A favorite writer whose works I enjoy again and again is English poet Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973). Here is a mathy excerpt from a very long Auden poem (around 1500 lines) entitled "FOR THE TIME BEING: A Christmas Oratorio," written during World War II and available in his Collected Poems.
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off. But, for the time being, here we all are,
Back in the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid's geometry
And Newton's mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.
Another mathy Auden poem, "Numbers and Faces," is available here. And this link leads to more of his work.
Showing posts sorted by date for query Christmas. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Christmas. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Monday, December 26, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
Numbers for Christmas . . .
*
o n
t o p
g i v e
l i g h t
f r e e l y
f o r e v e r
a b u n d a n t
b r i l l i a n t
e v e r y w h e r e
o n
t o p
g i v e
l i g h t
f r e e l y
f o r e v e r
a b u n d a n t
b r i l l i a n t
e v e r y w h e r e
LOVE MATH!
Christmas is coming and I have looked back to earlier posts for holiday greetings -- a version of the growing snowball poem above was first posted in 2012 and here, from 2010, is a Christmas verse that celebrates pi:
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
A sonnet for W.R.Hamilton
Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865) was also a poet (see, for example, this sonnet in a prior posting (13 October 2011). Irish poet and physicist Iggy McGovern has written A Mystic Dream of 4: A sonnet sequence based on the life of William Rowan Hamilton (Quaternia Press, 2013).
Here is McGovern's opening sonnet.
GEOMETRY by Iggy McGovern
Once, any pupil could define me best:
"points, lines, angles and figures", could amuse
The table with the Christmas cracker jest
About 'the squaw' on the hypotenuse!
The collection is prefaced by this quote from Hamilton:
"The quaternion [was] born,
as a curious offspring of a quaternion of parents,
say of geometry, algebra, metaphysics, and poetry."
GEOMETRY by Iggy McGovern
Once, any pupil could define me best:
"points, lines, angles and figures", could amuse
The table with the Christmas cracker jest
About 'the squaw' on the hypotenuse!
Saturday, January 2, 2016
2015 (and prior) -- titles, dates, links for posts
If you wish to easily BROWSE past postings . . .
Scroll
down to find titles and dates and links to postings in 2015.
OR follow these year-number links to go to lists of posts through 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 -- and all the way back to March 2010 when this blog was begun. At the top of the column to the right is a SEARCH box for the blog and this link leads to a PDF file of searchable topics and names of poets and mathematicians presented herein. Scrolling down the right-hand column leads to a partial list of LABELS that are linked to a list of blogs that contain them.
Dec 31 Precision leads to poetry . . .
Dec 28 Can a woman learn science (or mathematics)?
Dec 24 And now welcome Christmas . . .
Dec 22 Let us not forget . . .
Dec 20 Who put the pie in Pythagoras?
Dec 18 A student writes poetry for a math class . . .
Dec 15 Generalized Pythagorean Theorem--a visual poem?
Thursday, December 24, 2015
And now welcome Christmas . . .
Let us sing . . .
(a version of) The Twelve Days of Christmas
The twelfth day of Christmas.
My true love gave to me,
Twelve lords a leaping,
Eleven ladies dancing,
Ten pipers piping,
Nine drummers drumming,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
To learn some history of this song (and its variations), frequently sung as a cumulative marathon, see Wikipedia.
(a version of) The Twelve Days of Christmas
The twelfth day of Christmas.
My true love gave to me,
Twelve lords a leaping,
Eleven ladies dancing,
Ten pipers piping,
Nine drummers drumming,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
To learn some history of this song (and its variations), frequently sung as a cumulative marathon, see Wikipedia.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Let us not forget . . .
At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, many are without shelter -- and are cold. Let us think of them -- as Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972) does in "A Carol" below (a poem whose lines for the most part maintain an alternating 6-5 syllable count and which contains the small number two). Let us remember to share our warmth.
A Carol by Cecil Day-Lewis
Oh hush thee, my baby,
Thy cradle's in pawn:
A Carol by Cecil Day-Lewis
Oh hush thee, my baby,
Thy cradle's in pawn:
Saturday, January 3, 2015
2014 (and prior) -- titles, dates of posts
Scroll
down to find titles and dates of posts in 2014. At the bottom are links to lists of posts through 2013 and 2012 and 2011 -- and all the way back to March 2010 when this
blog was begun. This link leads to a PDF file that lists searchable topics and names of poets and mathematicians presented herein.
