When a math term appears in a poem, will its usage make sense to a mathematician? Some mathematical folks are critical of poetic use of math words because precision may be lost to "poetic license." Others feel a pleasing tension between the mathness of a term and the stretched or layered meanings suggested by the poem. With these thoughts in mind, consider these two mathematically-titled poems "Mobius Strip" and "Parabola" by Robert Desnos (France, 1900-1945), translated by Amy Levin and selected from "A sampling of French surrealist poetry."
Mobius Strip by Robert Desnos (trans. Amy Levin)
The track I'm running on
Won't be the same when I turn back
It's useless to follow it straight
I'll return to another place
Showing posts with label parabola. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parabola. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2015
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Our curve is a parabola
Found in the essay, "Intellect" (1841) -- these words by 19th century American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882):
When we are young, we spend much time and pains
in filling our note-books with all definitions
of Religion, Love, Poetry, Politics, Art,
in the hope that, in the course of a few years,
we shall have condensed into our encyclopaedia
the net value of all the theories
at which the world has yet arrived.
But year after year our tables get no
completeness, and at last we discover
that our curve is a parabola,
whose arcs will never meet.
When we are young, we spend much time and pains
in filling our note-books with all definitions
of Religion, Love, Poetry, Politics, Art,
in the hope that, in the course of a few years,
we shall have condensed into our encyclopaedia
the net value of all the theories
at which the world has yet arrived.
But year after year our tables get no
completeness, and at last we discover
that our curve is a parabola,
whose arcs will never meet.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Of all geometries, feathery is best . . .
The title for this post comes from Twinzilla (The Word Works, 2014), by Charleston poet Barbara Hagerty. The title character of this collection is one of several poetic personalities that inhabit Hagerty's verse, and she offers a playful view of life's dualities -- sometimes versed in mathematical terminology. Here's a sample.
Twinzilla Cautions * by Barbara G. S. Hagerty
Do not accept packages from unknown persons.
Beware non-native strangers who may be concealing
hazardous contraband "down there."
Question algebra. Dismantle thoughts traveling
the brain's baggage carousel in parabolas.
Twinzilla Cautions * by Barbara G. S. Hagerty
Do not accept packages from unknown persons.
Beware non-native strangers who may be concealing
hazardous contraband "down there."
Question algebra. Dismantle thoughts traveling
the brain's baggage carousel in parabolas.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Baseball, math, and poetry
The end of summer approaches and, with it, the end of the baseball season. This blog celebrated the triplet (baseball, mathematics, poetry) on 9 April 2010, featuring samples from and links to poems by Marianne Moore and Jerry Wemple. Today we herald the same trio, this time with "Night Game" by Jonathan Holden.
Labels:
baseball,
Jerry Wemple,
Jonathan Holden,
Marianne Moore,
mathematics,
parabola,
poetry
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sense and Nonsense
Nonsense verse has a prominent place in the poetry that mathematicians enjoy. Perhaps this is so because mathematical discovery itself has a playful aspect--playing, as it were, with non-sense in an effort to tease the sense out of it. Lewis Carroll, author of both mathematics and literature, often has his characters offer speeches that are a clever mix of sense and nonsense. For example, we have these two stanzas from "Fit the Fifth" of The Hunting of the Snark, the words of the Butcher, explaining to the Beaver why 2 + 1 = 3.
Labels:
algebra,
decimal,
E P Dempster,
elliptical,
Langford Reed,
Lewis Carroll,
mathematics,
nonsense verse,
parabola,
parallel,
play,
poetry,
square root
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)