Thus too, if all things are create of four,And all again dissolved into the four,How can the four be called the primal germsOf things, more than all things themselves be thought,By retroversion, primal germs of them?For ever alternately are both begot,With interchange of nature and aspectFrom immemorial time. But if percaseThou think'st the frame of fire and earth, the air,The dew of water can in such wise meetAs not by mingling to resign their nature,From them for thee no world can be create-No thing of breath, no stock or stalk of tree:In the wild congress of this varied heapEach thing its proper nature will display,And air will palpably be seen mixed upWith earth together, unquenched heat with water.But primal germs in bringing things to birthMust have a latent, unseen quality,Lest some outstanding alien elementConfuse and minish in the thing createIts proper being.But these men beginFrom heaven, and from its fires; and first they feignThat fire will turn into the winds of air,Next, that from air the rain begotten is,And earth created out of rain, and thenThat all, reversely, are returned from earth-The moisture first, then air thereafter heat-And that these same ne'er cease in interchange,To go their ways from heaven to earth, from earthUnto the stars of the aethereal world-Which in no wise at all the germs can do.Since an immutable somewhat still must be,Lest all things utterly be sped to naught;For change in anything from out its boundsMeans instant death of that which was before.Wherefore, since those things, mentioned heretofore,Suffer a changed state, they must deriveFrom others ever unconvertible,Lest an things utterly return to naught.Then why not rather presuppose there beBodies with such a nature furnished forthThat, if perchance they have created fire,Can still (by virtue of a few withdrawn,Or added few, and motion and order changed)Fashion the winds of air, and thus all thingsForevermore be interchanged with all?"But facts in proof are manifest," thou sayest,"That all things grow into the winds of airAnd forth from earth are nourished, and unlessThe season favour at propitious hourWith rains enough to set the trees a-reelUnder the soak of bulking thunderheads,And sun, for its share, foster and give heat,No grains, nor trees, nor breathing things can grow."True- and unless hard food and moisture softRecruited man, his frame would waste away,And life dissolve from out his thews and bones;For out of doubt recruited and fed are weBy certain things, as other things by others.Because in many ways the many germsCommon to many things are mixed in things,No wonder 'tis that therefore divers thingsBy divers things are nourished. And, again,Often it matters vastly with what others,In what positions the primordial germsAre bound together, and what motions, too,They give and get among themselves; for theseSame germs do put together sky, sea, lands,Rivers, and sun, grains, trees, and breathing things,But yet commixed they are in divers modesWith divers things, forever as they move.Nay, thou beholdest in our verses hereElements many, common to many worlds,Albeit thou must confess each verse, each wordFrom one another differs both in senseAnd ring of sound- so much the elementsCan bring about by change of order alone.But those which are the primal germs of thingsHave power to work more combinations still,Whence divers things can be produced in turn.
Denique quattuor ex rebus si cuncta creanturatque in eas rursum res omnia dissoluuntur,qui magis illa queunt rerum primordia diciquam contra res illorum retroque putari?alternis gignuntur enim mutantque coloremet totam inter se naturam tempore ab omni.[fulmina diffugere atque imbris ventosque videmus.]sin ita forte putas ignis terraeque coirecorpus et aerias auras roremque liquoris,nil in concilio naturam ut mutet eorum,nulla tibi ex illis poterit res esse creata,non animans, non exanimo cum corpore, ut arbos;quippe suam quicque in coetu variantis acervinaturam ostendet mixtusque videbitur aercum terra simul et quodam cum rore manere.at primordia gignundis in rebus oportetnaturam clandestinam caecamque adhibere,emineat ne quid, quod contra pugnet et obstetquo minus esse queat proprie quodcumque creatur.Quin etiam repetunt a caelo atque ignibus eiuset primum faciunt ignem se vertere in aurasaeris, hinc imbrem gigni terramque creariex imbri retroque a terra cuncta reverti,umorem primum, post aera, deinde calorem,nec cessare haec inter se mutare, mearea caelo ad terram, de terra ad sidera mundi.quod facere haud ullo debent primordia pacto.immutabile enim