Poem fractal

Side by side

Random

0.015 apart. A smaller distance means the lines are built more alike.

This number is read from the build of the lines. The bright edge is that number, carried outward until the pattern repeats.

Would I might go far over sea

by Arthur O'Shaughnessy

−0.2813 − 0.4077i

Drawing the boundary…

Is there, for honest poverty

by Robert Burns

−0.2673 − 0.4118i

Drawing the boundary…

The poems

Each poem scrolls on its own, so the two texts stay beside each other.

Would I might go far over sea

by Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Would I might go far over sea, 
My Love, or high above the air, 
And come to land or heaven with thee, 
Where no law is and none shall be 
Against beholding the most rare 
Strange beauty that thou hast for me.

Alas, for, in this bitter land,
Full many a written curse doth stand 
Against the kiss thy lips should bear ;
Against the sweet gift of thy hand; 
Against the knowing that thou art fair, 
And too fond loving of thy hair!

Is there, for honest poverty

by Robert Burns

Is there, for honest poverty,
That hangs his head, and a' that?
The coward-slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Our toils obscure, and a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that!

What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin gray, and a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man, for a' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, and a' that;
The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that!

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd—a lord,
Wha struts, and stares, and a' that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
His riband, star, and a' that,
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.

A king can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that,
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Guid faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their dignities, and a' that,
The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth,
Are higher ranks than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may—
As come it will for a' that—
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that;
For a' that, and a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that!

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Track 1
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