On the nature of things

Found out this week that the Latin that Pope Joan speaks almost incomprehensibly in her drunken state is Lucretius On the Nature of Things which is a poem which, amongst other themes, mainly discusses the problems brought about by religion and fear of death. The particular passage recited is from the proem of Book II and talks about watching other men struggle with turbulent lives and troubles from a serene platform.

Also found a really useful study guide, which has a lot of comment by Caryl Churchill and some interesting points about the Brechtian style which is ingrained in the play simply by the type of writing. Click on the title (On the nature of things) above to find it.