quiddam superare necessest,ne res ad nihilum redigantur funditus omnes;nam quod cumque suis mutatum finibus exit,continuo hoc mors est illius quod fuit ante.quapropter quoniam quae paulo diximus antein commutatum veniunt, constare necessestex aliis ea, quae nequeant convertier usquam,ne tibi res redeant ad nilum funditus omnis;quin potius tali natura praedita quaedamcorpora constituas, ignem si forte crearint,posse eadem demptis paucis paucisque tributis,ordine mutato et motu, facere aeris auras,sic alias aliis rebus mutarier omnis?'At manifesta palam res indicat' inquis 'in aurasaeris e terra res omnis crescere alique;et nisi tempestas indulget tempore faustoimbribus, ut tabe nimborum arbusta vacillent,solque sua pro parte fovet tribuitque calorem,crescere non possint fruges arbusta animantis.'scilicet et nisi nos cibus aridus et tener umoradiuvet, amisso iam corpore vita quoque omnisomnibus e nervis atque ossibus exsoluatur;adiutamur enim dubio procul atque alimur noscertis ab rebus, certis aliae atque aliae res.ni mirum quia multa modis communia multismultarum rerum in rebus primordia mixtasunt, ideo variis variae res rebus aluntur.atque eadem magni refert primordia saepecum quibus et quali positura contineanturet quos inter se dent motus accipiantque;namque eadem caelum mare terras flumina solemconstituunt, eadem fruges arbusta animantis,verum aliis alioque modo commixta moventur.quin etiam passim nostris in versibus ipsismulta elementa vides multis communia verbis,cum tamen inter se versus ac verba necessestconfiteare et re et sonitu distare sonanti.tantum elementa queunt permutato ordine solo;at rerum quae sunt primordia, plura adhiberepossunt unde queant variae res quaeque creari.
Now let us also take for scrutinyThe homeomeria of Anaxagoras,So called by Greeks, for which our pauper-speechYieldeth no name in the Italian tongue,Although the thing itself is not o'erhardFor explanation. First, then, when he speaksOf this homeomeria of things, he thinksBones to be sprung from littlest bones minute,And from minute and littlest flesh all flesh,And blood created out of drops of blood,Conceiving gold compact of grains of gold,And earth concreted out of bits of earth,Fire made of fires, and water out of waters,Feigning the like with all the rest of stuff.Yet he concedes not any void in things,Nor any limit to cutting bodies down.Wherefore to me he seems on both accountsTo err no less than those we named before.
Nunc et Anaxagorae scrutemur homoeomerianquam Grai memorant nec nostra dicere linguaconcedit nobis patrii sermonis egestas,sed tamen ipsam rem facilest exponere verbis.principio, rerum quam dicit homoeomerian,ossa videlicet e pauxillis atque minutisossibus hic et de pauxillis atque minutisvisceribus viscus gigni sanguenque crearisanguinis inter se multis coeuntibus guttisex aurique putat micis consistere posseaurum et de terris terram concrescere parvis,ignibus ex ignis, umorem umoribus esse,cetera consimili fingit ratione putatque.nec tamen esse ulla de parte in rebus inaneconcedit neque corporibus finem esse secandis.quare in utraque mihi pariter ratione videturerrare atque illi, supra quos diximus ante.
Add too: these germs he feigns are far too frail-If they be germs primordial furnished forthWith but same nature as the things themselves,And travail and perish equally with those,And no rein curbs them from annihilation.For which will last against the grip and crushUnder the teeth of death? the fire? the moist?Or else the air? which then? the blood? the bones?No one, methinks, when every thing will beAt bottom as mortal as whate'er we markTo perish by force before our gazing eyes.But my appeal is to the proofs aboveThat things cannot fall back to naught, nor yetFrom naught increase. And now again, since foodAugments and nourishes the human frame,'Tis thine to know our veins and blood and bonesAnd thews are formed of particles unlikeTo them in kind; or if they say all foodsAre of mixed substance having in themselvesSmall bodies of thews, and bones, and also veinsAnd particles of blood, then every food,Solid or liquid, must itself be thoughtAs made and mixed of things unlike in kind-Of bones, of thews, of ichor and of blood.Again, if all the bodies which upgrowFrom earth, are first within the earth, then earthMust be compound of alien substances.Which spring and bloom abroad from out the earth.Transfer the argument, and thou may'st useThe selfsame words: if flame and smoke and ashStill lurk unseen within the wood, the woodMust be compound of alien substancesWhich spring from out the wood.
