GCSE Latin: Lucretius: The poet's advice to mourners

Latin

"iam iam non domus accipiet te laeta neque uxor
optima, nec dulces occurrent oscula nati
praeripere et tacita pectus dulcedine tangent.
non poteris factis florentibus esse tuisque
praesidium. misero misere" aiunt "omnia ademit
una dies infesta tibi tot praemia vitae."

illud in his rebus non addunt "nec tibi earum

iam desiderium rerum super insidet una."
quod bene si videant animo dictisque sequantur,
dissolvent animi magno se angore metuque.

English

"No longer now will your happy home welcome you, nor your excellent wife,
Nor will your dear children run to meet you to kiss you eagerly
And touch your breast with sweetness beyond words.
You will not be able to be protection for your flourishing affairs and for your dear ones."
They say, "One fatal day has wretchedly removed from poor you
All the rewards of life - so many of them."
What they don't add in this situation is: "And now the longing for these things
Remains together with you [in the grave] no more."
If they could see this clearly [lit. well] in their mind and follow it with words,
They would release themselves from great fear and anguish of heart.

Discussion

This is an extract from Lucretius' towering work De Rerum Natura (= On the Nature of Things). The metre is hexameter.

aiunt (l.5): Lucretius is reporting the imagined words of mourners at a funeral in ll.1-5, then goes on to articulate what they do not say (ll.7-8) before contributing his own thoughts. He sets up the traditional rhetoric surrounding death, only to demolish it in the final four lines as so much sentimentalist bunk.

In the preceding lines Lucretius has argued that there can be no existence after death; the link between body and soul has been fractured and so there is no experience beyond the grave. The mourners' pious words are mistaken because they project upon the deceased an imagined continuation of consciousness; they would be less upset if they could realise their mistake, that the dead do not long for the attachments they had whilst alive. (It is a matter of opinion whether the poet thereby offers any consolation to the bereaved...)

iam iam (l.1 - the first three syllables are all heavy) and misero misere (l.5), with the plaintively assonant m in l.5, all indicate that words are chosen by the mourners for fine-sounding effect. uxor optima ... dulces ... nati are staple phrases from tombstone inscriptions (comparable, perhaps, with stock phrases in modern death announcements - are all those families really as close and loving as is implied?)

You may consider whether a case can be made that, far from mocking the mourners who milk the emotion with their rhetoric, he is empathising with their grief for what has been lost.

Exam Suggestions

- According to Lucretius, the first six lines are spoken by whom?
- From lines 1-3 give, in English, three examples of what the deceased will now miss.
- In lines 4-5, the dead person will not be able to...what?
- una dies infesta (lines 6). What happens on "one hostile day"?
- In lines 7-8, what does the poet think should be added to the opening speech? In line 10, what could be accomplished if those words were taken to heart?
- From this poem, what do you imagine were Lucretius' beliefs about death? Use the text to support your answer.

Sound
2-3 repetition of c, p, t -> suggest playfulness which is now lost

Rhythm
1 three long syllables at the start -> portentous tone

Choice of words
1 iam iam, 5 misero misere -> rhwtorical flourishes
1-2 laeta...uxor optima...dulces...nati -> familiar from funeral speeches

Position of Words
6 una (= one) 8 una (= together) -> play on both meanings of the word to emphasis that Lucretius' message is at variance with the mourners.