Review of Imagination’s Other Place

For years my library had an ongoing book sale, and one day I picked up a unique book.

…a startling and exciting collection of poems; startling to those who have assumed that mathematics and science had little in common with poetry, exciting to those lovers of poetry to whom the beauties of mathematics and science have never been manifested.

Louise Seaman Bechtel, in the New York Herald Tribune

I bought Imagination’s Other Place: Poems of Science and Mathematics for a dollar, but although I’d been intrigued by it, it languished untouched on my shelf for years. When I finally sat down with it, it was hours before I came back to the real world.

Once again, as I described in my previous post, I felt that fascination and joy at the meeting of the creative and the scientific.

Isn’t it extraordinary: Ronald Ross wrote a poem to celebrate his discovery of the germ that caused malaria:

Here are the first 2 stanzas of “The Cloud” by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother’s breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.


I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast;
And all the night ’tis my pillow white,
While I sleep in the arms of the blast.
Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers,
Lightning my pilot sits;
In a cavern under is fettered the thunder,
It struggles and howls at fits;
Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,
This pilot is guiding me,
Lured by the love of the genii that move
In the depths of the purple sea;
Over the rills, and the crags, and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,
Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,
The Spirit he loves remains;
And I all the while bask in Heaven’s blue smile,
Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

Another one of my favorites…

“To a Snowflake” by Francis Thompson


What heart could have thought you?—
Past our devisal
(O filigree petal!)
Fashioned so purely,
Fragilely, surely,
From what Paradisal
Imagineless metal,
Too costly for cost?

Who hammered you, wrought you,
From argentine vapor?—
“God was my shaper.
Passing surmisal,
He hammered, He wrought me,
From curled silver vapor,
To lust of His mind—
Thou could’st not have thought me!
So purely, so palely,
Tinily, surely,
Mightily, frailly,
Insculped and embossed,
With His hammer of wind,
And His graver of frost.

You can read Imagination’s Other Place on Archive.org for free, and if you want even more opportunities to delve into the subject, check out these places:

Helen Plotz, the compiler of Imagination’s Other Place, was ahead of her time. Today the connections between the creative arts and math and science are everywhere.

Here are some of the best videos and articles and poetry I’ve recently found:

An article in Smithsonian Magazine, How Poetry and Math Intersect

Math and Science poems for children, on the blog, Live Your Poem, by the poet Irene Latham

Videos recorded at The Universe in Verse, an evening of poetry celebrating science

Mathematics in Poetry, an online article containing numerous poems, in the Journal of Online Mathematics and its Applications.

A video of Elizabeth Gilbert reading “Ursa Major” by James Kirkup

The rest of “The Cloud” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mathematics and Science–how Poetic!

Discovery of beauty in surprising places.

Believe it or not, just seeing and saying the word mathematics makes me feel good.

My love for math led me to complete a B.Sc. program in Engineering Mathematics, and yet my most enjoyable hobbies were creative: drawing, writing and photography. So for much of my life, I was pulled in opposite directions by two forces I thought were unrelated to each other.

And yet, from time to time, I’d find connections between math and the creative arts.

Math, Music and Art

I noticed that it is common to find people that are strong in both math and music. And I was delighted to discover that renowned poet and author Lewis Carroll, author of the Alice in Wonderland books, was also math professor Charles Dodgson, author of Symbolic Logic.

Dodgson was not a traditional mathematician. Rather, he applied mathematical and logical solutions to problems that interested him.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Then I discovered those who enjoyed math not just for its applications and theories, but also for its sheer beauty, and wrote of it in poetic and visually artistic ways.

Feeling lonely for math one day, and browsing in the math section of the public library, I ran across a 1914 book by Theodore Andrea Cook, The Curves of Life. This book introduced me to the fascinating subject of spiral formations in nature. In his book he explains how he came to write about this subject…

…my main object is not mathematics, but the growth of natural objects and the beauty (either in Nature or in art) which is inherent in vitality.

Theodore Andrea Cook, in The Curves of Life

Combining science and arts, how delightful! It awoke a voracious appetite for more of the same, and back to the math section I returned, where I found Ian Stewart’s Nature’s Numbers: The Unreal Reality of Mathematics. This distinguished award-winning mathematician delights in seeing mathematical patterns in flora and fauna.

And in Stewart’s The Magical Maze: Seeing the World Through Mathematical Eyes, “…logic and imagination converge…a maze of ideas, a maze of logic…beauty, surprise, and power.”