Adde quod inbecilla nimis primordia fingit;si primordia sunt, simili quae praedita constantnatura atque ipsae res sunt aequeque laborantet pereunt, neque ab exitio res ulla refrenat.nam quid in oppressu valido durabit eorum,ut mortem effugiat, leti sub dentibus ipsis?ignis an umor an aura? quid horum? sanguen an ossa?nil ut opinor, ubi ex aequo res funditus omnistam mortalis erit quam quae manifesta videmusex oculis nostris aliqua vi victa perire.at neque reccidere ad nihilum res posse neque autemcrescere de nihilo testor res ante probatas.Praeterea quoniam cibus auget corpus alitque,scire licet nobis venas et sanguen et ossa* * *sive cibos omnis commixto corpore dicentesse et habere in se nervorum corpora parvaossaque et omnino venas partisque cruoris,fiet uti cibus omnis et aridus et liquor ipseex alienigenis rebus constare putetur,ossibus et nervis sanieque et sanguine mixto.Praeterea quae cumque e terra corpora crescunt,si sunt in terris, terram constare necessestex alienigenis, quae terris exoriuntur.transfer item, totidem verbis utare licebit:in lignis si flamma latet fumusque cinisque,ex alienigenis consistant ligna necessest,[praeterea tellus quae corpora cumque alit auget]ex alienigenis, quae lignis ⟨ex⟩oriuntur.
Right here remainsA certain slender means to skulk from truth,Which Anaxagoras takes unto himself,Who holds that all things lurk commixed with allWhile that one only comes to view, of whichThe bodies exceed in number all the rest,And lie more close to hand and at the fore-A notion banished from true reason far.For then 'twere meet that kernels of the grainsShould oft, when crunched between the might of stones,Give forth a sign of blood, or of aught elseWhich in our human frame is fed; and thatRock rubbed on rock should yield a gory ooze.Likewise the herbs ought oft to give forth dropsOf sweet milk, flavoured like the uddered sheep's;Indeed we ought to find, when crumbling upThe earthy clods, there herbs, and grains, and leaves,All sorts dispersed minutely in the soil;Lastly we ought to find in cloven woodAshes and smoke and bits of fire there hid.But since fact teaches this is not the case,'Tis thine to know things are not mixed with thingsThuswise; but seeds, common to many things,Commixed in many ways, must lurk in things."But often it happens on skiey hills" thou sayest,"That neighbouring tops of lofty trees are rubbedOne against other, smote by the blustering south,Till all ablaze with bursting flower of flame."Good sooth- yet fire is not ingraft in wood,But many are the seeds of heat, and whenRubbing together they together flow,They start the conflagrations in the forests.Whereas if flame, already fashioned, layStored up within the forests, then the firesCould not for any time be kept unseen,But would be laying all the wildwood wasteAnd burning all the boscage. Now dost see(Even as we said a little space above)How mightily it matters with what others,In what positions these same primal germsAre bound together? And what motions, too,They give and get among themselves? how, hence,The same, if altered 'mongst themselves, can bodyBoth igneous and ligneous objects forth-Precisely as these words themselves are madeBy somewhat altering their elements,Although we mark with name indeed distinctThe igneous from the ligneous. Once again,If thou suppose whatever thou beholdest,Among all visible objects, cannot be,Unless thou feign bodies of matter endowedWith a like nature,- by thy vain deviceFor thee will perish all the germs of things:'Twill come to pass they'll laugh aloud, like men,Shaken asunder by a spasm of mirth,Or moisten with salty tear-drops cheeks and chins.
