Of the Nature of Things: A Metrical Translation by William Ellery Leonard

By Titus Lucretius Carus

'De Rerum Natura' ('On the Nature of Things') is a 1st century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius, with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. Lucretius presents the principles of atomism; the nature of the mind and soul; explanations of sensation and thought; the development of the world and its phenomena; and explains a variety of celestial and terrestrial phenomena. The universe described in the poem operates according to these physical principles, guided by fortuna, "chance," and not the divine intervention of the traditional Roman deities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Publications
• Release date: Feb 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781633847149

Reviews for Of the Nature of Things

[danielstj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A solid piece of classical literature.

[serogers02-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly disliked this book, both the text and the translation. The arrogant tone made it extremely difficult to get through, and it was not helped by versed, rhyming poetry. The honey on the cup approach turned me off. Nonetheless, this man was brilliant. Obviously many of his ideas are preposterous, but to have ideas about atoms and that like gives rise to like, and other such thoughts was really stunning.

[librorumamans · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This verse translation works well. One might anticipate that the rhyming couplets would become tiresome. Stallings has, however, arranged her syntax so that most of the time phrases and clauses carry past the line breaks and so the text reads much like prose. At the end of paragraphs and sections, Stallings does align the syntax with the rhyme with the result that these breaks are emphasized.The translation does not attempt to capture the deliberately archaic language that Lucretius wrote in. I was skeptical at first of some of Stallings' more modern and colloquial word choices, but a check with the Latin showed that these still stayed close to the original meaning.This is an accessible and recommendable translation of an important work.

[mattresslessness · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A monument to the triumph and foibles of logical induction. On the one hand he builds on what, to modern readers expecting primitive science, are the shockingly solid foundations left by Democritus and Epicurus, but in other cases his boundless confidence in logic allows him to shore up mistaken assertions as to how something as small as the midday sun can radiate so much heat. Whatever you might say about its accuracy, the poem is certainly inhabited by a striking personal style, and intriguingly, the book ends on as a treatise on disease devolves into a prolonged and explicit catalogue of the sufferings of the dying in plague-stricken Athens. Regardless of whether Lucretius died of illness or suicide (which of the two has never been determined), the context lends the passages a sense of morbid catharsis from a man, one way or another, coming to the end of his tether.

[mykl8s · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Philosophy, poetry, ancient physics all in one work. Very fine.

[dham340 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Read this in preparation for reading "The Swerve" about the discovery of Lucretius' poem. Have to say that it is a difficult read. The translation is not "modern" in any sense. That said, the ingeniousness of Lucretius is evident: very nearly explaining the true scientific nature of the world at a time when humankind ascribed everything to "the gods".

My recommendation is to find a different (better) translation (although I don't know if one exists).

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read the Frank Copley translation, and found his notes and introduction quite useful. The poem itself is exceedingly strange and seems surprisingly modern in certain places (though decidedly less so in others). Glad to have finally read it, though; I can see why it's stood the test of time.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is both poetry and philosophical treatise proposing to explain the views of the Epicurean school. Physics written by a poet, for here Lucretius goes into physics as well as metaphysics explaining everything from the theory of the universe being composed of atoms, to the nature of the soul--and without resorting to God or Gods for an explanation. It's not atheist so much as theist. There are Gods, but we need not fear them since they're far removed from human affairs. The world's creation and operation can all be explained by natural law and there is no afterlife. Death is just an ending, and we should no more fear it than fear the eons before our beginning. In its arguments it is often strikingly modern, this poem written in the first century. Certainly aspects of the science presented is dated (there are references to the idea of spontaneous generation and the sun goes around the earth), but the spirit of the ideas is timeless--and the poetry beautiful--that comes through even in translation. This is the opening, a hymn to Venus:First, goddess, the birds of the air, pierced to the heart with your powerful shafts, signal your entry. Next wild creatures and cattle bound over rich pastures and swim rushing rivers: so surely are they all captivated by your charm and eagerly follow your lead. Then you inject seductive love into the heart of every creature that lives in the seas and mountains and river torrents and bird-haunted thickets, implanting in it the passionate urge to reproduce its kind.This is not dry stuff, although it is dense--packing a lot of complex ideas in verse. It's not always easy reading no. Philosophy and physics don't make for page turners or escapist reading. But it often has a lyrical beauty and intensity, one devoted to this Earth and the world of the senses and its pleasures and the wonders of science in a way at times inspired and inspiring.

