Lucretius, my Lucretius.

6 short songs for 3 voices.  Sung by Julia Holter, Catherine Lamb, and me.  Words by… Lucretius.

Text:

1. We need not press the point that what we see, whether the eyes behold it or the mind, works the same way. Suppose we see a lion. Its image, or its sum of images, is making an impression on our eyes. And if we see the idea of a lion–or anything whatever–it’s the same; except the mind, perhaps, has subtler power, perceives more tenuous images.

2. How much is cloud, how much is cloud’s image?

3. The clouds make noises when the winds go blowing through them as a hurricane sweeps through a forest. Clouds resemble trees, as we have often noticed, in their branching.

4. We have learned that many things affect our nature. Noisome things, or dangerous. The shadows of some trees, for instance, fall so heavily that headache seizes those who lie on the ground beneath.

5. With infinite matter available, infinite space, and infinite lack of interference things certainly ought to happen.

6. Why does the image seem beyond the glass?