Linquitur hic quaedam latitandi copia tenvis,id quod Anaxagoras sibi sumit, ut omnibus omnisres putet inmixtas rebus latitare, sed illudapparere unum, cuius sint plurima mixtaet magis in promptu primaque in fronte locata.quod tamen a vera longe ratione repulsumst;conveniebat enim fruges quoque saepe, minacirobore cum in saxi franguntur, mittere signumsanguinis aut aliquid, nostro quae corpore aluntur.cum lapidi in lapidem terimus, manare cruoremconsimili ratione herbis quoque saepe decebat,et latices dulcis guttas similique saporemittere, lanigerae quali sunt ubere lactis,scilicet et glebis terrarum saepe friatisherbarum genera et fruges frondesque videridispertita inter terram latitare minute,postremo in lignis cinerem fumumque videri,cum praefracta forent, ignisque latere minutos.quorum nil fieri quoniam manifesta docet res,scire licet non esse in rebus res ita mixtas,verum semina multimodis inmixta lateremultarum rerum in rebus communia debent.'At saepe in magnis fit montibus' inquis 'ut altisarboribus vicina cacumina summa teranturinter se validis facere id cogentibus austris,donec flammai fulserunt flore coorto.'scilicet et non est lignis tamen insitus ignis,verum semina sunt ardoris multa, terendoquae cum confluxere, creant incendia silvis.quod si facta foret silvis abscondita flamma,non possent ullum tempus celarier ignes,conficerent volgo silvas, arbusta cremarent.iamne vides igitur, paulo quod diximus ante,permagni referre eadem primordia saepecum quibus et quali positura contineanturet quos inter se dent motus accipiantque,atque eadem paulo inter se mutata creareignes et lignum? quo pacto verba quoque ipsainter se paulo mutatis sunt elementis,cum ligna atque ignes distincta voce notemus.Denique iam quae cumque in rebus cernis apertissi fieri non posse putas, quin materiaicorpora consimili natura praedita fingas,hac ratione tibi pereunt primordia rerum:fiet uti risu tremulo concussa cachinnentet lacrimis salsis umectent ora genasque.
Now learn of what remains! More keenly hear!And for myself, my mind is not deceivedHow dark it is: But the large hope of praiseHath strook with pointed thyrsus through my heart;On the same hour hath strook into my breastSweet love of the Muses, wherewith now instinct,I wander afield, thriving in sturdy thought,Through unpathed haunts of the Pierides,Trodden by step of none before. I joyTo come on undefiled fountains there,To drain them deep; I joy to pluck new flowers,To seek for this my head a signal crownFrom regions where the Muses never yetHave garlanded the temples of a man:First, since I teach concerning mighty things,And go right on to loose from round the mindThe tightened coils of dread religion;Next, since, concerning themes so dark, I frameSongs so pellucid, touching all throughoutEven with the Muses' charm- which, as 'twould seem,Is not without a reasonable ground:But as physicians, when they seek to giveYoung boys the nauseous wormwood, first do touchThe brim around the cup with the sweet juiceAnd yellow of the honey, in order thatThe thoughtless age of boyhood be cajoledAs far as the lips, and meanwhile swallow downThe wormwood's bitter draught, and, though befooled,Be yet not merely duped, but rather thusGrow strong again with recreated health:So now I too (since this my doctrine seemsIn general somewhat woeful unto thoseWho've had it not in hand, and since the crowdStarts back from it in horror) have desiredTo expound our doctrine unto thee in songSoft-speaking and Pierian, and, as 'twere,To touch it with sweet honey of the Muse-If by such method haply I might holdThe mind of thee upon these lines of ours,Till thou see through the nature of all things,And how exists the interwoven frame.
