Epic aesthetic:
The verse is poetic;
The theme’s arithmetic;
The week ends the fall,
Grading pervading
These days of equating.
Term’s end; still unfading:
Well done, one and all!
The 3 December 2020 Twitter poem was written at the end of the compressed Fall 2020 semester. While we are still finishing up classes this particular week, I think the “grading week” is getting close enough to celebrate in this post the end of Fall 2021, as well.
“Epic aesthetic: /
The verse is poetic; /
The theme’s arithmetic; /
The week ends the fall…”
This was a fun poem to write, as it took the pseudo-double-dactyl form and added several additional internal references and rhymes.
The end of Autumn 2020 felt quite epic: after many weeks of strange circumstances, it was an achievement to reach the end. The second line was quite obvious; less so, the third, which noted the “arithmetic theme” of the week following final exams, in which grades were calculated and assigned.
“Grading pervading /
These days of equating. /
Term’s end; still unfading: /
Well done, one and all!”
If I had to guess, I think this poem likely originated in its fifth line, with “grading pervading” most of my waking thoughts that week, as I aimed to finish up the challenging semester. The other lines fell into place around that central image/rhyme. The “days of equating” included the range of calculations and spreadsheets necessary to compile and assign letter grades, before reaching the winter break, or the “grade escape” of the essay title here. And finally, the last few lines saluted the same effort I’d anticipated at the start of the semester, “still unfading,” from the entire campus community.
This will likely be the last post for a while, as it’s been another long autumn!
Chemphasis 