Poem: Trigonometry, or All About Complicated Relationships

[This is a fun poem written in the year 2006. They say 'the subtle mathematical relationships between the right triangle, the circle and the sine wave can only be fully understood with a basic knowledge of trig'. But I was talking about other romantic and ‘not-so-subtle’ relationships between the six ‘characters’ we come across while studying this intriguing and difficult subject.]

Trigonometry

Trigonometry began
When Sine and Cos and Tan
[The latter, a perfect gentleman]
Agreed to work in a Triangle.

Now Sine was cross with Cos
Because she got into a tangle
With Cosec the Smart Alec,
Who had a special angle

For flirty Cotangent
[Also known as Cot]
Whose reputation
[Or shall we say, computation? ]
Was certainly not

Above board, like Tangent
[Also known as Tan,
Who, I repeat, was a perfect gentleman]

Cross-fighting in the Triangle,
They drew an obtuse angle;
And slowly by degrees
Sine began to freeze

Till one fine day,
Cosec ran away
With Cotangent...
Which left a place vacant
For the incorrigible Secant,
Who fought and fell out with Tangent…

In short,
Thanks to Cosec and Cot,
Trigonometry
Had to be abandoned.

©Tan Pratonix

***

P.S. I think it was inspired by recollections of all the head-aches I suffered in high school with this intriguing subject. It has a touch of Stephen Leacock, the Canadian humorist, I guess.