On the Nature of Things: De rerum natura - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080185055X ISBN 13: 9780801850554

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 1995

Synopsis

"Anthony Esolen has the rare gift of being both a fine poet and a lover of languages. His diction is poetic and natural; he has a fine ear for sound, and the translation benefits greatly from being read aloud--as Latin poetry was meant to be.  Esolen's verse translation is clear and forceful. It can, and will, be read."--Kenneth J. Reckford, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Little is known about Titus Lucretius Carus, except that he lived in the early first century B.C.  What does survive is a masterful poetic work that stands as the greatest exposition of Epicurean philosophy. Writing in the waning days of the Roman Republic--as Rome's politics grew individualistic and treacherous, its high-life wanton, its piety introspective and morbid--Lucretius sets forth a rational and materialistic view of the world which offers a retreat into a quiet community of wisdom and friendship.

Until now, there has been no adequate English verse translation of De Rarum Natura.  Anthony Esolen fills that gap with a version that reproduces--with remarkable faithfulness--the meaning, pace, and tone and even the poetic meter (accentual pentameter) of the original Latin.
 A careful observer of nature, Lucretius writes with an innocent curiosity into how things are put together--from the oceans, lands, and stars to a mound of poppy seeds, from the "applause" of a rooster's wings to the human mind and soul. Yet he is no romantic. Nature is what it is--fascinating,purposeless, beautiful, deadly. Once we understand this, we free ourselves of superstitious fears, becoming as human and as godlike as we can be. The poem, then, is about the universe and how human beings ought to live in it. Epicurean physics and morality converge.

Anthony Esolen's masterful translation will introduce a new generation of readers to a thinker whose powers of observation and depth of insight remain fresh to the present day.

About this title

About the Author

 
Anthony Esolen is the author of over twenty-five books and over 600 articles in both scholarly and general interest journals.  A senior editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, Esolen is known for his elegant essays on the faith and for his clear social commentaries.  His articles appear regularly in Touchstone, Crisis, First Things, Public Discourse, The Catholic Thing, Chronicles, and Magnificat.  An accomplished poet in his own right, Esolen is known for his widely acclaimed three-volume verse translation of Dante's Divine Comedy (Modern Library) and for his verse translation of Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (Johns Hopkins).  His Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child  has been described as "a worthy successor to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man."  And its sequel, Life Under Compulsion, has been called "essential reading for parents, educators, and anyone who is concerned to rescue children from the tedious and vacuous thing childhood has become." His recent books include Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World, and, No Apologies: How Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men.

The grandson of Italian immigrants to America, Dr. Esolen was born and raised in the coal-mining country of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  He is a professor of humanities and writer-in-residence at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080185055X
• ISBN 13: 9780801850554
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312
• Editor: Lucretius