Nunc age, quod super est, cognosce et clarius audi.nec me animi fallit quam sint obscura; sed acripercussit thyrso laudis spes magna meum coret simul incussit suavem mi in pectus amoremMusarum, quo nunc instinctus mente vigentiavia Pieridum peragro loca nullius antetrita solo. iuvat integros accedere fontisatque haurire iuvatque novos decerpere floresinsignemque meo capiti petere inde coronam,unde prius nulli velarint tempora Musae;primum quod magnis doceo de rebus et artisreligionum animum nodis exsolvere pergo,deinde quod obscura de re tam lucida pangocarmina musaeo contingens cuncta lepore.id quoque enim non ab nulla ratione videtur;sed vel uti pueris absinthia taetra medentescum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circumcontingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore,ut puerorum aetas inprovida ludificeturlabrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarumabsinthi laticem deceptaque non capiatur,sed potius tali facto recreata valescat,sic ego nunc, quoniam haec ratio plerumque videturtristior esse quibus non est tractata, retroquevolgus abhorret ab hac, volui tibi suaviloquenticarmine Pierio rationem exponere nostramet quasi musaeo dulci contingere melle,si tibi forte animum tali ratione tenereversibus in nostris possem, dum perspicis omnemnaturam rerum, qua constet compta figura.
But since I've taught that bodies of matter, madeCompletely solid, hither and thither flyForevermore unconquered through all time,Now come, and whether to the sum of themThere be a limit or be none, for theeLet us unfold; likewise what has been foundTo be the wide inane, or room, or spaceWherein all things soever do go on,Let us examine if it finite beAll and entire, or reach unmeasured roundAnd downward an illimitable profound.Thus, then, the All that is is limitedIn no one region of its onward paths,For then 'tmust have forever its beyond.And a beyond 'tis seen can never beFor aught, unless still further on there beA somewhat somewhere that may bound the same-So that the thing be seen still on to whereThe nature of sensation of that thingCan follow it no longer. Now becauseConfess we must there's naught beside the sum,There's no beyond, and so it lacks all end.It matters nothing where thou post thyself,In whatsoever regions of the same;Even any place a man has set him downStill leaves about him the unbounded allOutward in all directions; or, supposingA moment the all of space finite to be,If some one farthest traveller runs forthUnto the extreme coasts and throws aheadA flying spear, is't then thy wish to thinkIt goes, hurled off amain, to where 'twas sentAnd shoots afar, or that some object thereCan thwart and stop it? For the one or otherThou must admit and take. Either of whichShuts off escape for thee, and does compelThat thou concede the all spreads everywhere,Owning no confines. Since whether there beAught that may block and check it so it comesNot where 'twas sent, nor lodges in its goal,Or whether borne along, in either view'Thas started not from any end. And soI'll follow on, and whereso'er thou setThe extreme coasts, I'll query, "what becomesThereafter of thy spear?" 'Twill come to passThat nowhere can a world's-end be, and thatThe chance for further flight prolongs foreverThe flight itself. Besides, were all the spaceOf the totality and sum shut inWith fixed coasts, and bounded everywhere,Then would the abundance of world's matter flowTogether by solid weight from everywhereStill downward to the bottom of the world,Nor aught could happen under cope of sky,Nor could there be a sky at all or sun-Indeed, where matter all one heap would lie,By having settled during infinite time.But in reality, repose is givenUnto no bodies 'mongst the elements,Because there is no bottom whereuntoThey might, as 'twere, together flow, and whereThey might take up their undisturbed abodes.In endless motion everything goes onForevermore; out of all regions, evenOut of the pit below, from forth the vast,Are hurtled bodies evermore supplied.