Pure Gold (and a jewel of a TED Talk!)

These led to my first discovery of two related concepts that continue to captivate me. The Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio were discovered by early mathematicians, Indian mathematician Virahanka, and Greek mathematicians Euclid and Pythagoras. Currently this unique ratio is known best by its appearance in some patterns in nature, including the spiral arrangement of leaves and other parts of vegetation.

Schools all over North America, including the schools that I worked in, teach the basic concepts of the Fibonacci sequence (adding the two previous numbers together to get the next number: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…), the Golden Ratio, and the Golden Spiral (a golden spiral gets wider by a factor of 1.618 for every quarter turn it makes) to children as young as elementary age, who–I can confirm–love learning about its applications in nature.

There is a unique ratio that can be used to describe the proportions of everything from nature’s smallest building blocks, such as atoms, to the most advanced patterns in the universe, like the unimaginably large celestial bodies. Nature relies on this innate proportion to maintain balance, but the financial markets also seem to conform to this “golden ratio.”

Investopedia.com

Do yourself a favor and check out this 6 minute TED Talk by Arthur Benjamin, as he explains the Golden Spiral in his talk “The Magic of Fibonacci Numbers.”

The merging of these usually separate concepts, logic and art, continues to fascinate me. And learning more and more about them is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures!

If this intrigues you enough to click on some links, I have been successful in my mission to pique your curiosity, and add some beauty and joy to your life.

More poetic math and science to come!

[My sincere appreciation goes to Wikimedia Commons for images]

Wishing you a Strong and Courageous 2023

Here are some of my joyful moments during this holiday season of 2022.

I hope these photos and video will bring you a smile!

“Doggone Christmas” Contest

…and I hope smiling will remind you of your own joyful times in 2022.

Jonesborough Christmas parade

May you be filled with gratitude!

These times take courage and inner strength to find peace within your heart and soul.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Jonesborough Christmas Church tour: music, cookies, hot chocolate, and man’s best friends!

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid.

God is with you wherever you go!

And I am sending you a big ……

/

…And the soul felt its worth

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

‘Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

from “O Holy Night”, words by poet Placide Cappeau, music by Adolphe Adam

It’s true! I can attest to it. I feel my own worth as a human being from praying to the Savior, listening and knowing him through reading the Bible.

Think about it…

If someone is willing to die for you, you must realize that you are of great worth to them.

If someone lives for you, you have to believe that you are extremely valuable to them.

That someone is Jesus.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He is able to save forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to plead on their behalf.

Jesus is always pleading our case before the Father, like a defense lawyer on our behalf. Jesus is interceding for us while Satan (whose name means “accuser”) is pointing out our sins and frailties before God.

Talk to him. What better time than right now?

(If you’re not interested in that, but would like to chat about it, send me a short message using the form, it will not appear publicly.)

Wishing you ALL a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Photo credits

Nithi Anand, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nithiclicks/15821941673 “Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul”

TriviaKing at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons “Closeup of a hug”

My photo of our Christmas tree and candle

Pixabay christmas-card-566305_960_720.jpg

Author Edward Payson Roe

One of E.P. Roe’s most popular novels is Barriers Burned Away. In my last post I shared my thoughts on the novel, and how a visit to Chicago not long after the Chicago Fire of October 8, 1871 inspired him to write it.

This fascinating book was actually his first attempt at writing a novel!


Colbert (1871) p287 Chicago in Ruins, source British Library, public domain

Any history buffs out there?

If you want more information about the Chicago Fire of 1871 (which actually burned for three days, incredible!), I have two recommendations. This excellent multimedia WTTW PBS website, and this website which also includes literature, art and cycloramas, eyewitness accounts, the O’Leary Legend, souvenirs, media coverage and commemorations.

Barriers Burned Away (1872)

Like several novels I have read from this period of time, Barriers Burned Away showcases the talent and the standard of excellence of one of the many great authors in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

And, surprisingly, Barriers Burned Away is relatively well-known today among vintage novel readers, and in my opinion, based on the excellence of his writing, it is a classic.

WorldCat publication graph for E.P. Roe

WorldCat.org provides publication graphs for many authors, including E.P. Roe, as shown below. Interesting to see how publication of his works is high in the 2020’s. In fact, it’s almost as high as in the 1880’s!

