In May you will become
A wave of living sweetness
A nation of white petals
A dynasty of apples."
Another winter poem by Porter with a bit of mathematics is included in this post for 25 November 2012.
Showing posts with label Anne Porter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anne Porter. Show all posts
Monday, February 2, 2015
Is winter half over?
Labels:
Anne Porter,
groundhog,
half,
mathematics,
poetry,
Punxsutawney,
winter
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Lincoln and Euclid -- common notions
This afternoon I enjoyed the recently-released film, Lincoln -- appreciating Sally Fields as Mary Todd, Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens and (especially) Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln. An absorbing drama -- inspiring and also informative. With a slight mention of mathematics: in a film conversation with two-young telegraph operators, Lincoln reflected on his study of Euclid and shared with the young men the first of Euclid's common notions:
Things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.
Things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.
Labels:
Abraham Lincoln,
Anne Porter,
equal,
Euclid,
mathematics,
poetry,
slavery
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