• Dorothy Livesay -- Mathematics poem

    From David Dalton@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 1 02:13:58 2023
    XPost: alt.arts.poetry, alt.arts.poetry.comments, alt.poetry
    XPost: sci.math, alt.math

    Here is a poem by Dorothy Livesay from her book
    of selected poems, The Self-Completing Tree.

    --------------
    Mathematics

    I want to play the great game, darling
    but only you can play it to perfection:
    Much talk..no bed. Some talk..some bed
    no talk..all bed; and talk tomorrow.

    I meant to play the great game, darling
    and hold your bones deep to the root of one
    I meant to play the great game, darling
    but the heart for it is gone.
    -----------------

    How do you interpret the poem? In my book I
    wrote down lemniscate root of one, perhaps
    related to my theory of lemniscate time, but I
    have crossed it out. I also wrote down eighth root
    of one, where one can be expressed as
    e^{2*n*pi*i}, and there are eight eighth roots of one
    (there are one two square roots, 1 and -1).

    Of course the heart could also be a cardioid.

    I’ll think about it some more but just wanted to
    put it forward for discussion for now.

    Is anyone else on here familiar with Dorothy Livesay?

    Followup-To set to alt.arts.poetry.comments .

    --
    https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page) "And the cart is on a wheel; And the wheel is on a hill;
    And the hill is shifting sand; And inside these laws we stand” (Ferron)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Will Dockery@21:1/5 to David Dalton on Fri Sep 1 05:39:39 2023
    David Dalton wrote:


    Here is a poem by Dorothy Livesay from her book
    of selected poems, The Self-Completing Tree.

    --------------
    Mathematics

    I want to play the great game, darling
    but only you can play it to perfection:
    Much talk..no bed. Some talk..some bed
    no talk..all bed; and talk tomorrow.

    I meant to play the great game, darling
    and hold your bones deep to the root of one
    I meant to play the great game, darling
    but the heart for it is gone.
    -----------------

    How do you interpret the poem? In my book I
    wrote down lemniscate root of one, perhaps
    related to my theory of lemniscate time, but I
    have crossed it out. I also wrote down eighth root
    of one, where one can be expressed as
    e^{2*n*pi*i}, and there are eight eighth roots of one
    (there are one two square roots, 1 and -1).

    Of course the heart could also be a cardioid.

    I’ll think about it some more but just wanted to
    put it forward for discussion for now.

    Is anyone else on here familiar with Dorothy Livesay?

    No, this is the first poem I've seen from her, enjoyable read.

    Followup-To set to alt.arts.poetry.comments .

    Hello again David, I see how a "follow-up" works, now. The post in both rec.arts.poems will show up in alt.arts.poetry.comments.

    🙂

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From George J. Dance@21:1/5 to David Dalton on Sat Sep 2 10:25:34 2023
    On Friday, September 1, 2023 at 12:44:01 AM UTC-4, David Dalton wrote:
    Here is a poem by Dorothy Livesay from her book
    of selected poems, The Self-Completing Tree.

    --------------
    Mathematics

    I want to play the great game, darling
    but only you can play it to perfection:
    Much talk..no bed. Some talk..some bed
    no talk..all bed; and talk tomorrow.

    I meant to play the great game, darling
    and hold your bones deep to the root of one
    I meant to play the great game, darling
    but the heart for it is gone.
    -----------------

    How do you interpret the poem? In my book I
    wrote down lemniscate root of one, perhaps
    related to my theory of lemniscate time, but I
    have crossed it out. I also wrote down eighth root
    of one, where one can be expressed as
    e^{2*n*pi*i}, and there are eight eighth roots of one
    (there are one two square roots, 1 and -1).

    Of course the heart could also be a cardioid.

    I’ll think about it some more but just wanted to
    put it forward for discussion for now.

    Is anyone else on here familiar with Dorothy Livesay?


    I think every Canadian on your list knows who she is. We studied her in uni, and I still have some of her work in a book I've kept from those days, Milton Wilson's /Poets between the Wars/. But I can't say I'm familiar with her work; I can't remember
    anything of hers that made an impression on me.

    Nor do I seek out her poems; to read: I'd rather read public domain work I could share on my blog if I liked it. If the government extends the copyright, Livesay's work won't be p.d. until our bicentennial.

    Followup-To set to alt.arts.poetry.comments .

    If you find aapc is too cluttered, and your threads are generating more heat than light there, feel free to change your Followup to RAP. Your posts are welcome here.

    --
    https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page) "And the cart is on a wheel; And the wheel is on a hill;
    And the hill is shifting sand; And inside these laws we stand” (Ferron)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Will Dockery@21:1/5 to George J. Dance on Sat Sep 2 18:08:18 2023
    On Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 1:25:36 PM UTC-4, George J. Dance wrote:
    On Friday, September 1, 2023 at 12:44:01 AM UTC-4, David Dalton wrote:

    Here is a poem by Dorothy Livesay from her book
    of selected poems, The Self-Completing Tree.

    --------------
    Mathematics

    I want to play the great game, darling
    but only you can play it to perfection:
    Much talk..no bed. Some talk..some bed
    no talk..all bed; and talk tomorrow.

    I meant to play the great game, darling
    and hold your bones deep to the root of one
    I meant to play the great game, darling
    but the heart for it is gone.
    -----------------

    How do you interpret the poem? In my book I
    wrote down lemniscate root of one, perhaps
    related to my theory of lemniscate time, but I
    have crossed it out. I also wrote down eighth root
    of one, where one can be expressed as
    e^{2*n*pi*i}, and there are eight eighth roots of one
    (there are one two square roots, 1 and -1).

