Euclid Poems

Euclid is a famous geometer and one of the most prominent mathematicians of ancient times. He is best known for his work, The Elements, which is a compilation of knowledge that was used as a primary resource for teaching mathematics for 2000 years. Many of these mathematical concepts and proofs that are found in this piece of work lay the foundation for geometry as we know it today. 

My interpretation of the first poem, Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare, appears as an ode to Euclid's findings. The capitalization of "Beauty" in this poem makes me think that Edna is personifying this concept of "beauty" and giving it a connotation in relation to geometry. She is effectively describing Euclid's significant advancements as his way of viewing "Beauty" in it's truest form - bare. My interpretation of this is that Edna is highlighting how Euclid was able to see things about mathematics that others were not able to, and he was able to produce proofs and concepts that were not yet discovered. I think Edna is using this poem to really showcase and glorify Euclid's advancements, as "Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare" appears to put Euclid on a pedestal as he is the only one to achieve this, and he did it all by himself. 

I think the second poem may be criticizing Edna's "Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare". The beginning of this poem, first quoting Edna's, and then questioning the ideas she had brought up "Has no one else of her seen hide or hair? Nor heard her massive sandal set on stone?" makes it seem that the author does not share the same views as Edna. I think this author does not believe that Euclid should be glorified this much and given this much credit for his work. In my research, I read that The Elements was likely not a result of Euclid's direct work, but actually just a comprehensive compilation of many advancements at the time. Since there is this theory that Euclid's The Elements is not a product of his own proofs, I think this poem may be alluding to this factor that Euclid does not deserve all of this credit. This idea reminds me of previously-explored ideas in this class, such as if Pythagoras was Chinese. I think the goal of this second poem was to shed light on the fact that we cannot attribute advancements like this to one sole person - it is likely a product of collaboration and other individual's previous findings that allowed Euclid to produce his legacy.