'Tis sweet, when, down the mighty main, the windsRoll up its waste of waters, from the landTo watch another's labouring anguish far,Not that we joyously delight that manShould thus be smitten, but because 'tis sweetTo mark what evils we ourselves be spared;'Tis sweet, again, to view the mighty strifeOf armies embattled yonder o'er the plains,Ourselves no sharers in the peril; but naughtThere is more goodly than to hold the highSerene plateaus, well fortressed by the wise,Whence thou may'st look below on other menAnd see them ev'rywhere wand'ring, all dispersedIn their lone seeking for the road of life;Rivals in genius, or emulous in rank,Pressing through days and nights with hugest toilFor summits of power and mastery of the world.O wretched minds of men! O blinded hearts!In how great perils, in what darks of lifeAre spent the human years, however brief!-O not to see that nature for herselfBarks after nothing, save that pain keep off,Disjoined from the body, and that mind enjoyDelightsome feeling, far from care and fear!Therefore we see that our corporeal lifeNeeds little, altogether, and only suchAs takes the pain away, and can besidesStrew underneath some number of delights.More grateful 'tis at times (for nature cravesNo artifice nor luxury), if forsoothThere be no golden images of boysAlong the halls, with right hands holding outThe lamps ablaze, the lights for evening feasts,And if the house doth glitter not with goldNor gleam with silver, and to the lyre resoundNo fretted and gilded ceilings overhead,Yet still to lounge with friends in the soft grassBeside a river of water, underneathA big tree's boughs, and merrily to refreshOur frames, with no vast outlay- most of allIf the weather is laughing and the times of the yearBesprinkle the green of the grass around with flowers.Nor yet the quicker will hot fevers go,If on a pictured tapestry thou toss,Or purple robe, than if 'tis thine to lieUpon the poor man's bedding. Wherefore, sinceTreasure, nor rank, nor glory of a reignAvail us naught for this our body, thusReckon them likewise nothing for the mind:Save then perchance, when thou beholdest forthThy legions swarming round the Field of Mars,Rousing a mimic warfare- either sideStrengthened with large auxiliaries and horse,Alike equipped with arms, alike inspired;Or save when also thou beholdest forthThy fleets to swarm, deploying down the sea:For then, by such bright circumstance abashed,Religion pales and flees thy mind; O thenThe fears of death leave heart so free of care.But if we note how all this pomp at lastIs but a drollery and a mocking sport,And of a truth man's dread, with cares at heels,Dreads not these sounds of arms, these savage swordsBut among kings and lords of all the worldMingles undaunted, nor is overawedBy gleam of gold nor by the splendour brightOf purple robe, canst thou then doubt that thisIs aught, but power of thinking?- when, besidesThe whole of life but labours in the dark.For just as children tremble and fear allIn the viewless dark, so even we at timesDread in the light so many things that beNo whit more fearsome than what children feign,Shuddering, will be upon them in the dark.This terror then, this darkness of the mind,Not sunrise with its flaring spokes of light,Nor glittering arrows of morning can disperse,But only nature's aspect and her law.
Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventise terra magnum alterius spectare laborem;non quia vexari quemquamst iucunda voluptas,sed quibus ipse malis careas quia cernere suavest.suave etiam belli certamina magna tueriper campos instructa tua sine parte pericli;sed nihil dulcius est, bene quam munita tenereedita doctrina sapientum templa serena,despicere unde queas alios passimque videreerrare atque viam palantis quaerere vitae,certare ingenio, contendere nobilitate,noctes atque dies niti praestante laboread summas emergere opes rerumque potiri.o miseras hominum mentes, o pectora caeca!qualibus in tenebris vitae quantisque periclisdegitur hoc aevi quod cumquest! nonne viderenihil aliud sibi naturam latrare, nisi ut quicorpore seiunctus dolor absit, mente fruaturiucundo sensu cura semota metuque?ergo corpoream ad naturam pauca videmusesse opus omnino: quae demant cumque dolorem,delicias quoque uti multas substernere possintgratius inter dum, neque natura ipsa requirit,si non aurea sunt iuvenum simulacra per aedeslampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris,lumina nocturnis epulis ut suppeditentur,nec domus argento fulget auroque renidetnec citharae reboant laqueata aurataque templa,cum tamen inter se prostrati in gramine mollipropter aquae rivum sub ramis arboris altaenon magnis opibus iucunde corpora curant,praesertim cum tempestas adridet et annitempora conspergunt viridantis floribus herbas.nec calidae citius decedunt corpore febres,textilibus si in picturis ostroque rubentiiacteris, quam si in plebeia veste cubandum est.quapropter quoniam nihil nostro in corpore gazaeproficiunt neque nobilitas nec gloria regni,quod super est, animo quoque nil prodesse putandum;si non forte tuas legiones per loca campifervere cum videas belli simulacra cientis,subsidiis magnis et opum vi constabilitas,ornatas armis stlattas pariterque animatas,his tibi tum rebus timefactae religioneseffugiunt animo pavidae mortisque timorestum vacuum pectus lincunt curaque solutum.quod si ridicula haec ludibriaque esse videmus,re veraque metus hominum curaeque sequacesnec metuunt sonitus armorum nec fera telaaudacterque inter reges rerumque potentisversantur neque fulgorem reverentur ab auronec clarum vestis splendorem purpureai,quid dubitas quin omnis sit haec rationis potestas,omnis cum in tenebris praesertim vita laboret?nam vel uti pueri trepidant atque omnia caecisin tenebris metuunt, sic nos in luce timemusinter dum, nihilo quae sunt metuenda magis quamquae pueri in tenebris pavitant finguntque futura.hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necessestnon radii solis neque lucida tela dieidiscutiant, sed naturae species ratioque.
