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THE POEM
poetry in too cerebral a manner. The main function of the prologue is to
indicate the beauty and majesty of the world and the magnitude of Lucretius'
task. As C. S. Lewis says of the opening of Paradise Lost: 'The ostensible
philosophical purpose of the poem... is here of secondary importance. The
real function of these. . . lines is to give us the sensation that some great thing
is now about to begin.' l
One final observation about the prologue will bring us back to the question
which we posed at the start. If we compare the manner in which Lucretius
begins with the opening of Empedocles' poem On nature (so far as it can be
reconstructed from its fragmentary remains), we become aware of an important
difference of tone. Although Empedocles had the reputation in antiquity of
being a braggart and there is a strain of dogmatism in his work, he began his
poem rather tentatively, stressing the shortness of life, the limitations of human
knowledge and the dangers of presumption and he called on his white-armed
Muse only for 'such knowledge as it is lawful for creatures of a day to hear'.
Where Empedocles is tentative, Lucretius is full of confidence and joy. The
colour and excitement of the long opening sentence underline the magnificence
of the subject and the importance of the message. Lucretius never doubts that
reason will prevail if only the right words can be found. It is the poet's task to
set forth the diuina ratio in the most persuasive language possible. The difficulties
— both of convincing the timid and of mastering a difficult literary
form — are not to be concealed; but the ultimate message is of victory and hope
and joy. It is the poet's confidence that the doctrine of Epicurus can explain the
whole of life and set the mind at peace which makes the task possible. For
Lucretius the philosophy of Epicurus was something which could be conceived
both intellectually and emotionally, that is to say, it was something
which could be conceived poetically. The problem of matching poetry and
philosophy was on its way to being solved.
1 Lewis (1942) 40.
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