The Sick Equation by Brian Patten
If anyone knows this poem _please_ could they help me out by posting it or sending it to me via message or something? I would appreciate it so much. My friend was telling me about it and I really want to read it but I can't find it anywhere online. Also, if it's a poem you're familiar with, feel free to discuss! I'm really interested in finding out more about this poem. Thanks a lot! 
LHMarsh10
If anyone knows this poem _please_ could they help me out by posting it or sending it to me via message or something? I would appreciate it so much. My friend was telling me about it and I really want to read it but I can't find it anywhere online. Also, if it's a poem you're familiar with, feel free to discuss! I'm really interested in finding out more about this poem. Thanks a lot!
Are you sure that's what it's called? I'm finding lots of poems by him on the English Poetry Database, but none of them seems to have that title.
No, I'm not certain about any of this! She was sure it was called "sick equation" and when I googled that it came up with Brian Patten. It's something to do with family relationships and 1 + 1 not equaling 2 - she remembers it being on the same page as Philip Larkin's "This Be The Verse" in an anthology - but I don't know what anthology. And that's all I have to go off. Thank you for making those efforts to find it though - really appreciate it! 
Well, as I said, I'm coming up with roughly 100 different poems by him (he must be quite a prolific poet), but not that one. Sorry. The only thing I found out was that it's in the collection Armada (published in 1996), so you might be able to get hold of that through a bookshop or your local library. Provided they're well-stocked on contemporary poetry, that is...
Phew, longer than I realised but here goes....
In school I learned that one and one made two,
It could have been engraved in stone,
An absolute I could not question or refute.
But at home, sweet home, that sum was open to dispute-
In that raw cocoon of parental hate is where
Ilearned that one and one stayed one and one.
What's more, because all that household's anger and it's pain
Stung more than any teacher's cane
I came to believe how it was best
That one remained one,
For by beoming two, one at least would suffer so
Believing this I threw away so many gifts-
I never let love stay long enough to take root,
But by thinking myself of too little worth
I crushed all its messengers.
I gre- or did not grow-
And kept my head down low,
And drifted through the crowd,
One among the many whose dreams of flight
Weighed down the soul,
And kept it down,
Because to the flightless
The dream of flight's an anguish.
I stayed apart, stayed one,
Claiming seperateness was out of choice,
And at every wedding ceremony I saw
The shadow of that albatross- divorce-
Fall over groom and bride,
And I took small comfort in believing that, to some degree
They too still harboured dreams of flying free.
I was wrong of course,
Just as those who brought me up were wrong.
It's absurd to believe all others are as damaged as ourselves,
And however late on, I am better off for knowing now
That given love, by taking love all can in time refute
The lesson that our parents taught,
And in their sick equation not stay caught.
Tada. GCSE Engligh. Oh the joys!
In school I learned that one and one made two,
It could have been engraved in stone,
An absolute I could not question or refute.
But at home, sweet home, that sum was open to dispute-
In that raw cocoon of parental hate is where
Ilearned that one and one stayed one and one.
What's more, because all that household's anger and it's pain
Stung more than any teacher's cane
I came to believe how it was best
That one remained one,
For by beoming two, one at least would suffer so
Believing this I threw away so many gifts-
I never let love stay long enough to take root,
But by thinking myself of too little worth
I crushed all its messengers.
I gre- or did not grow-
And kept my head down low,
And drifted through the crowd,
One among the many whose dreams of flight
Weighed down the soul,
And kept it down,
Because to the flightless
The dream of flight's an anguish.
I stayed apart, stayed one,
Claiming seperateness was out of choice,
And at every wedding ceremony I saw
The shadow of that albatross- divorce-
Fall over groom and bride,
And I took small comfort in believing that, to some degree
They too still harboured dreams of flying free.
I was wrong of course,
Just as those who brought me up were wrong.
It's absurd to believe all others are as damaged as ourselves,
And however late on, I am better off for knowing now
That given love, by taking love all can in time refute
The lesson that our parents taught,
And in their sick equation not stay caught.
Tada. GCSE Engligh. Oh the joys!
The Analysis of the poem
The Sick Equation Brian Patten
A poem written about love, yet it is not romantic – The Sick Equation focuses on the idea of
love breaking down and why the persona cannot get involved in relationships, because of
his parents’ relationship he suffered through in his childhood.