At the time of his death in 1888, his publishers estimated that over 1,400,000 copies of his novels had been sold in the United States and abroad.

1878 Reviews of Barriers Burned Away

Diorama of 1871 Chicago Fire – Chicago History Museum, Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois

Imagining, and writing, for a purpose

Public domain, Wikidata

Here are portions of a speech given by Dr. Lyman Abbot, an assistant to E.P. Roe, at his memorial. This was recorded in E. P. Roe: Reminiscences of His Life, a book written by his daughter, Mary.

“It is of the latter aspect of his life I wish to speak for a few moments only, in an endeavor to interpret his service to the great American people by his pen through literature.

The chief function of the imagination is to enable us to realize actual scenes with which we are not familiar. This is an important service.

It is well that you who live in these quiet and peaceful scenes should know what is the wretchedness of some of your fellow beings in the slums of New York. It is well that your sympathies should be broadened and deepened, and that you should know the sorrow, the struggle that goes on in those less favored homes.

God has given us imagination in order that we may have noble ideals set before us, and yet ideals so linked to actual life that they shall become inseparable.

That fiction is the highest which by the imagination makes real to our thought the common affairs of life, and yet so blends them with noble ideals that we are able to go back into life with a larger, a nobler, and a more perfect faith.

Dr. Lyman Abbot, quoted by Mary Abigail Roe (1899), in E. P. Roe: Reminiscences of His Life. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. pp. 232–233.

You can read another excellent biography here.

More than an author, “Near to Nature’s Heart”

The more I learned about him, the more I admired E.P. Roe (March 7, 1838 – July 19, 1888). He wasn’t just a respected clergyman, author, and historian, he was also admired for his accomplishments in the field of horticulture.

There is a plaque in Edward Payson Roe Memorial Park in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, commemorating his work. The park is part of the property he owned, where he came for a quiet place.

Atlas Obscura offers more photos and some biographical information, with the amusing sub-heading, “A plaque on a rock dedicated to a famous, forgotten author, and put in an impossible place.”

One fan of E.P. Roe made a YouTube video with some biographical commentary here. (A note about the video: it starts out blurry but that only lasts for the first 20 seconds or so, the rest is great.) Included in the video is the claim that at one time E.P. Roe’s books outsold those of his contemporary, Mark Twain!

Here is a great post at The Deliberate Agrarian regarding Roe’s interests in horticulture. I found that he had written several books from 1873 to 1888 on the subject: Play and Profit in my Garden, Success with Small Fruits, The Home Acre, Found Yet Lost. Some of these are available to buy or to read for free.

Here’s hoping you are inspired to “meet” this extraordinary man in some of these ways!

Review of Barriers Burned Away; remembering the1871 Chicago Fire

A visit to Chicago not long after the Chicago Fire of October 8, 1871–151 years ago today–touched the heart of the author, Edward Payson Roe, and inspired him to write this novel, published in 1872.

Diorama of 1871 Chicago Fire – Chicago History Museum, Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois

He seems to have asked himself:

How would people respond in a crisis that affected a community regardless of social rank, and how would the tragedy change them and their community, for better or worse?

…and…

How important are some of our typical pursuits—pleasure, popularity, recognition, wealth, and entertainment–compared to a day-by-day inner awareness of our value as a human being, our purpose on this earth, a sense of peace, and a realistic, solid basis of hope and security?

This is quite an extraordinary novel, and I LOVED IT. So much so that I now have this and several other E.P. Roe novels on my Kindle. (And I have given my used hardcover copy to a dear friend who loved the last 19th century novel I gave her!)

It is a detailed book about one of the things in our lives that we don’t necessarily focus on, but which is one of the most important: our spiritual life.

In this story a young man, Dennis, needs to leave his struggling family so he can make money to support them. He leaves his quiet rural area and moves to Chicago, one of the largest cities in the U.S. in 1871, when the story takes place.

Dennis and Christine work together at an art gallery, and have similar interests in art, including creating their own paintings. She and her father (the owner) are from a very wealthy European family, and look down on the newly hired young man with the worn-out clothes. Naturally Dennis is frustrated by that, but his value system isn’t based on popularity and people-pleasing, and he can still be relatively content at work while he earns enough to live on.

He has a heart of gold, and if he finds someone in his neighborhood or place of work that he can help, he pours his heart into it. So even in the unfriendly city he is never without genuine friends that support him. 

