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LUCRETIUS.
in the poem
of Lucretius
passages
really poetical
desert.
are like oases in a mighty
of Things"
the Nature
the
are
for
himself
he
where
the
places
girds
They
resting
over
vast
of
the
the
stretches
poem which,
dreary
journey
are as devoid of poetical
interest as the
it must
be confessed,
The

"On

or Kant's
of Pure Reason."
of Newton
"Critique
"Principia"
rules
to demonstrate
the abstract
A poem which was intended
nature
of physical
from its very
motions
and combinations
cannot

deviations
be poetical
without
a
we may
In
such
work
propositions.
any

passage
whose

picture

poetic
the author not

judge
for poetical
the writer

has

into which

action,
lived.

been

by

its fundamental

thrown

a fine

as clear gain
image or a

can deny.
And we must
set
limits which
to-day we may
and the age in Which
the subject

beauty
by the

but

from

set down

none

out
and looking
theater
as
the
stands
the
of
rep
deep,
dimplings
race whose
of the Aryan
resentative
power was most
poetic
of
and who had the keenest
appreciation
developed,
highly
him artistic expression
in art. With
what was most beautiful
Athenian

The

over

standing

in his

the countless

and his canons have largely

its highest
development,
stands
At
the other extreme
of later ages.
the guide
was
law
and
of
the development
the Roman
whose mission
He had a sturdy
of congregational
among men.
harmony
reached

been

a war
and of necessity
became
of character,
independence
as
went
time
traits
fundamental
his
on,
rior,
intensifying
so that after centuries
he was still struggling
of development
to realize his ideal of legal rather than of literary harmonies.
has shown
in his "History
of English
Literature,"
Taine,
a
us how the physical
of
and psychic
people may be
qualities
and of no
in all their forms of literary expression,
reflected
more
The
idea of
of
true
Lucretius.
is this
than
writer

Lucretius.

37

was but
to establish
for the universe,
Law, Which he sought
another
side of the great problem
which
the Roman
nation
set
had
To trace his personal
in his
itself to solve.
history
no
us
work
to
is impossible.
works
the
Scientific
key
give
of their authors,
history
personal
work
of Lucretius
is no exception.
touch shows
that he had an eye
but we

cannot

statement

this

Here

there

and

for the beauties

'had seen.

he

tell what

and to

He

describes

the

a vivid

of nature,
a ship

saw
with great vividness,
but it may be that he never
of
of
he
writes
the
but
one;
war,
mimicry
legions
stirring up
we do not know
that he ever watched
the movements
of an
wreck

tells of the poet whose

function
is to
Shakespeare
to
a
a
local
habitation
and
and
name,
airy nothingness
give
to decide whether
are
Who would
undertake
creations
literary
army.

of

or of

the actual

the vague
about
the

Among
of value
the ancient

in the ?o's
of
Enough
the

by
ministered

world?
of a later day we

learn nothing
summarize
may
poet.
indefinitely
was
that
references
he
born
sometime
by saying
and died when
less than fifty years of age.
B.C.,

traditions

We

the marvelous

is added

that

he was

by his wife;
of sanity, and

that he

statements

intervals

the fictional

the

brief biography
a
love potion
ad
by
his poetry
composed
during

this was

that

to

crazed

afterwards

amended

by

Cicero.

Cicero

himself

amended

or

them

once

furnishes

edited

us with

no evidence
of Lucretius.

the works

that he either

He
speaks of
to his brother,
in Which he men
in the interpretation
tions genius
and art; but certainty
of
the passage
is not attainable,
for we do not know
what
just
as his brother,
as well
had read the
Cicero wrote.
Cicero,
work,
some

but

and

in a letter

this may

indicate

an

independent
amended

publication
the poem,

by
we
person.
some evidences
of this at points where
should expect
it is not
text
the
amended
and
shown,
may have perished
although
come
form only have
to us.
the original
down
the
But
other

strongest
fact that,

Had

evidence
ten years

Cicero

the Ciceronian
against
after reading
the work

is the
editorship
of Lucretius,
he

The

38

Sewanee

Review.

he
in which
of the Gods,"
"On the Nature
no single
trace of the argumentation
of Lucretius.
work as we have it ;s, in verbal finish,
inferior to the
of Vergil.
indicate
that he died, as did
This may
or
to it the finishing
before he could give
touches,

wrote

his work

shows
The
works

Vergil,
that the statement
either

supposition
of words
and phrases.

