MATH POETRY
Editor’s note: In this math exploration, Rhea L. (‘18) uses poetry to describe math concepts.
Sine, a lonely guy
My name is Sine
Not Stan
Or Sean, but really
Sine.
I come from the land of angles
Some people also call it trianglesville
I don’t have much preference about it,
You see.
Yeah, that’s the thing with me.
People think I am strong and mighty
My initials pop up first in
SOHCAHTOA
That’s an honor, they say
No.
I think I need to distance myself from my brother and sister
Cosine and tangent are great, truly
And I really do love them, dearly
But it’s time I get a one-way ticket to independence alley
And never come back.
Here’s the thing:
They only let you enter the alley if you’re a number
Roaming free with no one yanking you back
But I cannot roam the countryside
I am depended on by too many sides and angles
And long, long numbers…
I am a ratio and I am not proud of it.
Oh, how I long for the freedom of my dear Hypotenuse
She’s just a side, a number, a distance!
And oh my, she can even be 1,
Her persona with her friend Unit Circle
What a beauty dear Hypotenuse is.
We do hang out a lot, if you must know
Hypotenuse and me
But it tends to be in a group of three,
Never alone.
Stupid Opposite is always tagging along
If only I could shake him off, then lovely Hypotenuse and I would finally be,
Alone.
Explanation of “Sine, a lonely guy”
This poem does not follow any real poetic structure, so the lack of rhyming, the punctuation, the stanza length, the number of stanzas, and the capitalization was all my choice. When I imagine “sine,” I honestly imagine him as a sad little guy moping around; I am not quite sure why. So I wanted to make this poem reflect his lack of confidence in being a ratio and his jealousy of more simple concepts like “hypotenuse.” This poem was a “write whatever came to mind” type of poem because I was not restricted by structure or rhyme scheme. I was somewhat inspired by Harry Baker’s poem about 59 who was in love with 60, and I kind of played off that idea of one mathematical concept admiring another.
Sonnet =
The sturdy equals sign
The glue of so many equations
Two lines, simply sublime
You could call it an equals sign invasion
You can pick out equals and his four sisters
Plus, minus, multiply, and divide
Sweet little equals is the only mister
This sign family are our guides
But equals only appears when things are exact
When things make sense
This plus this always equals that
With sweet little equals, there's no suspense
Equals is our mathematics master
Without him, our world = disaster
Explanation of Sonnet =
“Sonnet =” is a Shakespearean sonnet, so it follows a very rigid structure. The rhyme scheme and stanzas go like this: ABAB, BCBC, EFEF, GG. I really enjoy writing sonnets even though it is hard to come up with words that rhyme and advance the story or point you want to make. In “Sonnet =,” I highlight the importance of the equals sign in the world of mathematics because honestly, without it I do think there would be disaster.
Ode to the Pythagorean Theorem
Ode to Mr. Pythagoras and his fantastical theorem.
How helpful it has been for thousands of years.
Any math student’s pal and sidekick.
Conquering triangles side by side.
Ode to the shortcuts old Pythagoras provided.
You have a right triangle?
Two side lengths?
The third comes on a silver platter.
We thank you.
Ode to the rowdy, diverse bunch of Pythagorean triples.
3, 4, 5 and 5, 12, 13 -- the list goes on.
When they appear on my page, my smile brightens a thousand watts.
Oh, how much easier this problem has become!
So familiar, so clean…
So special.
Explanation of “Ode to the Pythagorean Theorem”
This poem is an ode, which usually praises someone or something. I am not sure if there is a specific structure for an ode, so I made the choice of stanza lengths, punctuation, rhyme scheme, etc. In this case, I am praising the Pythagorean Theorem for its brilliance and its helpfulness. It comes in handy so often, especially on standardized testing and makes problems so much easier. I just felt the need to give the Pythagorean Theorem a little love in this poem.
Haiku Trig
Trigonometry
Sine, Cosine, Tan, ratios
Don’t mess up the graph
Haiku 0
Zero is special
Never a counting number
But an integer
Haiku Prime
Prime numbers, wonky
They have only two factors
Just one and themselves
Explanations of the above haikus:
Haikus are very short poems that follow an extremely strict structure: The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third has 5. I don’t have much to say about these other than the fact that they are really fun to write. It is hard to make cohesive points in such a compact, rigid poem, so that is why they sound a little choppy, but they make me laugh so I enjoy them!
