Carcanet Press - De Rerum Natura: The Poem on Nature

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Excerpt
Author
Contents
Reviews

...nothing can be created
From nothing, nor anything created return to nothing.
There must therefore be immortal elements
Into which all things in time can be dissolved
And from which all things can be renewed once again.
from Book I

The De Rerum Natura of Lucretius (99BC-55BC) is one of the great books of the world, a lucid explanation of physical phenomena that develops into a majestic vision of the ultimate nature of the universe.

Lucretius' observations of the particularities of the world remain vividly alive across the centuries. Through his eyes we see the growth of crops and the changing seasons, the behaviour of animals and the symptoms of disease. We follow his enquiring, scientific mind as he investigates the workings of mirror images, thunderstorms and magnetism, how we walk and what sleep is. The poem's power lies in the tension between this brief, sensuous, richness of life, and Lucretius' overarching belief in an empty universe of eternally recurring elements.

Cover illustration: Image of the sun from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on the SOHO satellite. Courtesy of the SOHO-EIT Consortium. SOHO is a joint mission of international cooperation between ESA and NASA

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

BOOK I

BOOK II

BOOK III

BOOK IV

BOOK V

BOOK VI

Lucretius

Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) was born c. 99 BC. Little is known of his life. St Jerome reports that Lucretius was driven mad by a love potion and that he committed suicide, but there is no evidence for either assertion. He is thought to have died c. 55 BC. De Rerum ... read more

C.H. Sisson

Born in Bristol in 1914, C. H. Sisson was noted as a poet, novelist, essayist and an important translator. He was a great friend of the critic and writer Donald Davie, with whom he corresponded regularly. Sisson was a student at the University of Bristol where he read English and Philosophy. ... read more

'C.H. Sisson's version of Lucretius's De Rerum Natura is well worth having. It should help to bring back into active presence not only the most Latin of major Latin poets, but a work in which the perennial question as to whether science and poetry, philosophy and poetry, can be united receives an unsurpassed affirmative answer.'
George Steiner Praise for C.H. Sisson `His poems move in service of the loved landscapes of England and France; they sing (and growl) in love of argument, in love of seeing through, in love of the firm descriptions of moral self-disgust; they move in love of the old lost life by which the new life is condemned.'
Donald Hall, New York Times Book Review 'I think he is worth a place on the short shelf reserved for the finest twentieth-century poets, with Eliot and Rilke and MacDiarmid.'
Robert Nye, the Scotsman

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De Rerum Natura: The Poem on Nature Lucretius Translated by C.H. Sisson Categories: Ancient Greek and Roman Imprint: Fyfield Books Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (216 pages) (Pub. Aug 2003) 9781857547238 Out of Stock Description Excerpt Author Contents Reviews ...nothing can be created From nothing, nor anything created return to nothing. There must therefore be immortal elements Into which all things in time can be dissolved And from which all things can be renewed once again. from Book I The De Rerum Natura of Lucretius (99BC-55BC) is one of the great books of the world, a lucid explanation of physical phenomena that develops into a majestic vision of the ultimate nature of the universe. Lucretius' observations of the particularities of the world remain vividly alive across the centuries. Through his eyes we see the growth of crops and the changing seasons, the behaviour of animals and the symptoms of disease. We follow his enquiring, scientific mind as he investigates the workings of mirror images, thunderstorms and magnetism, how we walk and what sleep is. The poem's power lies in the tension between this brief, sensuous, richness of life, and Lucretius' overarching belief in an empty universe of eternally recurring elements. Cover illustration: Image of the sun from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on the SOHO satellite. Courtesy of the SOHO-EIT Consortium. SOHO is a joint mission of international cooperation between ESA and NASA Table of Contents INTRODUCTION BOOK I BOOK II BOOK III BOOK IV BOOK V BOOK VI Lucretius Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) was born c. 99 BC. Little is known of his life. St Jerome reports that Lucretius was driven mad by a love potion and that he committed suicide, but there is no evidence for either assertion. He is thought to have died c. 55 BC. De Rerum ... read more C.H. Sisson Born in Bristol in 1914, C. H. Sisson was noted as a poet, novelist, essayist and an important translator. He was a great friend of the critic and writer Donald Davie, with whom he corresponded regularly. Sisson was a student at the University of Bristol where he read English and Philosophy. ... read more 'C.H. Sisson's version of Lucretius's De Rerum Natura is well worth having. It should help to bring back into active presence not only the most Latin of major Latin poets, but a work in which the perennial question as to whether science and poetry, philosophy and poetry, can be united receives an unsurpassed affirmative answer.' George Steiner Praise for C.H. Sisson `His poems move in service of the loved landscapes of England and France; they sing (and growl) in love of argument, in love of seeing through, in love of the firm descriptions of moral self-disgust; they move in love of the old lost life by which the new life is condemned.' Donald Hall, New York Times Book Review 'I think he is worth a place on the short shelf reserved for the finest twentieth-century poets, with Eliot and Rilke and MacDiarmid.' Robert Nye, the Scotsman	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog We've Moved! read more Books of the Year read more One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more
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De Rerum Natura: The Poem on Nature

Lucretius

Translated by C.H. Sisson