55 B.C.E.) Written in the first century b.C., On the Nature of Things (in Latin, De Rerum Natura) is a poem in six books that aims at explaining the Epicurean philosophy to the Roman audience.Among digressions about the importance of philosophy in men's life and praises of Epicurus, Lucretius created a solid treatise on the atomic theory, the falseness of religion and many kinds of natural phenomena. But if from naught Were their becoming, they would spring abroad Suddenly, unforeseen, in alien months, With no primordial germs, to be preserved From procreant unions at an adverse hour. I own with reason: for, if men but knew Some fixèd end to ills, they would be strong By some device unconquered to withstand Religions and the menacings of seers. And raiment, hung by surf-beat shore, grows moist, The same, spread out before the sun, will dry; Yet no one saw how sank the moisture in, Nor how by heat off-driven. For in a season troublous to the state Neither may I attend this task of mine With thought untroubled, nor mid such events The illustrious scion of the Memmian house Neglect the civic cause. FreeBookSummary.com . Lucretius: On the Nature of Things A conversation with Margaret Graver, Professor of Classics, Dartmouth College --Gordon Campbell, Hermathena, The translation is accurate, clear, readable, and vigorous. Word Count: 460. . Read more. We should expect from the beginning then that we are in the hands of a wise and learned guide as soon as we open his Lucretius, and this expectation is certainly borne out by the quality of this sensitive and thoughtful edition. in English 2001 - 262 pp. Meticulous, judicious and reader-friendly in equal measure, it embodies the fruits of a lifetime's study of Lucretius' poetic masterpiece. And since 'tis thou alone Guidest the Cosmos, and without thee naught Is risen to reach the shining shores of light, Nor aught of joyful or of lovely born, Thee do I crave co-partner in that verse Which I presume on Nature to compose For Memmius mine, whom thou hast willed to be Peerless in every grace at every hour— Wherefore indeed, Divine one, give my words Immortal charm. Books 1 and 2 deal with atoms and void, Book 1 establishing the basic principles of atomism and Book 2 describing the movements, properties, and combinations of the atoms. Gets the nature of most things dead wrong, but still of historical significance. And all from all cannot become, because In each resides a secret power its own. . Of the nature of things, in six books 1714, Printed by J. Matthews for G. Sawbridge and sold by J. Churchill and W. Taylor, [etc.] . 30 The six books fall naturally into three pairs. Meantime, when once we know from nothing still Nothing can be create, we shall divine More clearly what we seek: those elements From which alone all things created are, And how accomplished by no tool of Gods. The poem, written in dactylic hexameter, is divided into six books, and concentrates heavily on Epicurean physics. On the Nature of Things: Book 1 (57 BC) by Lucretius - Duration: 1:15:35. * * * And now, since I have taught that things cannot Be born from nothing, nor the same, when born, To nothing be recalled, doubt not my words, Because our eyes no primal germs perceive; For mark those bodies which, though known to be In this our world, are yet invisible: The winds infuriate lash our face and frame, Unseen, and swamp huge ships and rend the clouds, Or, eddying wildly down, bestrew the plains With mighty trees, or scour the mountain tops With forest-crackling blasts. This book spreads out inside and out the standards of nuclear movement, shape, and properties. It’s comforting to watch another ship fight the sea & wind while yours is calm, not because you rejoice in others’ struggles but because it reminds you of how nice it is to be free from struggle yourself But now Because the fastenings of primordial parts Are put together diversly and stuff Is everlasting, things abide the same Unhurt and sure, until some power comes on Strong to destroy the warp and woof of each: Nothing returns to naught; but all return At their collapse to primal forms of stuff. Can Nature change the seasons of the years, And bring to birth the grains and all of else To which divine Delight, the guide of life, Persuades mortality and leads it on, That, through her artful blandishments of love, It propagate the generations still, Lest humankind should perish. Thus it comes That earth, without her seasons of fixed rains, Could bear no produce such as makes us glad, And whatsoever lives, if shut from food, Prolongs its kind and guards its life no more. Martin Ferguson Smith is Prof. of Classics Emeritus, Univ. When they feign That gods have stablished all things but for man, Whereas, of truth, because all things exist, With seed imperishable, Nature allows Destruction nor collapse of aught, until Some outward force may shatter by a blow, Or inward craft, entering its hollow cells, Dissolve it down. On the Nature of Things … Fear holds dominion over mortality Only because, seeing in land and sky So much the cause whereof no wise they know, Men think Divinities are working there. Nor more Can we observe what's lost at any time, When things wax old with eld and foul decay, Or when salt seas eat under beetling crags. Even so must move the blasts of all the winds, Which, when they spread, like to a mighty flood, Hither or thither, drive things on before And hurl to ground with still renewed assault, Or sometimes in their circling vortex seize And bear in cones of whirlwind down the world: The winds are sightless bodies and naught else— Since both in works and ways they rival well The mighty rivers, the visible in form. For what the soul may be they do not know, Whether 'tis born, or enter in at birth, And whether, snatched by death, it die with us, Or visit the shadows and the vasty caves Of Orcus, or by some divine decree Enter the brute herds, as our Ennius sang, Who first from lovely Helicon brought down A laurel wreath of bright perennial leaves, Renowned forever among the Italian clans. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. But we don’t need to attribute these things to the gods – they happen by themselves, In fact, there’s just too much wrong with the world to say that these perfect gods are ordering things to be as they are, Fire is a reaction that seems spontaneous but it needs to feed off of wood – its flames start small & grow, Grass & trees grow from seeds of their own kind, Atoms, when moving, don’t move in a completely straight way – they swerve a little, If they didn’t, they’d all fall completely down, The collision of atoms comes from this swerving of atoms, Heavier objects collide into smaller ones that give way in the void, The atoms must swerve a little, but no more than that, This swerve is related to our free will on earth – allowing us to go where we choose by swerving a little from what seems to be a pre-planned path by the swerving of all the atoms of the body together, Our bodies can be dragged against their will just like the atoms can, No matter is crammed in or spread thin. 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