"Sieve of Eratosthenes" Poem

[ESquared]

I recall a poem about this that I just cannot find with internet searches. Does anyone know it or is anyone able to find it? I'd like to see it again.

I believe that it ends with "... the sieve of Eratosthenes."

It's possible that this rhymes with an earlier line ending in "threes" but I don't really know, just speculating.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]

 

[SantaMufasa]

Erik,

How about:

There once was a man from Cyrene
Who thought he had ruptured his spleen:
Cut down in his prime;
Slipped through so sublime,
The Sieve of Eratosthenes.

<HeHeHe>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[ESquared]

Terrible.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]

 

[SantaMufasa]

What?...What?...I'll have you know that I spent more than 30 seconds on that masterpiece! That's the last time I use my poetic license on you. <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[ESquared]

I revoke your license! At least, until you can re-take the competency test and get a qualifying score.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]

 

[CajunCenturion]

Strike the twos and strike the threes
The Sieve of Eratosthenes!
When the multiples sublime,
The numbers that remain are prime.

--------------
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[ESquared]

Thank you! That's it!

Did it take you long to find it?

Now that I do a search without the word poem and with the word three I see a similar version to yours as the very first result. Sigh.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]

 

[CajunCenturion]

It's from memory. Did I get one of the words wrong?

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SantaMufasa]

Hey, you must, at least, give my masterpiece some credit...It had 3 out of 4 of the rhyming words that appeared in what you were looking for. <smile>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[ESquared]

You've corrected the only difference between your version and the one I found.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]

 

[CajunCenturion]

Yes, I remembered "were left", but "remain" is correct; sounds better too.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[carp]

I thought it was a song, but realized I was thinking of the Sheik of Araby.

 

[ESquared]

Dave,

Don't forget your poetic license is revoked:

• You get 0 points for using Eratosthenes in your poem.
• You get 0.5 point for knowing the sieve of Eratosthenes related to primes (or for bothering to do the internet search).
• You get 1 point for thinking up "sublime."
• You get -2 points for Cyrene and spleen, which are not only not in the real poem, not only unrelated, but also goofy (spleen is a word I use often when crafting non-sequiturs).
• You get -1 point for your limerick not being one.
• You get -10 points for giving me the wrong answer to my question.
• You get 2.5 points for the humor of your wrong answer and subsequent conversation.

That's -9 points. Your poetic license is still revoked, QED.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]

 

[SantaMufasa]

Hey, Erik, you are awarding points like French Figure Skating judges...&lt;grin&gt;

[ul]
[li]I should get something positive for &quot;using Eratosthenes in my poem.&quot;[/li]
[li]I should get something for knowing that Eratosthenes came from Cyrene (in modern-day Libya)[/li]
[li]It is feasible that having an accident with a sieve can cause a ruptured spleen! (The relationship is not goofy: Subject born in Cyrene; ruptured spleen from sieve accident.)[/li]
[li]What is there about my limerick that makes it not a limerick?[/li]
[li]&quot;-10...giving me the wrong answer to my question.&quot; Whoa way harsh...my &quot;&lt;hehehe&gt;&quot; shows that mine wasn't intended to be a &quot;right&quot; answer...simply something to soothe the savage beast until we found the answer. &lt;grin&gt;[/li][/ul]

So, following a re-count, I believe my &quot;poetic license&quot; qualifies for re-instatement, wouldn't you say?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[p5wizard]

Well, for one thing the rhyming scheme should be A-A-B-B-A...

p5

 

[SantaMufasa]

That was part of my poetic license, P5: I used the scheme: A-A-B-B-A+. <wink>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[ESquared]

Hey, Dave, don't you think arguing with the OP should be an additional penalty?

• It would have been stupid to not use "the sieve of Eratosthenes" in your poem. There, you got something positive! Everyone likes to avoid having done something stupid. You failed to get -10 points for not using the line, so count your lucky stars.
• I didn't know that Eratosthenes came from Cyrene. Did you know that from prior knowledge or from studying up on it after reading my question? Inclusion of biographical information about Eratosthenes in the poem is inappropriate, though, because the poem is not about Eratosthenes himself but about his sieve. So Cyrene is still unrelated.
• What does "Slipped through so sublime" mean? I hadn't actually attempted to understand this before and I see now that it is nonsensical. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt and not subtracting points, although further discussion could change that.
• "It is feasible that having an accident with a sieve can cause a ruptured spleen!" Confer the biographical comment above. And Eratosthenes' sieve is immaterial, so unless you have an immaterial spleen, you're making a category mistake. Not to mention a weak argument. I'm being nice and not penalizing you for this silly statement.
• What p5wizard said... an unrhyme in the last line, which was not fine. No, it was quite unpoetic. I won't remove points for not realizing what was wrong with your limerick; you've already had points deducted for that (unless it was deliberate, in which case you're welcome to let me know and I'll deduct points appropriately).
• This "savage beast." Who or what is that? +1 points for poetic expression.
• Wasn't intended to be a "right" answer? Your use of quotes around the word right calls into doubt the intended meaning of this sentence. Additionally, a poet is not just a master of pressing words together, but is also aware of context and timing. Intentionally providing a wrong answer, while perhaps variously amusing, witty, and even poetic on the surface, is contrary to what a master poet is all about.

-8 points. It's movement in the right direction, anyway.

[COLOR=#aa88aa black]Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.[/color]