Perhaps this is the kind of art on their art gallery walls?
(Frederick Walker, The Old Farm Garden, 1871, public domain, picryl.com)

In time, Christine and the others at work are impressed by Dennis’s kindnesses, and the way Dennis respects himself. They notice he doesn’t compromise his values by mistreating them, regardless of how disrespectfully they treat him.

When Christine pretends to be falling in love with him in order to use him for her own purposes, Dennis calls her on it, scolding her for her rudeness and manipulation. It may be the first time in her life that she hears the truth about herself. She is further frustrated by her artistic limitations, seeming to be unable to paint an authentic expression of love on her canvas. She takes to heart Dennis’s words: “The stream cannot rise higher than its fountain.”

Dennis becomes seriously ill and is away from work for a while. During that time Christine realizes how much she cares for him, but her artistic and social ambitions take precedence over a relationship.

Then… the fire rages through Chicago with complete disregard to social status, providing a crucible for burning up the dross in many lives.

Chicago in Flames, by Currier and Ives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Where to find the book

The fact that it is so prevalent online attests to its past and present popularity.

You can read it for free, or download it in various formats, at Gutenberg.org, Standard eBooks, By the Fireplace, Internet Archive and Free Pages. You can buy hardcover and softcover versions (including facsimile reprints) at the usual places, such as Amazon and AbeBooks, for very reasonable prices.

Here is a short blurb about the book on an excellent website about the Chicago Fire, which includes a sample chapter (caution: spoiler).

There are also descriptions of Roe’s books offered by a fan at this LibriVox Forum page.

Videos and Audio of the book

Here is a video included in the series “You Are There” by Walter Cronkite in the 1950s (scroll down to the bottom of the post for the video).

A silent movie was made based (loosely!) on the novel in 1925
1930s film based on the novel

Next post…

In my next post I will share what I’ve found about the Chicago Fire, the extraordinary talents and interests of author E.P. Roe, and more!

Happy reading!

Rest in Peace, dear Queen

I feel sad to realize that for the first time in my life, this gracious, dignified, warm woman is not on this earth with us. I have so respected her, and felt comforted by her leadership, constancy and dignified reign.

I am thankful for the memorials I’ve witnessed recently, from a British flag at half-mast in my neighborhood, to a beautiful commemorative ceremony held in my province on the grounds of the Alberta legislature in Edmonton to honor her life and legacy. The verses from the Poet Laureate are lovely. One prayer included the words “unwearied devotion to duty,” what a perfect description. Through these I feel I have joined others who mourn her all around the world.

Thank you dear Lord for giving her such a long life, and 70 years’ reign as a gift to the world. Please bless the King of England with great wisdom, power and guidance which are so very necessary to that nation, and to all nations which it touches. Be merciful to all the nations, Lord, we need You so much at this time. Let your truth and peace permeate all peoples on the earth through Jesus your Son. Amen.

Gesta Romanorum: A unique glimpse into history

Gesta Romanorum is Latin for “Deeds of the Romans”, which makes it sound like this book is a narration of the early culture of Rome, its history and battles.

However, it is actually a Latin compilation of morality stories believed to be written approximately at the end of the 13th century.

There are 181 stories. I have read a number of the tales, which range from half a page to several pages long, and found them interesting and easy to read. The simple plots center around royalty, family, daring exploits, rescues, faith, good morals, courage, and loyalty.

The stories have a pattern: the tale number, title and text of the tale, followed by an explanation for the “beloved” reader of the story’s deeper meaning, from a spiritual perspective.

The book’s main claim to fame is as a source of later works by Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and others. It was apparently one of the most popular books of the time and some consider these to be some of the first short stories published.

An image from Gesta Romanorum – Donaueschingen 145, a manuscript from Upper Swabia in Germany from circa 1452.
A public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

It’s an interesting little book. My little green hardcover copy, which I found at a thrift store, was published in 1877. What fascinates me the most is how arduously these tales were originally recorded eight centuries ago, preserved, and are now readily available for anyone to read today.

…invented by monks as a fireside recreation and commonly applied in their discourses from the pulpit : whence the most celebrated of our own poets and others, from the earliest times, have extracted their plots

from the title page of Gesta Romanorum

“They” (the Monks) might be disposed occasionally to recreate their minds with subjects of a light and amusing nature; and what could be more innocent or delightful than the stories of the GESTA ROMANORUM?”