My name is Sine
Not Stan
Or Sean, but really
Sine.
I come from the land of angles
Some people also call it trianglesville
I don’t have much preference about it,
You see.
Yeah, that’s the thing with me.
People think I am strong and mighty
My initials pop up first in
SOHCAHTOA
That’s an honor, they say
No.
I think I need to distance myself from my brother and sister
Cosine and tangent are great, truly
And I really do love them, dearly
But it’s time I get a one-way ticket to independence alley
And never come back.
Here’s the thing:
They only let you enter the alley if you’re a number
Roaming free with no one yanking you back
But I cannot roam the countryside
I am depended on by too many sides and angles
And long, long numbers…
I am a ratio and I am not proud of it.
Oh, how I long for the freedom of my dear Hypotenuse
She’s just a side, a number, a distance!
And oh my, she can even be 1,
Her persona with her friend Unit Circle
What a beauty dear Hypotenuse is.
We do hang out a lot, if you must know
Hypotenuse and me
But it tends to be in a group of three,
Never alone.
Stupid Opposite is always tagging along
If only I could shake him off, then lovely Hypotenuse and I would finally be,
Alone.
Explanation of “Sine, a lonely guy”
This poem does not follow any real poetic structure, so the lack of rhyming, the punctuation, the stanza length, the number of stanzas, and the capitalization was all my choice. When I imagine “sine,” I honestly imagine him as a sad little guy moping around; I am not quite sure why. So I wanted to make this poem reflect his lack of confidence in being a ratio and his jealousy of more simple concepts like “hypotenuse.” This poem was a “write whatever came to mind” type of poem because I was not restricted by structure or rhyme scheme. I was somewhat inspired by Harry Baker’s poem about 59 who was in love with 60, and I kind of played off that idea of one mathematical concept admiring another.
Sonnet =
The sturdy equals sign
The glue of so many equations
Two lines, simply sublime
You could call it an equals sign invasion
You can pick out equals and his four sisters
Plus, minus, multiply, and divide
Sweet little equals is the only mister
This sign family are our guides
But equals only appears when things are exact
When things make sense
This plus this always equals that
With sweet little equals, there's no suspense
Equals is our mathematics master
Without him, our world = disaster
Explanation of Sonnet =
“Sonnet =” is a Shakespearean sonnet, so it follows a very rigid structure. The rhyme scheme and stanzas go like this: ABAB, BCBC, EFEF, GG. I really enjoy writing sonnets even though it is hard to come up with words that rhyme and advance the story or point you want to make. In “Sonnet =,” I highlight the importance of the equals sign in the world of mathematics because honestly, without it I do think there would be disaster.
Ode to the Pythagorean Theorem
Ode to Mr. Pythagoras and his fantastical theorem.
How helpful it has been for thousands of years.
Any math student’s pal and sidekick.
Conquering triangles side by side.
Ode to the shortcuts old Pythagoras provided.
You have a right triangle?
Two side lengths?
The third comes on a silver platter.
We thank you.
Ode to the rowdy, diverse bunch of Pythagorean triples.
3, 4, 5 and 5, 12, 13 -- the list goes on.
When they appear on my page, my smile brightens a thousand watts.
Oh, how much easier this problem has become!
So familiar, so clean…
So special.
Explanation of “Ode to the Pythagorean Theorem”
This poem is an ode, which usually praises someone or something. I am not sure if there is a specific structure for an ode, so I made the choice of stanza lengths, punctuation, rhyme scheme, etc. In this case, I am praising the Pythagorean Theorem for its brilliance and its helpfulness. It comes in handy so often, especially on standardized testing and makes problems so much easier. I just felt the need to give the Pythagorean Theorem a little love in this poem.
Haiku Trig
Trigonometry
Sine, Cosine, Tan, ratios
Don’t mess up the graph
Haiku 0
Zero is special
Never a counting number
But an integer
Haiku Prime
Prime numbers, wonky
They have only two factors
Just one and themselves
Explanations of the above haikus:
Haikus are very short poems that follow an extremely strict structure: The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third has 5. I don’t have much to say about these other than the fact that they are really fun to write. It is hard to make cohesive points in such a compact, rigid poem, so that is why they sound a little choppy, but they make me laugh so I enjoy them!
