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THE POEM
politics, law, and public ceremonial. There is nothing like this in the writings
of Epicurus; in spite of the philosopher's insistence on the value of the senses,
he rarely attempted to clarify an argument with an apt illustration. Other
philosophers, both inside and outside the Atomic school, were less austere,
and some of Lucretius' most celebrated pictures are derived from the philosophical
tradition: the motes in the sunbeam go back at least to Democritus
(Aristotle, De anima 40431—6); the torch race and the famous image of honey
on die lip of die cup are both anticipated by Plato in the Laws (776b and 659c);
die illustration of the worn ring was used by Melissus of Samos (DK 1 274,
B 8.3); the image of die road in the passage which we have just discussed is
derived from Empedocles (DK 1 365, B 133); and the important comparison
of the atoms to the letters of die alphabet appears in two passages of Aristotle
which deal with the atomic theory of Leucippus and Democritus (Metaph.
985b! 5—19 and De gen. etcorr. 3i5b9—15).
Illustrations of this sort are part of the dialectic of the poem. They are
employed not simply to add a decorative veneer, but to clarify die argument
or to provide the evidence on which it is based. But ' the function of imagery
in poetry is never diat of mere illustration'. 1 A good image should do more
than engage the reader's mind dirough the aptness of die comparison: there
should be some element of surprise, something to stir the imagination. In fact
die more logical and exact an illustration may be, the less effectively will it
work as poetry. "What is impressive about Lucretius' use of imagery is the skill
widi which he goes beyond mere illustradon or analogy. Even a commonplace
picture like that of drying clothes (a favourite with Lucretius) can be changed
into poetry: a crack of thunder is compared to die flapping of clodies in a fresh
breeze (6.114—15) and the sea, evaporating into die air, is like washing spread
out on die green (6.617—19). I n these examples the image does more than bolster
die argument: it also adds a touch of imagination and quickens science into
poetry. Much of the special feeling of die De rerum natura is generated by its
imagery. There is a characteristic sensuousness about the column of air which
'brushes through the pupil of die eye' (4.249); and diere is wit in the description
of cosmetics as the 'backstage business of life' (4.n86) or of the cock
'chasing the night off the stage with the applause of his wings' (4.710). Above
all, it is through imagery that Lucretius heightens and intensifies die emotional
quality of his writing. Sometimes this concentration is achieved by boldly
mixing metaphors, as in the magnificent lines about die insatiability of love:
. . .quoniam medio de fonte leporum
surgit amari aliquid quod in ipsis floribus angat.. . (4.1133-4)
. . .since from the centre of the fountain of enchantment
bitterness rises up to choke delight even amid the flowers. . .
1
Brooks and Warren (1960) 556.
225
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