Douce’s Illustrations of Shakespeare

Example of one of the tales

A tremendous amount of research has been done regarding its origins. The first 68 pages of my copy consist of an 11-page Preface about the origins, translation, revision and printings of the book; the Introduction, including14 pages on the History of Romantic Fabling and 4 pages about the history of the stories in Gesta Romanorum; 30 pages of “Annexed Tales”, and finally, a 10-page table of contents (“Outlines of the Tales”). More notes are included after the tales (which appear to be Swan’s notes).

Illustration from Gesta Romanorum, Image 32v Gesta Romanorum – Donaueschingen. A public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

After Tale number CLXXXI (181) on page 349 is a final note–from the original, not from the editor:

Remarkable Histories, from the Gesta Romanorum, combined with numerous moral and mystical applications, treating of vices and virtues, Printed and diligently revised, at the expense of that provident and circumspect man, John Rynman, of Oringaw; at the workshop of Henry Gran, citizen of the imperial town of Hagenaw, concluded happily, in the year of our safety, one thousand five hundred and eight: March the 20th.

Page after the final tale, Tale CLXXXI

It’s fascinating to touch medieval history through this book! I highly recommend having a look at Gesta Romanorum.

The actual book and plenty of information are easily available online. Wikisource offers an excellent eBook of the 1871 version in two volumes, Volume 1 and Volume 2. Project Gutenberg offers what looks to be only a selection of stories from the original, called Tales from the Gesta Romanorum (which is completely different from my version, but looks interesting and easy to read); the 1845 version of this book for free, here. If you’re interested in getting a hardcopy, as an example, my 1877 hardcover copy sells for about $18.00 USD on Abe Books.

More Holiday Inspiration

There’s just something about a holiday, and the ocean, that inspires beautiful thoughts and emotions. For me that means trying to “capture” the images, and put the experience into words…

The Living Ocean

Lilting

lightly laughing

waves

tossing grains of loose sand,

ageless stones.


Air

lifted

long

by windy currents

lingers on the land

playing among the leaves,

tickling little larks

singing

lighthearted songs

along the dunes.

Lively little ones

look for lost treasures

along the wet sandy land,

liberally gathering shells

and limp seaweed.

Their laughter

kisses the breezes!

Twilight terns in their playground

gliding loosely

over land,

over water,

with liberty to stay,

as others leave.


Last of the visitors

lean,

listening

to lonely cries,

the music of the gulls.

Late,

silent

smooth lines

of water

caress the sand.

The shore,

empty,

except for the longing

which will last

eternally

for the

liquid motion

of the

living ocean.

[All words and photos mine. I hope they gave you some of the same peace they gave me. Hugs!]

Telling Stories without the Written Word

We love stories, and I would guess that most of the time we are reading stories, or watching them unfold visually in a movie.

But yesterday I experienced something new and surprisingly enjoyable, a storytelling performance!

The Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall in Jonesborough, Tennessee – storytelling.net

Storytelling, according to one definition, is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or instilling moral values.

I am travelling in the Southeast U.S. and am near Jonesborough, Tennessee, a community established in 1779, where storytelling enthusiasts gather at the International Storytelling Center.

Every October since 1973, thousands of travelers have visited Jonesboro, Tennessee’s oldest town, to hear stories and to tell them at the National Storytelling Festival.

Storytelling Live! also runs in the afternoons every May to October.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the performance, because I generally don’t choose activities that focus on listening, as I tend to be a visual person and am easily distracted by images and movement.

But what made Sam Payne’s performance especially enjoyable was hearing simple stories of his life and family, the varying lilt and volume of his rich voice, his excellent guitar skills, and his intermittent songs (all of which he had written), which were folksy, winsome and comforting.

Sam also shared several stories of creating his art just before the deadline. That inspired me, because his “last-minute” creations were excellent!

I’m sure he has polished them as he presents them, but the fact that he finished them just before performing them, gives this last-minute-deadline writer hope that I, too, can continue to create and finish some worthy pieces!

A sign near the Storytelling Centre

Here is a photo of me near the Storytelling Center, at the Washington County Courthouse in Jonesboro.

I love the sign on the bench! It says, “Love one another and always be kind! In loving memory of Alfred Greenlee. Never forgotten.” (Alfred Greenlee was a Deacon at Bethel Christian Church in Jonesborough, TN.)

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of listening to a storyteller, I recommend it!