Book43

SketchBooks

De Rerum Natura
March 18, 2012 - June 25, 2012
17 x 25.5 cm; handbound cover: canvas, gesso, silver-leaf, graphite

Life-stirring Venus, Mother of Aeneas and of Rome,
Pleasure of men and gods, you make all things beneath the dome
Of sliding constellations teem, you throng the fruited earth
And the ship-freighted sea--for every species comes to birth
Conceived through you, and rises forth and gazes on the light.
The winds flee from you, Goddess, your arrival puts to flight
The clouds of heaven. For you, the crafty earth contrives sweet flowers,
For you, the oceans laugh, the skies grow peaceful after showers,
Awash with light. For soon as morning wears the face of spring,
And the West Wind is free and freshens, warm and quickening,
The airy tribe of birds, O Holy One, is first to start
Heralding your approach, struck with your power through the heart;
Then beasts, the wild and tame alike, go romping over the lush
Pastureland and swim across the rivers’ headlong rush,
So eagerly does each pant after you, so do they heed,
Caught in the chains of love, and follow you wherever you lead,
...
Because alone you steer the nature of things upon its course,
And nothing can arise without you on light’s shining shores,
And nothing glad or lovely can be fashioned, I invite
You Goddess, stand beside me, be my partner as I write...

From “On The Nature of Things” (DeRerumNatura)
written by Lucretius in 50 B.C.
translated by A.E. Stallings
(written as a dedication on the first page of Book43)

drawing made inside back cover as i watched the TransitOfVenus in 2012.