Dec 30 Be someone TO COUNT ON in 2015
Dec 28 A Fractal Poem
Dec 25 A thousand Christmas trees
Dec 24 The gift of a poem
Dec 20 The Girl Who Loved Triangles
Dec 30 Be someone TO COUNT ON in 2015
Dec 28 A Fractal Poem
Dec 25 A thousand Christmas trees
Dec 24 The gift of a poem
Dec 20 The Girl Who Loved Triangles
Thursday, December 25, 2014
A thousand Christmas trees
My email poem-a-day today from www.poets.org is "Christmas Trees" by Robert Frost (1874-1963); this 1916 poem includes some calculations and reflections based on the line:
“A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars.”
Frost's poem has provoked me to thoughts of inflation and conservation; for the full poem, follow the link given with the title above. And, if your time permits, go back to previous "Christmas" postings in this blog at these links: 23 December 2013, 24 December 2012, 21 December 2012, 22 December 2011, and 2 September 2010.
“A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars.”
Frost's poem has provoked me to thoughts of inflation and conservation; for the full poem, follow the link given with the title above. And, if your time permits, go back to previous "Christmas" postings in this blog at these links: 23 December 2013, 24 December 2012, 21 December 2012, 22 December 2011, and 2 September 2010.
Labels:
calculation,
Christmas,
conservation,
inflation,
JoAnne Growney,
mathematics,
poetry,
Robert Frost,
tree
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
And Now I See . . .
One of the ways we overcome our nervous shyness about our disabilities is by talking about them, and writing about them. And by encountering the poetry of Kathi Wolfe. I enjoy her work out-loud -- she is a frequent performer of her poems at local DC-area venues -- and on the page.
Kathi's "Blind Ambition" (in which she speaks of the monsters in arithmetic) is offered below; I first discovered this poem when it was posted by Split this Rock as poem of the week.
Kathi's "Blind Ambition" (in which she speaks of the monsters in arithmetic) is offered below; I first discovered this poem when it was posted by Split this Rock as poem of the week.
Labels:
addition,
arithmetic,
blind,
Kathi Wolfe,
multiplication,
poetry,
Split This Rock
Friday, January 31, 2014
On shoulders of giants . . .
Washington, DC is a city rich with both poetry and mathematics. Last Tuesday evening I attended a Mathematical Association of America (MAA) lecture by author and math historian William Dunham (whom I knew when he taught for a bunch of years at Pennsylvania's Muhlenberg College, in Eastern Pennsylvania, not so far from my employer, Bloomsburg University). Dunham spoke of insights gained by many hours reading the correspondence of British mathematician and scientist, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). The discoverer of "gravity," and, moreover, both a genius and a disagreeable man. Still, Newton was a man who gave a nod to his predecessors, "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants."
Labels:
David Arns,
fluxions,
gravity,
MAA,
mathematician,
poem,
Principia,
Sir Isaac Newton,
William Dunham
Thursday, January 2, 2014
2013 (and prior) -- titles, dates of posts
Scroll
down to find dates and titles (with links) of posts in 2013. At the bottom are links to posts through 2012 and 2011 -- and all the way back to March 2010 when this
blog was begun. This link leads to a PDF file that lists searchable topics and names of poets and mathematicians presented herein.
Dec 30 Error Message Haiku
Dec 26 The angel of numbers . . .
Dec 23 Ah, you are a mathematician
Dec 20 Measuring Winter
Dec 30 Error Message Haiku
Dec 26 The angel of numbers . . .
Dec 23 Ah, you are a mathematician
Dec 20 Measuring Winter
Monday, December 23, 2013
Ah, you are a mathematician
Thanks to Arturo Sangalli of the Writer's Union of Canada -- and fellow-participant in a recent Banff creativity conference -- who reminded me of this poem. And thanks to Bill Dunham who has spread it widely by including it in The Mathematical Universe (Wiley, 1997). These brief stanzas were written in the early 1990s when many of us kept our financial facts in checkbooks rather than online; still current, however, is the mistaken image of mathematicians as those whose task it is to keep numbers clean and orderly.
Misunderstanding by JoAnne Growney
Ah, you are a mathematician,
they say with admiration
or scorn.
Misunderstanding by JoAnne Growney
Ah, you are a mathematician,
they say with admiration
or scorn.
Labels:
Arturo Sangalli,
balance,
Christmas,
digits,
JoAnne Growney,
mathematical,
mathematician,
numbers,
pi,
William Dunham
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
13 lads of Christmas
In addition to waterfalls and geysers and the Aurora, Iceland has outstanding museums. On the morning of December 10, I visited the National Museum of Iceland in Reykjavik -- and enjoyed a careful introduction to the history of this fascinating and friendly nation. Something I missed, however, was seeing one of the 13 Yuletide Lads that are an Icelandic tradition and who visit the Museum one-by-one on the 13 days before Christmas, each wearing
traditional costume and trying to pilfer the goodies he
likes best.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Enough for everyone -- Russell Libby
Are you looking for a poem on a particular math topic? One search strategy is to go to the Poetry Foundation website (another is to click on the green SEARCH BOX in the right column of this blog) and enter your math term into the search box; if, for example, you enter "geometry" one of the poems you find will be this one by Russell Libby (1956 -2012). Both poet and organic farmer, Libby believed in sustainability: all it takes is one well-cared-for seed to grow and spread. Here is his "Applied Geometry."