tion

is true.
insanity
for a noticeable

in his
in regard
we can account
But

the story

of his

Under

repeti
can
insanity

that it really had its

be readily explained
by the supposition
a work
a
to discredit
scribe who wished
pious
origin with
the wish
the existing
him
which
To
attacked
religion.
for to him the insanity
would
be the father to the thought,
her ab
had declared
of Lucretius
would mean
that nature
horrence

of

had

gods
In

his

view
was

Lucretius
idea and

the man

no active

that

who

dared

to

part in regulating
the subordination

try to prove
the universe.

that

the

to law,
of all things
of
a typical Roman,
Roman
for the predominant
is the same?the
idea of power
of Lucretius

led him to pre

It was this which
to law.
working
according
a dis
to
made
his
work
fer scientific
and
poetry
exposition
nature.
lines of the
The
cussion of the laws of
introductory
as a concession
to the spirit of
'have been considered
poem
a portraiture
not in har
of Venus
times, and as giving
the
the
But
of
is to be
Venus
with
remainder
poem.
mony
a
as
than
rather
of the laws of animation,
taken
symbol
as the carnal
To
the
Romans.
by
worshiped
goddess
ever
ter
monster
the
with
is
Lucretius
superstition
religion
the

over men.
this specter
To show whence
rible aspect standing
the earth
came is a part of the work
of the poet.
Cybele,
a
of
of
the
is
nature;
powers
mother,
Jupiter,
personification
or Father
of the air.
of the powers
is a personification
Zeus,
But

man

him

thinks

to think

they

are realities,
and Lucretius
In doing
this it is shown

aright.
the control of natural

must

help
is
that man

Not only is this demon

forces.
are
his
and it is shown
of
laws
strated,
being
given,
in
but only a universe
and man,
that there is not a universe
man
an
In
this
universe
is
which
part.
physical
integral
under

but

the

Lucretius.

not mind

but

force

is supreme.

39

Lucre
platform
not
and
is
with
free,
the systems
of philos
this

Upon
that mind

tius takes his stand, arguing

a grand
effort reviews
all
intellectual
an
as
to
from the world.
and
banish
tries
mind
entity
ophy
it
is
the
of great
As Sellar has well
association
laws,
said,
not
of

that moves

of great memories,
He
the universe.

the

not,
outward

in painting
the charm
express

artist

Vergil,
famous

him

in the contemplation
the delight

like Catullus,
scenes.
He

has

does

to
attaching
his view of human

of old

associations

His
idea of law permeated
places.
of the same sadness
There
is something
that the latter analyzes
Not
and Lucretius.

in both

life.

to the

Hamlet,
finitesimal

though
link in the

face

of Hamlet

of human

existence

the

latter man

infinite

sadly

himself

down
the

the problem
upon
face of Lucretius

compare
the problem
of the existence
of the universe.
from the realm of sense the laws which
govern

Bringing
to the contemplation
he brought
men,
awe with which he
the same wondering

looked

ments

treats of

as does

an in
an atom,
of nature;
but still with

to solve

trying

as

Hamlet

is but

chain

looking
we may

not,

of
like

of the external

world.

While

he

of

the ways
of men
on the move
the universe

of

he touches
here and
atoms,
the joy, the grief,
the birth and death
there upon
of men,
and Avith the same reverence
with which
he deals with
the
a
nature.
There
is
facts of
strange
feeling of utter helpless

ness

fortuitous

as he

collection

at man

to find the
and trying
wandering
of
is
evidence
conscious
in his
way
strength
to
of
the
law
the
of
world,
life; of
picture
subject
opening
a
exultation
in his announcement
of
from the
world
liberated
of

life.

looks

There

of superstition.
He was seeking
for the universal,
the particular
in his eyes only so far as it in
had value
of the universal.
to this
It was owing
dicated
something
thraldom

and

that

he

carried

corollaries.

He

his

demonstration

moves

slowly

each point,
develops
carefully
he touches but
His
illustrations
think

much

of

them;

but

threw

of
when
that

law

to

the minutest

and
demonstrating,
all may
be complete.

lightly, as though he did not

in that they might
them

The

4?

