By Radoslav Rochallyi

I have been a professional poet for many years, and I’m interested in a variety of poetic styles such as FIB, CADAE, and several forms of mathematical poetry. (See my earlier Math Values post on Equation Poetry.) As James Henle has said, “the association of mathematics and poetry is ancient. It is recognized by both mathematicians and poets.[4]” Right at the outset, I want to say that I will not write about Concrete poetry (poetry in which typography and layout add to the overall effect). Stéphane Mallarmé may forgive me, but after Guillaume Apollinaire, this topic has been written about a thousand times elsewhere. I’m interested in the mathematical, semiotic, and semantic aspects of poetry. In particular, some of my work is written according to a strict structure based on the golden ratio (represented by the Greek letter Phi). I call this work Golden Ratio Poetry.

The connection between mathematics and poetry is an entirely natural thing. Mathematics and poetry share symbols (symbolism), algorithmic basis, structures, patterns, and symmetry. If we look at poetry carefully, we find that nearly every formal rule in poetry is a mathematical rule. This restriction defines the form of poetry. Thus, it can be said that no form of poetry is without mathematics. But more than just form, mathematics and poetry require great imagination. Also, for some, numbers carry their own special meaning, like “666” representing “the number of the beast” or evil, and “1” representing the best or the loneliest number.

Before 2013, I started working in poetry with the golden ratio. I tried to connect a form of poetry with φ (or, rather, its approximation 1.618034) in both its non-graphic and graphic form.

The collection I wrote (published in 2015), Golden Divine [6], is of "Golden Ratio Poetry," which I consider to be structural mathematical poetry [3], a stricter form of mathematical poetry which interferes with every formal rule of the poem. It is an experimental form of poetry similar to the forms of Fib which is based on the Fibonacci sequence [5] and Cadae which is based on the number Pi [1]. The Golden Divine content was written according to a strict structure based on the golden number 1.618034. A typical representative form of six (nonempty) lines, 1/6/1/8/0/3/4—with the number of words or syllables per line corresponding to the digits of the golden number. The only limitation of "Golden Ratio Poetry" is that the number of words or syllables follows the sequence of digits in 1.618034.

Examples of structural mathematical poetry according to φ = 1.618034. The form of poetry based on this number may be as follows:

Sample (according to the number of syllables)

know (1)

the little creator (6)

is? (1)

I know, beginning is unclear (8)

(0)

While to grow (3)

to God, just now. (4)

Figure 1: Radoslav Rochallyi, Sample according to the number of syllables

or according to the number of words:

Mathematics provides a refreshing new take on writing poetry. Structurally and visually, mathematical poetry is relatively simple but effective. It works so easily because the limits are only in the form of the poem. I am currently working on mathematical poetry in another medium. I started studying painting and drawing, and I am still studying mathematics. I want to apply mathematical poetry to classic painting and digital media. My ambition for the future is to combine mathematics, music, and poetry with hard material, such as stone or concrete. I also plan to include multimedia and augmented reality. For myself and others, mathematics continues to play an interesting and creative role in the arts.

References:

1. Arndt, J., Haenel, Christoph (2001), Pi — Unleashed, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, p. 45.

2. Rochallyi, R. (2015), Golden Divine, page. 10, Tribun EU, ISBN: 978-80-263-0877-5

3. Glaz, S. (2016) Poems structured by integer sequences, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 10(1-4): 44-52, doi.org/10.1080/17513472.2016.1231574

4. Henle, J. (2011). Is (Some) Mathematics Poetry? The Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 1(1):94-100, doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.201101.07

5. Pincus, G. (2006) GottaBook: The Fib, URL: http://gottabook.blogspot.com/2006/04/fib.html

6. Rochallyi, R. (2015), Golden Divine, Tribun EU, ISBN: 978-80-263-0877-5

Radoslav Rochallyi, was born on May 1, 1980, in Czechoslovakia. He is a Czech-based artist (philosopher, writer, painter, poet, essayist, and interdisciplinary artist). Rado has presented his visual work internationally. He is the author of fourteen books. His math-visual works have been accepted in many institutions, and galleries.