Killed by Rome's oppressive hand During the fall of Syracuse Others died defending land He fell defending circles In life he sought purest math Clean and devoid of practical He died on that same path Defending the incomprehensible Greatly grieved by Marcellus Who gave him a hero's burial Shortly overgrown by bushes The site was lost to all On a pillar above his grave Carvings among the verdure Symbol of the proofs he gave The sphere set in a cylinder The pillar fell from time's pass What's left is only dust But, as long as we have math Archimedes is still with us. -T. Gene Davis |