Sewanee

Review.

fancy or give him time to think of the

he is writing.
facts of which
subordinated
He
to his science,
and as a result
the pleasure
his poetry
which
a reader feels arises from the consideration
of individual
parts
and not from the poem as a whole,
for the radiant glow
of

the
please
fundamental

reader's

in a mathematical

is impossible
in his poetry

poesy
But
tuitous

what
of atoms

collections

excited

all sides,
the thought
that
ments
from which
he came
man.
and

He can,
of empire;

demonstration.
In the midst

is man?

of the

for

to action

from
by blows
to the ele
again

he must

pass
little to the happiness
of
extensive
of
conquest
plans

added

it is true, form
can, to some extent,

nature

control

in her

can offer no resistance.

but to the full power
moods,
saw the deep line that connected
ex
all material
Lucretius
saw the deep pathos
of the struggles
of man,
and
istences;

milder

to think

seemed

that

it had been

better

for him had he never

are his heritage,

and woe
and life is
Sadness
an everlasting
is
And
this
the
life which
sleep.
it
Whence
he saw: A ship passing
before him for a moment;
seen
came he cannot
in the wreck
that is
tell, but the end is
strewn before his eyes.
Yet
from a steadfast
gaze at this he

been

born.

rounded

with

did not

shrink.

From

him

came

no Belialian
for who

Though
Those

full

of

thoughts

would

pain, this intellectual

that wander
through

To

swallowed
up and
perish
rather,
In the womb
of uncreated
night
of sense and motion?
Devoid

wailing:
lose,
being,
eternity,
lost

of personal
annihilation
Lucretius
stood as
In the presence
as a mathematician
in the presence
of a mathe
unemotional
sum
zero.
to
whose
is
matical
equal
expression
It
been

is a true
given

have

of all ages has

that the best
thought
saying
In various ways men
the search after God.
to explain
and their relation
their own actions

to

sought
not
to "a something
as
Matthew
eousness,"

postulates
potentiality

themselves

Arnold

has

which

makes
it.

expressed
law, and finds in the primary
form of later development.
every

universal
of

of

for right
Lucretius
forms

the

Had

he

Lucretius.

41

born

in the present
he would
be classed with
country,
in man as he now is the results of a lo'ng series
of evolutions
from lower types.
He would
be an evolutionist
to those who
rather than a creationist,
and would be opposed

been

those Who

see

as indicative
of
and religious
regard moral
feeling
insight
man.
a personality
than
to
Lucretius,
higher
According
from ourselves
which
there was nothing
different
potentially
made
in gods;
the

race

and

and

grief,

It is true

for righteousness.
but according

to Lucretius,
it so that

terrified

their

In this

these have
instead

lives are spent in darkness

stands
squarely
opposed

he

light.
of all ages.
teachings
But if there be only material
that man

the Roman

that

believed

overshadowed

joy men
rather than

have

of

to

the

in the
theistic

law, how has it come about

To this Lucretius
does not

has a belief

in Divinity?
but as his thesis does not agree with
answer;
give
in which
the common
laws of men, he must have seien a way
in
all things could be harmonized
accordance
with
the laws
a direct

of the universe.
by him for the government
answer which
he might
have given would
be based
on the meaning
of the word "law."
The common
view of it
deduced
The

is that

it is restrictive

and imposed

it may

by an external power.
statement
of internal

Yet

be merely
the objective
rela
a
not
force
and
from
with
tionship,
superimposed
working
of the relations
of the parts
out, but simply an expression
our
an apparently
to which
ob
defective
has given
analysis
jective
reality.
the interaction

The

law of

is a

gravitation

of material

but

statement

of

our
it is beyond
such
relation
any

particles;
can have
to tell how these particles
power
nor
to each other,
did Lucretius
try to solve the problem.
inner
He merely
the
the
and upon
relationship,
presented
com
to
show
from
that
the
basis of the atomic
theory sought
of atoms

come

is, and that too with

of divine power.
But having
the interference
reduced
to consider
law to an inner relationship,
it will be necessary
as the workings
to man
it is that this appears
how
of an

binations

has

out

external

personal

power.

all that

The

42
All

Review.

