Poem fractal

Nocturnal Vigils

by Alfred Austin

30 May 1835 to 2 June 1913 (~78)

Browse poets 678
In their words

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”

Balancing imagination, preparation and conviction in the pursuit of achievement · Prose writings / commonly attributed

More remarks (3)

Drawing the boundary…

Read the poem Another poem

A fractal is a shape that keeps its pattern when you look closer. Coastlines, trees, shells, and weather do this. A poem can be drawn the same way.

The poem’s constant is read from the build of its lines: their length, the size of the stanzas, and the share of vowels. Poems whose constants lie closer together are built more alike. The same poem always draws the same picture. Change the length of a line, the stanza, or the vowel share, and both the number and the picture move.

Primunia is the name for the source of that order: the pattern under the pattern, already there in a tree, a shell, and a verse.

Poems nearby in the constant

A smaller distance means the lines are built more alike.

  1. Christina Rossetti · −0.1448 + 0.6489i · 0.002 away · Compare side by side
  2. John Clare · −0.1389 + 0.6541i · 0.010 away · Compare side by side
  3. Alan Seeger · −0.1414 + 0.6360i · 0.014 away · Compare side by side
  4. Claude McKay · −0.1616 + 0.6573i · 0.017 away · Compare side by side
  5. Christina Rossetti · −0.1520 + 0.6655i · 0.018 away · Compare side by side
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