Lucretius and the Logic of Venus - poems by V. B. Price
The newest poetry from V. B. Price, leaving us “breathless and grateful” (Margaret Randall). Paperback, 242 pages, on 50# creme paper.
Why did Lucretius begin his poem on physics and the philosophy of materialism with an invocation of the Goddess Venus? Is love a mere attraction, a kind of helpless gravity, or is there a holy logic to it, a divine sense to be made both in and beyond cosmic matter, a logic to not only feeling it, but to sustaining it, and meaning it?
These questions are what V. B. Price sets out to explore in his response to the Roman poet Lucretius's classic On the Nature of Things. The result is timeless while reaching across time, a philosophical and heartfelt call for pleasure in a world too often reluctant to embrace it.
Praise for Lucretius and the Logic of Venus:
“In his introduction to Lucretius and the Logic of Venus, V. B. Price takes us with him on a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Monica. One moment it’s the twenty-first century and we are fleeing the heat and smog of Los Angeles, the next it’s the year 79 before our era and we are heading from Rome down
to the Bay of Naples. We are with Lucretius, who is ‘in the midst of writing his vast poem on Venus and physics, atoms and their unaccountable swerving, and the mysteries of managing pleasure and pain.’ In the densely loaded collection that follows, Price digs deep into his own experience in a context that embraces science and language, knowledge and feeling, anguish and memory. We are left breathless and grateful. This is a book to return to when we wonder—in these difficult times—if life is possible or worth the effort. These stunning poems convince us that the answer to both questions is yes.”
—Margaret Randall, author of Vertigo of Risk
“A reminder that pleasure and delight and wonder are worthy experiences in themselves, that curiosity and joy warrant poems as much as sorrow and grief do. I found myself nodding and smiling the way I do when listening to a brilliant song for the first time. There’s power and beauty in Price’s work. This—this is the book the world needs right now.”
—Zach Hively, author of Owl Poems