Patten learned at school that one plus one gave two – because school was a place ordered
by rules – whether this was rules of conduct or the cane, it was governed by them. But at
home it was a completely different story. Here, one and one remained one and one, of
course symbolising his parents staying apart. The fourth and fifth lines tell us that his
childhood was not filled with warmth, but anger, suffering and pain, which later reflected on
the rest of his life. The “home, sweet home” and “raw cocoon of parental hate” is a
juxtaposition of ideas which proves this. We learn that his parents cannot live together
because things will only be made worse, and would save all three of them a lot of pain for
the future – but this was not really the case for the persona.
The start to the third stanza could mean that even though he was growing up physically and
in terms of age, emotionally he remained stationary. There is a key idea of flight in this
stanza, the mentions of “dreams of flight,” “flightless” and “flight’s an anguish” suggest that
flying away would provide a means of escape, escape being the thing he most needed.
“I stayed apart, stayed one.” This is a link back to the beginning of the poem, back to the
idea of 1+1 = 1+1 and means that he remained single, unable to get involved in a
relationship because he was scared of turning out like his parents, which he believed all
relationships did in the end. The idea of divorce always lingers, presented as the “shadow of
that albatross” (an albatross is usually the bird used to represent evil and burdens). Again
comes the theme of flight at the end of this stanza, “They too still harboured dreams of
flying free.”
The final stanza kicks off with “I was wrong of course,” which tells us how the persona finally
realised not all relationships inevitable end like his parents did, and he now regrets
resenting love and rejecting any signs of emotion that were offered to him.
The “sick equation” is obviously to do with the failure of the relationship here. However,
towards the end of the poem, we learn that the sick equation, like all other mathematical
equations, can be balanced. The key here is love – it is love that can balance a sick equation,
and it is the lack of love which makes it sick.
The Sick Equation is written like an ordered speech, with a lot of enjambment, which reflects
Patten’s flow of ideas on the matter. The rhyme scheme is occasional, with the odd rhyming
couplet. The out-of-place rhyming couplets are usually inserted to emphasise the
particularly emotional points to the poem.
The Sick Equation Brian Patten
A poem written about love, yet it is not romantic – The Sick Equation focuses on the idea of
love breaking down and why the persona cannot get involved in relationships, because of
his parents’ relationship he suffered through in his childhood.
Patten learned at school that one plus one gave two – because school was a place ordered
by rules – whether this was rules of conduct or the cane, it was governed by them. But at
home it was a completely different story. Here, one and one remained one and one, of
course symbolising his parents staying apart. The fourth and fifth lines tell us that his
childhood was not filled with warmth, but anger, suffering and pain, which later reflected on
the rest of his life. The “home, sweet home” and “raw cocoon of parental hate” is a
juxtaposition of ideas which proves this. We learn that his parents cannot live together
because things will only be made worse, and would save all three of them a lot of pain for
the future – but this was not really the case for the persona.
The start to the third stanza could mean that even though he was growing up physically and
in terms of age, emotionally he remained stationary. There is a key idea of flight in this
stanza, the mentions of “dreams of flight,” “flightless” and “flight’s an anguish” suggest that
flying away would provide a means of escape, escape being the thing he most needed.
“I stayed apart, stayed one.” This is a link back to the beginning of the poem, back to the
idea of 1+1 = 1+1 and means that he remained single, unable to get involved in a
relationship because he was scared of turning out like his parents, which he believed all
relationships did in the end. The idea of divorce always lingers, presented as the “shadow of
that albatross” (an albatross is usually the bird used to represent evil and burdens). Again
comes the theme of flight at the end of this stanza, “They too still harboured dreams of
flying free.”
The final stanza kicks off with “I was wrong of course,” which tells us how the persona finally
realised not all relationships inevitable end like his parents did, and he now regrets
resenting love and rejecting any signs of emotion that were offered to him.
The “sick equation” is obviously to do with the failure of the relationship here. However,
towards the end of the poem, we learn that the sick equation, like all other mathematical
equations, can be balanced. The key here is love – it is love that can balance a sick equation,
and it is the lack of love which makes it sick.
The Sick Equation is written like an ordered speech, with a lot of enjambment, which reflects
Patten’s flow of ideas on the matter. The rhyme scheme is occasional, with the odd rhyming
couplet. The out-of-place rhyming couplets are usually inserted to emphasise the
particularly emotional points to the poem.
What is it lately with people signing up here just to post on a several-year-old thread that nobody gives a **** about anymore?
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