Applied Geometry by Russell Libby
Applied Geometry by Russell Libby
Applied geometry,
measuring the height
of a pine from
like triangles,
Labels:
applied mathematics,
geometry,
height,
poem,
Russell Libby,
shadow,
stretch,
sustainabilty,
triangle
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
2012 posts -- titles and links
Scroll down to find titles and dates of posts in 2012 -- and, at the bottom, links to posts all the way back through 2011 to March 2010 when this blog was begun. This link leads to a PDF file that lists searchable topics and names of poets and mathematicians presented herein.
Dec 30 A chance encounter
Dec 28 Explorers
Dec 25 Support STREET SENSE
Dec 24 Star, shine bright!
Dec 21 Skating (with math) on Christmas
Dec 30 A chance encounter
Dec 28 Explorers
Dec 25 Support STREET SENSE
Dec 24 Star, shine bright!
Dec 21 Skating (with math) on Christmas
Monday, December 24, 2012
Star, shine bright!
*
on
top
give
light
freely
forever
abundant
brilliant
everywhere
on
top
give
light
freely
forever
abundant
brilliant
everywhere
Be our
light!
For more visual poetry of Christmas, enjoy a visit to Bob Grumman's Guest Blog posting for Scientific American. Thanks, Bob, and Happy Holiday wishes to all.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Skating (with math) on Christmas
Found at poets.org, a lovely poem of ice skating and mathematics and Christmas by Cynthia Zarin; the title is "Skating in Harlem, Christmas Day." Perhaps some day I will have completed all the paper work and the waiting required by Knopf and Random House to gain permission to offer herein Zarin's poem (from The Watercourse (2002) ) -- but, for now, please enjoy it by following the link I have given above.
Labels:
Christmas,
Cynthia Zarin,
mathematics,
poem,
skating
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Counting the dead
This poem by Joan Mazza
heightens the impact of war-data by bringing it into the kitchen and the office -- juxtaposing war-numbers with the events of a pleasant day in
central Virginia.
Numbers for the Week by Joan Mazza
This morning, it was twenty-eight degrees. I photographed
red oak leaves rimed with frost. I made chicken soup, canned
ten pint jars in the pressure cooker at fifteen pounds of pressure
for seventy-five minutes. On the stump near the compost pile,
I left the skin of fourteen chicken thighs for crows and woodpeckers.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Taking Stock
Developing an inventory -- of what we have or have experienced, of what we see or imagine -- inevitably involves numbers and counting. As in "Inventory" by Canadian poet Colin Morton, an adaptation or "free translation" of "Inventaire" by Jacques Prevert. Morton has a strong connection to mathematics -- his son is a mathematician at the Technical University of Lisbon.
Inventory by Colin Morton
one lump of rock
two houses
three ruined foundations
four gravediggers
one garden
some flowers
Inventory by Colin Morton
one lump of rock
two houses
three ruined foundations
four gravediggers
one garden
some flowers
Labels:
Colin Morton,
counting,
inventory,
Jacques Prevert,
mathematics,
poetry,
translation
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
From 2011 -- dates, titles of posts
List of postings January 1 - December 31, 2011
Scrolling through the 12 months of titles below may lead you to topics and poets/poems of interest. Also helpful may be the SEARCH box at the top of the right-hand column; there you may enter names or terms that you would like to find herein.
Dec 30 Good Numbers
Dec 26 A mathematical woman
Dec 22 Counting on Christmas
Dec 20 Thoughts Suggested by a College Examination
Dec 17 Ruth Stone counts
Dec 14 A puzzle with a partial solution
Dec 11 Poetry captures math student
Dec 8 Monsieur Probabilty
Dec 5 Poetic Pascal Triangle
Dec 2 Mathematics works with witchcraft
Scrolling through the 12 months of titles below may lead you to topics and poets/poems of interest. Also helpful may be the SEARCH box at the top of the right-hand column; there you may enter names or terms that you would like to find herein.
Dec 30 Good Numbers
Dec 26 A mathematical woman
Dec 22 Counting on Christmas
Dec 20 Thoughts Suggested by a College Examination
Dec 17 Ruth Stone counts
Dec 14 A puzzle with a partial solution
Dec 11 Poetry captures math student
Dec 8 Monsieur Probabilty
Dec 5 Poetic Pascal Triangle
Dec 2 Mathematics works with witchcraft
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