[tjwilson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an astounding poem. I can’t believe such deep understanding of the world occurred so long ago. Makes the evolution of our sciences through the ages seem rather depressing. If only the spark came from this book! Regardless, an invigorating read into a person who lived so long ago and who was so wise in [insert title here].

[heduanna · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Finally finished this! This was my January poetry read, but just a bit too dense to read all in one month. It's poetry, but it's not poetry as I've ever seen it before; it's not about love, it's not an epic, doesn't tell a story, really. It's a physics/philosophy (they didn't really draw lines between these things back then) textbook written in verse by an Epicurean Roman two thousand years ago. And frequently, decoding the verse to figure out what worldview created it, what assumptions he's making about the nature of the universe, and from there to what his point is... well, it was heavy lifting. And I complained often. But now that I've gotten through it once, I can fairly easily see myself dipping back in occasionally. And now, I can read The Swerve about how this book influenced the Renaissance!

[jmcdbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Rated: DThe New Lifetime Reading Plan: Number 19Perhaps if I knew Greek and had read the Greek version, I would have enjoyed it more. This is a epic poem written by Lucretius explaining Epicurean and Atomist theory as known in the first century B.C. While some ideas were amazingly close to what we know today, much of it was off the mark and tedious. Interesting, however, is asking yourself how the nature of things really works. I'm not sure I could give a good explanation of how disease spreads or what makes lightning or if the earth is dissolving into nothing. Interesting. A classic. A chore to get through.

[booksontrial · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Philosophy is Supposed to be Fun!

Cicero, because of his personal aversion to the Epicurean philosophy, didn't quite do it justice in his book The Nature of the Gods, which introduced the Greek philosophical schools to the Romans (He all but made the Epicurean the laughing-stock of all the other philosophers). However, he also prepared and edited the transcript of this book by Lucretius, arguably the best exposition of Epicureanism, as a counterpoint.

Lucretius made a strong case for Epicureanism with epic poetry and systematic reasoning. His thoughts and presentation with creative use of analogies are eminently clear and logical to a modern reader, in spite of his relative lack of scientific knowledge. In this book, he sought to dispel the notion of gods governing the universe, and demonstrate the natural causes of all things based on a few premises, from thunderbolts to earthquakes, from the nature of disease to the nature of the mind, from the beginning of the earth to the development of society.

Highly recommended for its epic scope, clarity of thought, beauty of narrative, richness of humor and compassion.

[narboink · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wish I had read this book when I was younger. Heretical and scandalous, it should be required reading across the educational spectrum. It’s brilliant and beautiful and wise.From Wikipedia: “De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) is a 1st century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores Epicurean physics through richly poetic language and metaphors. Lucretius presents the principles of atomism; the nature of the mind and soul; explanations of sensation and thought; the development of the world and its phenomena; and explains a variety of celestial and terrestrial phenomena. The universe described in the poem operates according to these physical principles, guided by fortuna, "chance", and not the divine intervention of the traditional Roman deities.”

[ironmike_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

On The Nature of Things is a marvelous read. The personality of Lucretius comes through, and he's obviously an affable guy. I was really moved by Lucretius's search... seeing him come so close to understanding what we now understand, but missing the mark ever so narrowly. A truth seeker I would have been proud to know had I lived all those years ago.

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lucretius was an Epicurean. Epicurus defined one of the primary descendent philosophies of Plato. Epicureanism is similar to Stoicism in the lack of fear of death and the drive for self-sufficiency but almost opposite in meaning. Epicurus held that pleasure the measure and in and of itself good. He advocated health (in body, in diet, in mind) and did not advocate the hedonistic excesses that have since become sometimes implied by the term "epicurean." (I'm still not completely clear on the development of these ideas since Lucretius.) Summarizing the philosophy, the combination of mind and body see good and pleasure together and the pleasant life is best achieved with simple pleasures, as these allow pleasure while causing minimal pain and disturbance. Lucretius, in his De Rerum Natura, expounds on the Epicurean ideals with what is perhaps the most developed argument. His efforts concentrate on the physical ideas (the atom, evolution, nature) in an attempt to sufficiently explain things so as to qualm human fears of death.