Sewanee

of the inferences
this may be explained
by the nature
in nature
Man acts upon matter,
and similar actions
as the results of rational
action.
The princi
interpreted
of personality
the cosmos whose
is the projection
upon

of man.
are

ple
movements
activities

operations
or freedom
The

in accordance
with our own
interpreted
and
in
the
is great
productions
diversity
as
not be expected
under the
would
of nature,
such
a
of uniform
law. Diversity
implies
sportiveness
are then

There

activities.

which

appears

to law.
to be acting according
recourse
to a personality
about us. Man acts upon mat

not

is to have

readiest

explanation
can act upon the things
as the result
in nature are interpreted
ter, and similar actions
man
shall see that this interpreta
When
action.
of rational

which

the
and that calm reason alone can remove
is incorrect,
terrors that haunt him, then, and not till then, can he be free.
the praise of being
the most
well belongs
To Lucretius
we
feel
But
interest
of
the
antiquity.
poet
contemplative
tion

in his deepest
ence
of the

in the pres
is greatly
lessened
of modern
experimentation,
are postulates
But when
still.

contemplations
results
exacter

some of his postulates

though
the case
of his work,
we examine
the really poetical
portions
are superior
to any
for some of the passages
is different,
can
of
Latin
in
Difficulties
found
be
else
that
poetry.
thing
were
before
he
of
difficulties
him, yet
subject
language,
over both.
triumphed
than once he bewails
More
guage,
dication.

but of this
The

lan
of his ancestral
the poverty
flowers of his poesy give no in
once to men
animate
seemed
which

the radiant

universe

The dryads of the

a collection
to him merely
of atoms.
no longer sported
in the waters.
trees were dead, and nymphs
a poesy
to write
of old beliefs he sought
this wreck
Amid
life.
of
nature's
and
the
the beauty
that should express
vigor
he sought
Free from the influences of religious
interpretation,

was

to express
the beauty
action of the elements
a freshness

poetry
the results
movement.

of

resulting
in nature.

from

the harmonious

There

is to be

an appreciation
close observation

feeling,
of an apparently
The
sea, the sky,

the waters,

found

inter
in his

and
of nature,
of her every
birds and beasts

Lucretius.

each

had

43

the harmony
him, and, seeing
impressed
the influence
of nature,
under
the whole
of form or action with
each manifestation

in its way

running
through
of this, he viewed
his
he paints
of touches
a keen delight.
With
the finest
in
He
his descriptions,
is rapid
of field and wood.
pictures
are short; his
of
His
similes
and illustrates
flashes
light.
by
are generally
and not with
given only in outline,
comparisons
of the
to be found in the works
often
the full rich coloring
poets of nature.
professed
of Rome
the poets
an
indication
to-day,

he

Of
of

of his
ence

the nearest

stands

of the

to

fundamental

truly
In his philosophy
he maintains
thinking.
a
world.
From
subsensible
of atoms and of

the men
character
the

exist

a religious
under
other

he was a religious
and,
protestant,
standpoint
was one of the
whose
the
destruction
attacked
system
guise,
His
of Christianity.
the
expresses
poetry
early
triumphs
of naturalism,
and critics
find
the
of
Wordsworth.
thought
writings
out of which
have come
past development
quintessence

in

are.
of

as

To

to his
parallels
assumes
a
He
the

to all materialistic

that
things
the origin

him
speculators
it came he cannot
is a profound
Whence
mystery.
nor per
from the gods,
Not
for they are unmotional;
soon
all
is this question
of much
for
may
importance,

life

tell.
haps

vanish:
The
Nor

ever

falls

Nor

ever

lowest

Nor

sound

the

a cloud

star

least white

roll

of human

of

haunt

and world,
or moves
a wind,
of

snow,

thunder

sorrow

moans,
mounts
to mar

calm !
sacred,
everlasting
.
. and
that hour
perhaps

Their
.

so far when

Is not

seem

no more

And

he, his hopes

even his bones

The

very

But

who

gods,
of world

interspace
never
creeps

Where

Shall

The

lucid

Vanishing,
Into the

sides
atom
unseen

of

man
momentary
a something
to himself,
his homes
and
and hates,
long

laid within

the grave
and

void,
forever.

itself
atom

fanes,
the grave,
shall pass,

and

void,

R.
Vanderbilt

University.

"Lucretius"

?Tennyson,
B.

Steele.