Letter to Irene and Anathema
Dear Mother,
Enclosed please find a gift to little Anathema that I wrote for her while up at the Fort. It's to be sung to the tune of the old folk melody "The Merry Merry Maids of Totley Court," though one has to smoosh the syllables a bit in places. I hope you and she find it just as soothing and edifying as I do!
"Fibonacci Lullaby" by Taleyn Feldane
Oh, zero plus one is one,
One plus one is two,
One plus two is three,
And two plus three is five.
Now three plus five is eight of course
And five plus eight is thirteen,
And going back where it's begun,
Eight plus thirteen's twenty-one.
Thirteen plus twenty-one is thirty-four,
Twenty-one plus thirty-four is fifty-five.
Thir-ty-fourrr plus fif-ty-five
Makes a most magnificent eighty-nine.
Add fifty-five to eighty-nine
And you get one hundred forty-four.
That is the same as the square of twelve
Or two-to-the-seventh plus two-to-the-fourth!
(Yes, that is the same,
That is the same,
Two-to-the-seventh plus two-to-the-fourth!)
Eighty-nine plus one hundred forty-four
Is two-hundred thirty-three.
Fibonacci thir-ir-teen's a
Full reptend prime in base b!
Now one hundred forty-four plus two-thirty-three
Is three hundred seventy-seven!
And this is the product of two primes,
So I'm in number heaven!!!
So we take three hundred seventy-seven,
Add it to two-three three,
That gives us a win, six hundred ten,
To hang upon our number tree.
Three-seven-seven plus six hundred ten
Is nine-eighty-seven of course,
And six-ten plus nine hundred eighty-seven
Is a fifteen-ninety-seven tour de force.
(Yes, that is a tour-,
That is a tour-,
That's a numerical tour de force!)
{Librettist's Note: This next part really works better in Barbershop Quartet style-- perhaps you could get the nurse, the upstairs maid, and a handy footman to sing with you.}
Nine-hundred-eighty-seven
Plus fifteen-ninety-seven
Is two thousand five-eight-fourrrrrr--
And One-five-nine-seven
Plus two-five-eight-four
Is four-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-one
(-eighty-one!)
Forty-one-eighty-one, how we all adore!!!
Two thousand five hundred eighty-four
Plus four-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-one
Equals SIX-thousand-SEVEN-hundred-SIX-tyyyy-FIIIIIIVE,
(-sixxxxtyyyyyyfiiiiiiive...)
And THAT is the end,
THAT is the end,
That is the END of this number jive!
Enclosed please find a gift to little Anathema that I wrote for her while up at the Fort. It's to be sung to the tune of the old folk melody "The Merry Merry Maids of Totley Court," though one has to smoosh the syllables a bit in places. I hope you and she find it just as soothing and edifying as I do!
"Fibonacci Lullaby" by Taleyn Feldane
Oh, zero plus one is one,
One plus one is two,
One plus two is three,
And two plus three is five.
Now three plus five is eight of course
And five plus eight is thirteen,
And going back where it's begun,
Eight plus thirteen's twenty-one.
Thirteen plus twenty-one is thirty-four,
Twenty-one plus thirty-four is fifty-five.
Thir-ty-fourrr plus fif-ty-five
Makes a most magnificent eighty-nine.
Add fifty-five to eighty-nine
And you get one hundred forty-four.
That is the same as the square of twelve
Or two-to-the-seventh plus two-to-the-fourth!
(Yes, that is the same,
That is the same,
Two-to-the-seventh plus two-to-the-fourth!)
Eighty-nine plus one hundred forty-four
Is two-hundred thirty-three.
Fibonacci thir-ir-teen's a
Full reptend prime in base b!
Now one hundred forty-four plus two-thirty-three
Is three hundred seventy-seven!
And this is the product of two primes,
So I'm in number heaven!!!
So we take three hundred seventy-seven,
Add it to two-three three,
That gives us a win, six hundred ten,
To hang upon our number tree.
Three-seven-seven plus six hundred ten
Is nine-eighty-seven of course,
And six-ten plus nine hundred eighty-seven
Is a fifteen-ninety-seven tour de force.
(Yes, that is a tour-,
That is a tour-,
That's a numerical tour de force!)
{Librettist's Note: This next part really works better in Barbershop Quartet style-- perhaps you could get the nurse, the upstairs maid, and a handy footman to sing with you.}
Nine-hundred-eighty-seven
Plus fifteen-ninety-seven
Is two thousand five-eight-fourrrrrr--
And One-five-nine-seven
Plus two-five-eight-four
Is four-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-one
(-eighty-one!)
Forty-one-eighty-one, how we all adore!!!
Two thousand five hundred eighty-four
Plus four-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-one
Equals SIX-thousand-SEVEN-hundred-SIX-tyyyy-FIIIIIIVE,
(-sixxxxtyyyyyyfiiiiiiive...)
And THAT is the end,
THAT is the end,
That is the END of this number jive!