Odd O'blography

Fibonacci Spring

Here's a poem based on the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 . . .)


Fibonacci Spring

 1    May
 1    Day
 2    Springtime
 3    Buds burst forth
 5    Yearning for sunlight
 8    I turn rapt gaze toward God’s warmth
13   Pale eyelids tightly squeezed in humble recognition
21   Of my blessed insignificance in the vast immensity of the universe



I thought that I might be able to define this form, but it was described by Gregory K. Pincus in 2006 (see also Fibonacci ). It requires that the number of syllables in each line of the poem conform to the Fibonacci series. Mr. Pincus limited his poems to six lines, so I’ve at least outdone him in that respect. Feel free to go as far as you dare with your lines, but the tenth line probably won’t fit on your page (not even in landscape orientation).

You may wonder why I've been struck by this sudden inspiration. I’m currently reading a best-seller from twenty years ago (first five to email me the correct title get 1000 GPs), and one character uses the Fibonacci series to create a coded message. Named after the Italian mathematician who described it in 1202, this series is most significant because it converges on the golden mean, 1.618. And the golden mean is found throughout nature. It’s a pleasing ratio of dimensions that’s been used by artists and architects from Da Vinci to the present day. Some have even called it the Divine Proportion. All kinds of things conform to the golden mean, like the spiral pattern of seashells, the layout of sunflower seeds, honeybee genealogy, or your own bones.

Go ahead, grab a tape measure and check the length of your arm from shoulder joint to fingertips. Then divide that number by the length of your forearm from elbow to fingertips. The result will be close to 1.618. This golden ratio also applies to leg bones and the arrangement of facial features. It doesn’t work exactly for everyone, but studies show that the faces and figures judged most attractive conform closely to the golden mean. Amazing? I think so.

The Fibonacci series starts with 1, 1. Then the first two terms are added together to make the third term (2), the next two terms are added to make the fourth term (3), and so on.

The golden mean can be calculated by dividing any term in the Fibonacci sequence by its previous term. The sequence of quotients alternates between less than 1.618 and more than 1.618 as the series proceeds, but it quickly converges to that almost magical number.

Here’s how it all works out for the first 12 terms:

1
1       (0 + 1)                 1 / 1 = 1.0000
2       (1 + 1)                 2 / 1 = 2.0000
3       (1 + 2)                 3 / 2 = 1.5000
5       (2 + 3)                 5 / 3 = 1.6667
8       (3 + 5)                 8 / 5 = 1.6000
13     (5 + 8)              13 / 8 = 1.6250
21     (8 + 13)            21 / 13 = 1.6152
34     (13 + 21)          34 / 21 = 1.6190
55     (21 + 34)          55 / 34 = 1.6176
89     (34 + 55)          89 / 55 = 1.6182
144   (55 + 89)          144 / 89 = 1.6180