De rerum natura (1962)
De rerum natura is a 1962 latin didactic poetry book written by Titus Lucretius Carus.
Lucretius set the whole of Epicurean science into Latin verse. Across six books of hexameter, De rerum natura argues that the world is only atoms and void, that the soul dies with the body, and that the gods, real but remote, take no interest in human affairs. From this he draws a strange comfort: freed of the fear of death and divine punishment, a person can live calmly on nature's plain pleasures. The poem ranges from the swerve of atoms to thunderstorms, the first taming of fire, and the folly of romantic longing, all in supple, sensuous poetry.
Quick answers
What is De rerum natura about?
Lucretius set the whole of Epicurean science into Latin verse. Across six books of hexameter, De rerum natura argues that the world is only atoms and void, that the soul dies with the body, and that the gods, real but remote, take no interest in human affairs. From this he draws a strange comfort: freed of the fear of death and divine punishment, a person can live calmly on nature's plain pleasures. The poem ranges from the swerve of atoms to thunderstorms, the first taming of fire, and the folly of romantic longing, all in supple, sensuous poetry.
When was De rerum natura published?
De rerum natura was published in 1962.
Who made De rerum natura?
De rerum natura was written by Titus Lucretius Carus.
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A few thoughts on De rerum natura
Anyone taken by the poem's cosmic sweep should watch Carl Sagan's Cosmos, a series carried by the same wonder at a universe run by natural law rather than divine whim. Terrence Malick's film The Tree of Life reaches for a similar scale, setting one family's grief against the vastness of matter and deep time.