De Rerum Natura (The Nature Of Things): A Poetic Translation

Description

This elegant new translation at last restores the poetry to one of the greatest and most influential poems in the Western tradition. "De Rerum Natura" is Lucretius' majestic elaboration of Greek Epicurean physics and psychology in an epic that unfolds over the course of six books. This sumptuous account of a secular cosmos argues that the soul is mortal, that pleasure is the object of life, and that humanity has free will, among other ideas. Renowned author, translator, and poet David R. Slavitt has captured Lucretius' elegance as well as his philosophical profundity in this highly readable translation of a poem that is crucial to the history of ancient thought.

Author description

David R. Slavitt is the author of more than eighty books of poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and drama. His Propertius in Love is available from University of California Press.

Table of contents

Translator's foreword the nature of things Book I Book II Book III Book IV Book V Book VI