ARITHMETIC.

New Zealand Tablet, 2 October 1919, Page 9

ARITHMETIC.

Twice one is two Twice two is four But twice two is ninety-six if you know that way to score. Half of two is one Half of four is two But half of four is forty per cent, if your name is Montague. For everything else is on the square If done by tho best quadratics; And nothing is low in High Finance Or the Higher Mathematics. A straight line is straight And a square mile is fiat But you learn in Trigonometries a trick worth two of that. Two straight lines Can't enclose a Space But they can enclose a Corner to support the Chosen Race. For you never know what Dynamics do With the lower truths of Statics: And half of two is a touring car . In the Higher Mathematics. There is a place apart Beyond the solar ray Where parallel straight lines can meet in an unofficial way. There is a room that holds The examiner or his clerks, Where you can square the circle or the man that gives the marks. Where you hide in the cellar and then look down On the poets that live in the attics: For the whole of the house is upside down In the Higher Mathematics. —G. K. Chesterton.