Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 10

O King, there is no place to run
or hide, nor can you stand and fight.
Behold the fire of the sun
whose vim is mass times light times light.

 

Commentary by Brother Quark:
A warrior’s summoning of Lucifer, the Light-Bearer.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about nuclear weapons.

 

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 9

How does it get from A to B?
By every pathway, plain or crazed;
find action on each history;
their sum is how its wave is phased.

 

Commentary by Brother Quark:
Another knotty one. Perhaps it describes the progress of the soul.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about the sum-over-histories interpretation of quantum mechanics.

 

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 8

The thunderbolt in copper wire
drinks sunshine, wind and oil
for light at night, and flameless fire
and constant mighty toil.

 

Commentary by Brother Quark:
“The thunderbolt in copper wire” refers to our Lord Jesus.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about electricity.

 

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 7

Assured of Man’s supremacy?
O silly sibling, don’t be smug!
For great and wide’s our family tree,
dear sister seaweed, brother bug!

 

Commentary by Brother Quark:
More paganism! This sorcerer believes that man is literally distant cousin to beasts and even plants!

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about the evolutionary tree of life.

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 6

With songs to hear and sights to see
a web of wonders, lightning-quick;
the world’s widest library,
just point your mouse and double click.
 

Commentary by Brother Quark:

Sorcerous derangement of the senses.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about the Web.

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 5

Though motion plus position
would figure the path exact,
yet partial is precision
because of the mote of act.

 

Commentary by Brother Quark:
A mystical explanation of the freedom of the will.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

 

 

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 4

A day that fever lays you ill;
a plague of pests too small to see;
a mold compressed into a pill;
’tis death for them but not for thee.
 

Commentary by Brother Quark:

An herbal protection spell.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about antibiotics.

 

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 3

Abase thyself, O pride of Man!
In space and time, in might and main
our weight within the cosmic plan
is lighter than a tiny grain.

 

Commentary by Brother Quark:
This is indirect praise of the majesty of the Creator.

 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about deep time and deep space.

 

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 2

A rod of iron on the roof
protects the house from Heaven’s fire
whose lawful nature has this proof;
the thunderbolt in copper wire.

Commentary by Brother Quark:
This is about the legitimacy of monarchy.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about lightning rods and electricity.

Retrodictions, canto 4, quatrain 1

O thrifty, lazy universe!
Each mote and man and beast
shall find a path it may traverse
whose action is the least!

Commentary by Brother Quark:

Our mystic ironically praises sloth.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about the Law of Least Action.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 10

To ride at ease through desert heat;

to dine on berries all the year;
to guard the health of milk and meat;
to keep on ice a can of beer.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

This is a knotty one. A protection spell?

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about refrigeration.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 9

The relic of an inward blast

so dense and low, not even light

nor any matter, slow or fast

can flee a star as dark as night.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

A portrait of the Pit.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about black holes.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 8

I click a switch - it flickers on
I turn the lamp - the bulb’s too bright;
outside my window, dark as dawn
the midnight streets have noonday light.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

They know of no difference between night and day.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about electric lighting.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 7

Two minds contend within my mind;
my left head’s numbered logic clings,
but on the other hand you’ll find
a dancing mystic poet sings.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

Demons and angels confound these sorcerers.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about brain hemispheric specialization.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 6

What need for scribe or inky press

for text and pictures, neat or sloppy?
Just push the tab, it does the rest
to make a copy, copy, copy.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

As a scribe myself, I object to being replaced by a golem.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about xerography.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 5

Inconsistent? Incomplete?
A barrier immovable.
No calculation scheme can beat
“This sentence is unprovable”!

Commentary by Brother Quark:
This appears to be a counter-spell against some kind of mystical curse.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:
This is about Goedel’s First Incompleteness Theorem.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 4

I turn the key, release the brake;
two hundred horses roar with power;
but traffic only lets me make
a torpid forty miles an hour.

Commentary by Brother Quark:
Though blessed with power, these sorcerers are cursed with impatience.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about automobiles.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 3

In one direction, deeds conspire;
forever lost is last year’s rose;
the frost will never warm the fire;
for tiny chaos always grows.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

A meditation on transience, culminating in strange metaphysics.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about the second law of thermodynamics; the increase of entropy.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 2

In a self-moving counting board, errors may lurk;
tell its music and pictures and games how to run;
then its sand and its logic and lightning shall work
for the master mechanics of nothing and one.
 
Commentary by Brother Quark:
Sorcery!

 Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about computers and their programmers.

Retrodictions, canto 3, quatrain 1

Let all creatures compete for their needs

and let Nature select from the strife;
let their fitness survive in their seeds;
then an aeon breeds new forms of life.

Commentary by Brother Quark:
More paganism.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about evolution by natural selection.

Retrodictions, canto 2, quatrain 10

The Porcelain Throne! O hole-some seat!

O honest chair approached in haste!
For public health, relief, retreat;
all other thrones, compared, are waste!

Commentary by Brother Quark:

This gives proper honor to the spotless and rock-solid Papacy.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about indoor plumbing.

Retrodictions, canto 2, quatrain 9

Fair Nature’s fresh and blooming bower

is elder far than it appears.
It took to breed a single flower
a thousand thousand thousand years.
 

Commentary by Brother Quark:

This understates the age of the Earth; a mere three thousand years, when we know that it is twice as old as that.
 

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about evolutionary deep time. It understates the age of  the Earth; a mere billion years, when we know that it is 4.5 times as old as that.

Retrodictions, canto 2, quatrain 8

 

The dark room opens; let’s convene

and loads of dough be sure to bring
to gaze upon the silver screen
where colored shadows dance and sing.

Commentary by Brother Quark:

This refers to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Commentary by N. Hellerstein:

This is about the cinema.