THE RHYMES, RHYTHMS AND METERS IN GREAT ART:MATHEMATICS

Down by the Salley Gardens                   W.B.Yeats

Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;        

She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet. 

She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;

But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree. 

 

Down by the/ salley/ gardens/ my love/ and I/did meet;

She passed/the sal/ley gar/dens with/little/snow white/feet.

She bid/me take/love ea/sy, as/ the leaves/ grow on/the tree;/

But I,/being/young and/foolish,/with her/would not/ agree.  

 

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,                     

And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.   

She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;    

But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

 

In a field/by the/river/my love/and I/did stand,/

And on/my lea/ning shoul/der she/ laid her/ snow-white/ hand./ 

She bid/me take/life ea/sy, as/the grass/ grows on/ the weirs;/

But I/was young/and foolish, /and now/ am full/of tears./

 

Discussion

       I have not encountered a single modern poem more beautiful than this outside of poetry sung in the Tang Dynasty! Oh, that was a long while ago!

       This poem is simple and easy enough so I shall not venture further prosaic translation. Prosaic translation inevitably involves interpretation from someone else–not a good thing if not directly from the poet himself! However, prosaic translation can offer itself as a useful means to jumpstart the young to the love for poetry since the meaning in a prose form can be more accessible and its decipher less forbidding.

       Once they realize true poetry to be the song of the gods and the food of the soul, they do not want anything else! That applies only to some of our youths, the best and  brightest, of course!

Duo Choices 

1.”She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;”

Regarding love, she wanted me to  A. be in rhyme with nature______. B. appreciate the ease of “leaves growing on the tree”_____.

2.”But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.”

It can be inferred from “she bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;” i.e.,the preceding line in the stanza that his love is  A. probably still alive______. B. forever gone_____.

3. A parallel theme of the poet may be that  A. life is too short to be wasted in constant calculation and seriousness_____ B. life is fragile enough as the lesson from “my” short-lived lover is learned. C. both A and B are true______.  

 

 

Now let us examine the rhymes, rhythms,and meters of great Art.

The straights and the curves have been superimposed by me to show the geometric groundworks of the masters of all times and from all climes. Such groundworks are the inner working of the Art in order to serve as the vehicle for Beauty–my coded word for supreme mathematical relationships.They are also the rhymes, rhythms, and meters of Painting.

 

 

 

     The above figures illustrate just a tiny fraction of the complex geometric groundworks in each of the above paintings. In that respect,they,in Painting, are very much in tune with the rhymes,rhythms and meters in Poetry. The supreme mathematical relationships set  Painting apart from Illustrations just as Poetry is set apart from Prose.

      Illustration or Prose can be anything but Painting or Poetry are crystallized gems.

Discussion     

      1.What about true sculpture? Point out the geometric groundworks for the above masterpiece by Rosemary Cove.

 

     

      2. Point out the geometric groundworks in the above water-color by Master Olivia.