This book concerns one of the most significant French poets of the twentieth century, Francis Ponge (1899-1988). Ponge's work has fascinated some of France's best-known philosophers, literary critics, and artists, including Jean-Paul Sartre, Philippe Sollers, and Jacques Derrida. The author discusses the fundamental role of atomistic philosophy in Ponge's worldview and poetic practice - especially as expressed by Lucretius (ca. 99-ca. 55 B.C.) in De rerum natura (On the nature of things).

Although other critics have touched on certain important topics that Ponge addresses, the author of this study is the first to examine these issues thoroughly.