Sed quoniam docui solidissima materiaicorpora perpetuo volitare invicta per aevom,nunc age, summai quaedam sit finis eorumnec⟨ne⟩ sit, evolvamus; item quod inane repertumstseu locus ac spatium, res in quo quaeque gerantur,pervideamus utrum finitum funditus omneconstet an immensum pateat vasteque profundum.Omne quod est igitur nulla regione viarumfinitumst; namque extremum debebat habere.extremum porro nullius posse videturesse, nisi ultra sit quod finiat, ut videaturquo non longius haec sensus natura sequatur.nunc extra summam quoniam nihil esse fatendum,non habet extremum, caret ergo fine modoque.nec refert quibus adsistas regionibus eius;usque adeo, quem quisque locum possedit, in omnistantundem partis infinitum omne relinquit.Praeterea si iam finitum constituaturomne quod est spatium, si quis procurrat ad orasultimus extremas iaciatque volatile telum,id validis utrum contortum viribus irequo fuerit missum mavis longeque volare,an prohibere aliquid censes obstareque posse?alterutrum fatearis enim sumasque necessest.quorum utrumque tibi effugium praecludit et omnecogit ut exempta concedas fine patere.nam sive est aliquid quod probeat efficiatquequo minus quo missum est veniat finique locet se,sive foras fertur, non est a fine profectum.hoc pacto sequar atque, oras ubi cumque locarisextremas, quaeram: quid telo denique fiet?fiet uti nusquam possit consistere finiseffugiumque fugae prolatet copia semper.Praeterea spatium summai totius omneundique si inclusum certis consisteret orisfinitumque foret, iam copia materiaiundique ponderibus solidis confluxet ad imumnec res ulla geri sub caeli tegmine possetnec foret omnino caelum neque lumina solis,quippe ubi materies omnis cumulata iaceretex infinito iam tempore subsidendo.at nunc ni mirum requies data principiorumcorporibus nullast, quia nil est funditus imum,quo quasi confluere et sedes ubi ponere possint.semper in adsiduo motu res quaeque gerunturpartibus ⟨in⟩ cunctis, infernaque suppeditanturex infinito cita corpora materiai.Postremo ante oculos res rem finire videtur;aer dissaepit collis atque aera montes,terra mare et contra mare terras terminat omnis;omne quidem vero nihil est quod finiat extra.
The nature of room, the space of the abyssIs such that even the flashing thunderboltsCan neither speed upon their courses through,Gliding across eternal tracts of time,Nor, further, bring to pass, as on they run,That they may bate their journeying one whit:Such huge abundance spreads for things around-Room off to every quarter, without end.Lastly, before our very eyes is seenThing to bound thing: air hedges hill from hill,And mountain walls hedge air; land ends the sea,And sea in turn all lands; but for the AllTruly is nothing which outside may bound.That, too, the sum of things itself may notHave power to fix a measure of its own,Great nature guards, she who compels the voidTo bound all body, as body all the void,Thus rendering by these alternates the wholeAn infinite; or else the one or other,Being unbounded by the other, spreads,Even by its single nature, ne'erthelessImmeasurably forth....Nor sea, nor earth, nor shining vaults of sky,Nor breed of mortals, nor holy limbs of godsCould keep their place least portion of an hour:For, driven apart from out its meetings fit,The stock of stuff, dissolved, would be borneAlong the illimitable inane afar,Or rather, in fact, would ne'er have once combinedAnd given a birth to aught, since, scattered wide,It could not be united. For of truthNeither by counsel did the primal germs'Stablish themselves, as by keen act of mind,Each in its proper place; nor did they make,Forsooth, a compact how each germ should move;But since, being many and changed in many modesAlong the All, they're driven abroad and vexedBy blow on blow, even from all time of old,They thus at last, after attempting allThe kinds of motion and conjoining, comeInto those great arrangements out of whichThis sum of things established is create,By which, moreover, through the mighty years,It is preserved, when once it has been thrownInto the proper motions, bringing to passThat ever the streams refresh the greedy mainWith river-waves abounding, and that earth,Lapped in warm exhalations of the sun,Renews her broods, and that the lusty raceOf breathing creatures bears and blooms, and thatThe gliding fires of ether are alive-What still the primal germs nowise could do,Unless from out the infinite of spaceCould come supply of matter, whence in seasonThey're wont whatever losses to repair.For as the nature of breathing creatures wastes,Losing its body, when deprived of food:So all things have to be dissolved as soonAs matter, diverted by what means soeverFrom off its course, shall fail to be on hand.Nor can the blows from outward still conserve,On every side, whatever sum of a worldHas been united in a whole. They canIndeed, by frequent beating, check a part,Till others arriving may fulfil the sum;But meanwhile often are they forced to springRebounding back, and, as they spring, to yield,Unto those elements whence a world derives,Room and a time for flight, permitting themTo be from off the massy union borneFree and afar. Wherefore, again, again:Needs must there come a many for supply;And also, that the blows themselves shall beUnfailing ever, must there ever beAn infinite force of matter all sides round.
