Monday, December 12, 2011

Letter to a Lady in Blue



BLUE MONDAY
http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

LETTER TO A LADY IN BLUE

Dear Ada, Countess of Lovelace,
I'm writing to let you know
That you are still remembered from 
Two hundred years ago.
How you must have suffered,
Being so misunderstood,
In an era when females were asked to be
Subservient and 'good'!
You must have had a splendid brain;
You were really an inventor,
But barred from university...
You were not allowed to enter.
A woman studying mathematics!
How absolutely mad!
All of which makes your history
Unbelievably sad.
You were fascinated by Babbage
And his 'analytical machine',
The likes of which the people
Had never, never seen.
The 'machine' was the first computer!
It was Babbage's design,
And you, young Ada Lovelace,
Thought it extremely fine.
You wrote notes on the analytical machine
And algorithms too,
Explaining how the engine worked
And the things that it could do.
A Computer Programmer, you were,
And the very, very first!
You must have been so excited
That you felt that you could burst!
You looked into the future
And imagined so much more!
You felt the analytical machine
Could do more than just keep score!
Babbage called you Enchantress of Numbers;
A name that suited you;
If only you were alive today,
How much more work would you do!
But you died, unsung, at thirty-six,
And no-one recalled your name.
But I am writing to tell you
That you have achieved your fame.
For whenever computer history
Is mentioned nowadays
Ada Lovelace is mentioned too
And her name is heaped with praise.
*
----------------------------------------------------------------


A Simple Alphabet
MANGO

I once found a magical mango
That knew how to dance a fandango.
I said to him 'Speed
Is what I really need!
Are you going as fast as you can go?'
*

14 comments:

Madeleine Begun Kane said...

Really good tribute poem and fun limerick!

Jinksy said...

My Gran's name was Ada, so I have a soft spot for the name wherever it appears! ♥ And Miss Lovelace was in Trumpton...so your poem sent me off on one! hehehe!

gengen said...

Great post for blue Monday.

Kerry O'Connor said...

I wonder how many female scholars were lost to us during the patriarchal ages... Think where we might be today if their input had been encouraged rather than stamped out. Probably in a more user-friendly world.

Lilly said...

"enchantress of numbers" :)
what a delightful tribute! and the limerick is quite a good one too :). i'm really glad i've read these two :).

SmilingSally said...

What a nice tribute to Ada Lovelace!

Happy Blue Monday, Brenda.

Titus said...

From Collatz Conjectures to Computers!
But this was gave me clarity, narrative, rhythm and rhyme to help calm my nerves. Wonderfully done, and a tale well worth telling.

cosmos cami said...

How completely cool!
History, math, and women's rights wrapped in a poem.
I really enjoyed this. Thank you for taking time to educate one who usually repudiates math. Those who can't...run screaming! (C'est moi)

cosmos cami said...

How completely cool!
History, math, and women's rights wrapped in a poem.
I really enjoyed this. Thank you for taking time to educate one who usually repudiates math. Those who can't...run screaming! (C'est moi)

Margaret said...

I love historical poems. Your words are a lovely tribute!

Anonymous said...

i particularly liked the reference to babage

Kay L. Davies said...

Funny you should have posted a limerick, Brenda. I couldn't think of anything BUT limericks yesterday, so I posted nothing. Then the dog and deer woke me up in the middle of the night, and gave me an idea.
I would have liked to know the computer programmer from 200 years ago. If that machine had been perfected, promoted and, perhaps, permitted 200 years ago, where would we be today?
You are wonderful, my friend. You certainly made me start thinking today.
K

Cathy Feaster said...

great lesson in history...and just imagine if she were around today!

Mary said...

Visting from Real Toads: What a beautiful tribute to Ada Lovelace, someone I had never heard of but through your poem!