Preparing to celebrate (after Valentine's Day) Presidents' Day, remembering particularly George Washington (b February 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (b February 12,1809), I offer a few lines by Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
America by Walt Whitman
Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair'd in the adamant of Time. [1888]
This poem is found here in the Walt Whitman Archive.
Showing posts sorted by date for query valentine. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query valentine. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
Celebrate Black History, Valentine's Day
February is Black History Month and on the 14th we celebrate love with Valentine's Day. To find in this blog a variety of mathy poems on these topics (and many others) use the SEARCH box found at the top of the right-hand column of this blog.
Labels:
Black History Month,
love,
mathy,
poem,
Valentine
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
Monday, February 10, 2014
To love, in perfect syllables
While looking for Valentine verse with a math connection, I opened my copy of The Complete Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll (Chancellor Press, 1982). And found this one in which Carroll (a pen name for English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodson (1832-1898)) uses the word one twice and the word half twice and has counted sounds so that in each line the number of syllables is either a cube of an integer or is perfect.
Lesson in Latin by Lewis Carroll (May 1888)
Lesson in Latin by Lewis Carroll (May 1888)
Labels:
Charles Lutwidge Dodson,
count,
cube,
half,
Lewis Carroll,
love,
mathematician,
mathematics,
one,
Pablo Neruda,
perfect,
Valentine
Friday, February 7, 2014
Love and Mathematics -- Please be my Valentine!
Poet extraordinaire Maxine Kumin (1925-2014) died yesterday.
Late in 2007, AKPeters released Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics, edited by Sarah Glaz and me. Recently at a Howard County Math Festival I met a young man who browsed my copy of this anthology and found it the perfect Valentine. And so might you. Below I include a sample from the collection -- a love sonnet by Jean de Sponde (1557-1595), translated from the French by David Slavitt.
Several previous postings have offered love poems of mathematics and mathematicians;
these include 9 February 2013, 12 February 2012, 12 February 2011, 10 November 2011,
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Six Million
Sometimes numbers become labels for particular events. When I was growing up, all of us knew 1492 as a label for the discovery of America. And 1941 recognized Pearl Harbor. The following selection from a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) reminds us of the awful importance of 6 million.
While mentioning this poem of witness and remembering, I want also to remind you of the very special Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness, to held in Washington, DC, March 27-30, 2014. (Early-bird registration ends on Valentine's Day, February 14th at midnight.) Hope to see you there.
While mentioning this poem of witness and remembering, I want also to remind you of the very special Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness, to held in Washington, DC, March 27-30, 2014. (Early-bird registration ends on Valentine's Day, February 14th at midnight.) Hope to see you there.
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
Thursday, February 14, 2013
One Billion Rising
Below I repeat a syllable-square first posted on 18 August 2010 and included in Red Has No Reason. Today, Valentine's Day, stand up and support "One Billion Rising" -- end violence against women.
More than the rapist, fear
the district attorney,
smiling for the camera,
saying that thirty-six
sex crimes per year is a
manageable number.
Since this is a poetry-with-math blog I will end with a mathy observation: this is a poem of 36 syllables that includes the number 36, a perfect square.
More than the rapist, fear
the district attorney,
smiling for the camera,
saying that thirty-six
sex crimes per year is a
manageable number.
Since this is a poetry-with-math blog I will end with a mathy observation: this is a poem of 36 syllables that includes the number 36, a perfect square.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Limericks and a Cardioid -- for Valentine's Day
Oh, math-lover most divine,
for you this mathy Valentine --
found when I lookedin a calculus book --
a cardioid is the heart-sign.
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
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Be My Valentine
Unlike many newspapers, the British Guardian publishes poems -- and, on February 10, 2012, they offered a selection to celebrate the upcoming Valentine's day. Included, among work by more than a dozen notables, are poems by Wislawa Szymborska, John Donne, Derek Walcott (whose poem "Love After Love" is one of my favorites), Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Byron, and Carol Ann Duffy -- and a poem by John Fuller that is seasoned with some mathematical terminology. You will need to visit the Guardian article online for the whole of Fuller 's poem, "Valentine," but here are several snippets to whet your interest. (Enjoy the fun of rhyming mathematics with attics!)
Labels:
Boolean,
differentiate,
Guardian,
John Fuller,
love poem,
mathematician,
mathematics,
Valentine
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
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Loving a mathematician (Valentine's Day and . . . )
A perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day -- especially for you who enjoy mathematics -- read (aloud and to each other) some "poems of love and mathematics." Such is easily possible, for the anthology, Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics (A K Peters, 2008), edited by Sarah Glaz and me, contains words on the topic by more than 150 poetic voices.
Labels:
cardioid,
circle,
Hannah Stein,
irrational,
love,
mathematician,
mathematics,
pi,
poetry,
Sherman Stein,
square root,
Valentine
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Geometry and autism
We do not easily describe what goes on inside our own heads and have still greater difficulty seeing into the minds of others. Pennsylvania poet Barbara Crooker uses images from geometry to help us to see into autism.
Labels:
autism,
Barbara Crooker,
equal,
geometry,
grid,
hexagon,
mathematics,
pentagon,
poetry
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