est igitur natura loci spatiumque profundi,quod neque clara suo percurrere fulmina cursuperpetuo possint aevi labentia tractunec prorsum facere ut restet minus ire meando;usque adeo passim patet ingens copia rebusfinibus exemptis in cunctas undique partis.Ipsa modum porro sibi rerum summa pararene possit, natura tenet, quae corpus inaneet quod inane autem est finiri corpore cogit,ut sic alternis infinita omnia reddat,aut etiam alterutrum, nisi terminet alterum eorum,simplice natura pateat tamen inmoderatum,nec mare nec tellus neque caeli lucida templanec mortale genus nec divum corpora sanctaexiguum possent horai sistere tempus;nam dispulsa suo de coetu materiaicopia ferretur magnum per inane soluta,sive adeo potius numquam concreta creassetullam rem, quoniam cogi disiecta nequisset.nam certe neque consilio primordia rerumordine se suo quaeque sagaci mente locaruntnec quos quaeque ⟨darent motus pepigere profecto⟩sed quia multa modis multis mutata per omneex infinito vexantur percita plagis,omne genus motus et coetus experiundotandem deveniunt in talis disposituras,qualibus haec rerum consistit summa creata,et multos etiam magnos servata per annosut semel in motus coniectast convenientis,efficit ut largis avidum mare fluminis undisintegrent amnes et solis terra vaporefota novet fetus summissaque gens animantumfloreat et vivant labentis aetheris ignes.quod nullo facerent pacto, nisi materiaiex infinito suboriri copia posset,unde amissa solent reparare in tempore quaeque.nam vel uti privata cibo natura animantumdiffluit amittens corpus, sic omnia debentdissolui simul ac defecit suppeditaremateries aliqua ratione aversa viai.nec plagae possunt extrinsecus undique summamconservare omnem, quae cumque est conciliata.cudere enim crebro possunt partemque morari,dum veniant aliae ac suppleri summa queatur;inter dum resilire tamen coguntur et unaprincipiis rerum spatium tempusque fugailargiri, ut possint a coetu libera ferri.quare etiam atque etiam suboriri multa necessest,et tamen ut plagae quoque possint suppetere ipsae,infinita opus est vis undique materiai.
And in these problems, shrink, my Memmius, farFrom yielding faith to that notorious talk:That all things inward to the centre press;And thus the nature of the world stands firmWith never blows from outward, nor can beNowhere disparted- since all height and depthHave always inward to the centre pressed(If thou art ready to believe that aughtItself can rest upon itself ); or thatThe ponderous bodies which be under earthDo all press upwards and do come to restUpon the earth, in some way upside down,Like to those images of things we seeAt present through the waters. They contend,With like procedure, that all breathing thingsHead downward roam about, and yet cannotTumble from earth to realms of sky below,No more than these our bodies wing awaySpontaneously to vaults of sky above;That, when those creatures look upon the sun,We view the constellations of the night;And that with us the seasons of the skyThey thus alternately divide, and thusDo pass the night coequal to our days,But a vain error has given these dreams to fools,Which they've embraced with reasoning perverseFor centre none can be where world is stillBoundless, nor yet, if now a centre were,Could aught take there a fixed position moreThan for some other cause 'tmight be dislodged.For all of room and space we call the voidMust both through centre and non-centre yieldAlike to weights where'er their motions tend.Nor is there any place, where, when they've come,Bodies can be at standstill in the void,Deprived of force of weight; nor yet may voidFurnish support to any,- nay, it must,True to its bent of nature, still give way.Thus in such manner not at all can thingsBe held in union, as if overcomeBy craving for a centre.