    Of course the heart could also be a cardioid.

    I’ll think about it some more but just wanted to
    put it forward for discussion for now.

    Is anyone else on here familiar with Dorothy Livesay?

    I think every Canadian on your list knows who she is. We studied her in uni, and I still have some of her work in a book I've kept from those days, Milton Wilson's /Poets between the Wars/. But I can't say I'm familiar with her work; I can't remember
    anything of hers that made an impression on me.

    She's new to me, definitely worth reading and learning about, thanks again David.

    Nor do I seek out her poems; to read: I'd rather read public domain work I could share on my blog if I liked it. If the government extends the copyright, Livesay's work won't be p.d. until our bicentennial.
    Followup-To set to alt.arts.poetry.comments .
    If you find aapc is too cluttered, and your threads are generating more heat than light there, feel free to change your Followup to RAP. Your posts are welcome here.
    --
    https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
    "And the cart is on a wheel; And the wheel is on a hill;
    And the hill is shifting sand; And inside these laws we stand” (Ferron)

    ...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David Dalton@21:1/5 to All on Sat Sep 2 23:58:28 2023
    XPost: alt.arts.poetry.comments

    On Sep 2, 2023, George J. Dance wrote
    (in article<[email protected]>):

    On Friday, September 1, 2023 at 12:44:01 AM UTC-4, David Dalton wrote:
    Here is a poem by Dorothy Livesay from her book
    of selected poems, The Self-Completing Tree.

    --------------
    Mathematics

    I want to play the great game, darling
    but only you can play it to perfection:
    Much talk..no bed. Some talk..some bed
    no talk..all bed; and talk tomorrow.

    I meant to play the great game, darling
    and hold your bones deep to the root of one
    I meant to play the great game, darling
    but the heart for it is gone.
    -----------------

    How do you interpret the poem? In my book I
    wrote down lemniscate root of one, perhaps
    related to my theory of lemniscate time, but I
    have crossed it out. I also wrote down eighth root
    of one, where one can be expressed as
    e^{2*n*pi*i}, and there are eight eighth roots of one
    (there are one two square roots, 1 and -1).

    Of course the heart could also be a cardioid.

    I’ll think about it some more but just wanted to
    put it forward for discussion for now.

    Is anyone else on here familiar with Dorothy Livesay?

    I think every Canadian on your list knows who she is. We studied her in uni, and I still have some of her work in a book I've kept from those days, Milton Wilson's /Poets between the Wars/. But I can't say I'm familiar with her work; I can't remember anything of hers that made an impression on me.

    Nor do I seek out her poems; to read: I'd rather read public domain work I could share on my blog if I liked it. If the government extends the copyright, Livesay's work won't be p.d. until our bicentennial.

    Followup-To set to alt.arts.poetry.comments .

    If you find aapc is too cluttered, and your threads are generating more heat than light there, feel free to change your Followup to RAP. Your posts are welcome here.

    aapc does seem to have a higher proportion of noise/flame wars
    to poetry and discussion of it than RAP, but I may continue to post, infrequently, to both.

    --
    https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page) "And the cart is on a wheel; And the wheel is on a hill;
    And the hill is shifting sand; And inside these laws we stand” (Ferron)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From George J. Dance@21:1/5 to Will Dockery on Sun Sep 3 07:50:49 2023
    On Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 9:08:20 PM UTC-4, Will Dockery wrote:
    On Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 1:25:36 PM UTC-4, George J. Dance wrote:
    On Friday, September 1, 2023 at 12:44:01 AM UTC-4, David Dalton wrote:

    Here is a poem by Dorothy Livesay from her book
    of selected poems, The Self-Completing Tree.

    --------------
    Mathematics

    I want to play the great game, darling
    but only you can play it to perfection:
    Much talk..no bed. Some talk..some bed
    no talk..all bed; and talk tomorrow.

    I meant to play the great game, darling
    and hold your bones deep to the root of one
    I meant to play the great game, darling
    but the heart for it is gone.
    -----------------

    How do you interpret the poem? In my book I
    wrote down lemniscate root of one, perhaps
    related to my theory of lemniscate time, but I
    have crossed it out. I also wrote down eighth root
    of one, where one can be expressed as
    e^{2*n*pi*i}, and there are eight eighth roots of one
    (there are one two square roots, 1 and -1).

    Of course the heart could also be a cardioid.

    I’ll think about it some more but just wanted to
    put it forward for discussion for now.

    Is anyone else on here familiar with Dorothy Livesay?

    I think every Canadian on your list knows who she is. We studied her in uni, and I still have some of her work in a book I've kept from those days, Milton Wilson's /Poets between the Wars/. But I can't say I'm familiar with her work; I can't remember
    anything of hers that made an impression on me.
    She's new to me, definitely worth reading and learning about, thanks again David.

    I can't call her well-known in Canada -- few poets are -- but her status as the first Canadian female modern poet has given her an iconic status in both Canlit and feminist studies. That's not to make light of her work; what I've read of it I've liked.

    I've got an article on her on PPP of course, which is mainly the Wikipedia one with odds and ends added; the main addition is a good bibiliography of her work from the U of Athabasca. I've tried to add her work to it as links, but given her copyright
    status they're hard to find. I did find and embed two videos, neither of them read by her. (You can see those by clicking the "See Also" link in the wiki article):
    https://pennyspoetry.fandom.com/wiki/Dorothy_Livesay#See_also

    Nor do I seek out her poems; to read: I'd rather read public domain work I could share on my blog if I liked it. If the government extends the copyright, Livesay's work won't be p.d. until our bicentennial.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)