Illud in his rebus longe fuge credere, Memmi,in medium summae quod dicunt omnia nitiatque ideo mundi naturam stare sine ullisictibus externis neque quoquam posse resolvisumma atque ima, quod in medium sint omnia nixa,ipsum si quicquam posse in se sistere credis,et quae pondera sunt sub terris omnia sursumnitier in terraque retro requiescere posta,ut per aquas quae nunc rerum simulacra videmus;et simili ratione animalia suppa vagaricontendunt neque posse e terris in loca caelireccidere inferiora magis quam corpora nostrasponte sua possint in caeli templa volare;illi cum videant solem, nos sidera noctiscernere et alternis nobiscum tempora caelidividere et noctes parilis agitare diebus.sed vanus stolidis haec * * *amplexi quod habent perv * * *nam medium nihil esse potest * * *infinita; neque omnino, si iam ⟨medium sit⟩,possit ibi quicquam consistere * * *quam quavis alia longe ratione * * *omnis enim locus ac spatium, quod in⟨ane vocamus⟩,per medium, per non medium, concedere ⟨debet⟩aeque ponderibus, motus qua cumque feruntur.nec quisquam locus est, quo corpora cum venerunt,ponderis amissa vi possint stare ⟨in⟩ inani;nec quod inane autem est ulli subsistere debet,quin, sua quod natura petit, concedere pergat.haud igitur possunt tali ratione tenerires in concilium medii cuppedine victae.
But besides,Seeing they feign that not all bodies pressTo centre inward, rather only thoseOf earth and water (liquid of the sea,And the big billows from the mountain slopes,And whatsoever are encased, as 'twere,In earthen body), contrariwise, they teachHow the thin air, and with it the hot fire,Is borne asunder from the centre, and how,For this all ether quivers with bright stars,And the sun's flame along the blue is fed(Because the heat, from out the centre flying,All gathers there), and how, again, the boughsUpon the tree-tops could not sprout their leaves,Unless, little by little, from out the earthFor each were nutriment.........Lest, after the manner of the winged flames,The ramparts of the world should flee away,Dissolved amain throughout the mighty void,And lest all else should likewise follow after,Aye, lest the thundering vaults of heaven should burstAnd splinter upward, and the earth forthwithWithdraw from under our feet, and all its bulk,Among its mingled wrecks and those of heaven,With slipping asunder of the primal seeds,Should pass, along the immeasurable inane,Away forever, and, that instant, naughtOf wrack and remnant would be left, besideThe desolate space, and germs invisible.For on whatever side thou deemest firstThe primal bodies lacking, lo, that sideWill be for things the very door of death:Wherethrough the throng of matter all will dash,Out and abroad.These points, if thou wilt ponder,Then, with but paltry trouble led along.........For one thing after other will grow clear,Nor shall the blind night rob thee of the road,To hinder thy gaze on nature's Farthest-forth.Thus things for things shall kindle torches new.
Praeterea quoniam non omnia corpora finguntin medium niti, sed terrarum atque liquorisumorem ponti magnasque e montibus undas,et quasi terreno quae corpore contineantur,at contra tenuis exponunt aeris auraset calidos simul a medio differrier ignis,atque ideo totum circum tremere aethera signiset solis flammam per caeli caerula pasci,quod calor a medio fugiens se ibi conligat omnis,nec prorsum arboribus summos frondescere ramosposse, nisi a terris paulatim cuique cibatum……………………ne volucri ritu flammarum moenia mundidiffugiant subito magnum per inane solutaet ne cetera consimili ratione sequanturneve ruant caeli tonitralia templa superneterraque se pedibus raptim subducat et omnisinter permixtas rerum caelique ruinascorpora solventes abeat per inane profundum,temporis ut puncto nihil extet reliquiarumdesertum praeter spatium et primordia caeca.nam qua cumque prius de parti corpora desseconstitues, haec rebus erit pars ianua leti,hac se turba foras dabit omnis materiai.Haec sic pernosces parva perductus opella;namque alid ex alio clarescet nec tibi caecanox iter eripiet, quin ultima naturaipervideas: ita res accendent lumina rebus.