Now come: I will untangle for thy stepsNow by what motions the begetting bodiesOf the world-stuff beget the varied world,And then forever resolve it when begot,And by what force they are constrained to this,And what the speed appointed unto themWherewith to travel down the vast inane:Do thou remember to yield thee to my words.For truly matter coheres not, crowds not tight,Since we behold each thing to wane away,And we observe how all flows on and off,As 'twere, with age-old time, and from our eyesHow eld withdraws each object at the end,Albeit the sum is seen to bide the same,Unharmed, because these motes that leave each thingDiminish what they part from, but endowWith increase those to which in turn they come,Constraining these to wither in old age,And those to flower at the prime (and yetBiding not long among them). Thus the sumForever is replenished, and we liveAs mortals by eternal give and take.The nations wax, the nations wane away;In a brief space the generations pass,And like to runners hand the lamp of lifeOne unto other.
Nunc age, quo motu genitalia materiaicorpora res varias gignant genitasque resolvantet qua vi facere id cogantur quaeque sit ollisreddita mobilitas magnum per inane meandi,expediam: tu te dictis praebere memento.nam certe non inter se stipata cohaeretmateries, quoniam minui rem quamque videmuset quasi longinquo fluere omnia cernimus aevoex oculisque vetustatem subducere nostris,cum tamen incolumis videatur summa manerepropterea quia, quae decedunt corpora cuique,unde abeunt minuunt, quo venere augmine donant.illa senescere, at haec contra florescere cogunt,nec remorantur ibi. sic rerum summa novatursemper, et inter se mortales mutua vivunt.augescunt aliae gentes, aliae minuuntur,inque brevi spatio mutantur saecla animantumet quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt.
But if thou believeThat the primordial germs of things can stop,And in their stopping give new motions birth,Afar thou wanderest from the road of truth.For since they wander through the void inane,All the primordial germs of things must needsBe borne along, either by weight their own,Or haply by another's blow without.For, when, in their incessancy so oftThey meet and clash, it comes to pass amainThey leap asunder, face to face: not strange-Being most hard, and solid in their weights,And naught opposing motion, from behind.And that more clearly thou perceive how allThese mites of matter are darted round about,Recall to mind how nowhere in the sumOf All exists a bottom,- nowhere isA realm of rest for primal bodies; since(As amply shown and proved by reason sure)Space has no bound nor measure, and extendsUnmetered forth in all directions round.Since this stands certain, thus 'tis out of doubtNo rest is rendered to the primal bodiesAlong the unfathomable inane; but rather,Inveterately plied by motions mixed,Some, at their jamming, bound aback and leaveHuge gaps between, and some from off the blowAre hurried about with spaces small between.And all which, brought together with slight gaps,In more condensed union bound aback,Linked by their own all inter-tangled shapes,-These form the irrefragable roots of rocksAnd the brute bulks of iron, and what elseIs of their kind...The rest leap far asunder, far recoil,Leaving huge gaps between: and these supplyFor us thin air and splendour-lights of the sun.And many besides wander the mighty void-Cast back from unions of existing things,Nowhere accepted in the universe,And nowise linked in motions to the rest.And of this fact (as I record it here)An image, a type goes on before our eyesPresent each moment; for behold wheneverThe sun's light and the rays, let in, pour downAcross dark halls of houses: thou wilt seeThe many mites in many a manner mixedAmid a void in the very light of the rays,And battling on, as in eternal strife,And in battalions contending without halt,In meetings, partings, harried up and down.From this thou mayest conjecture of what sortThe ceaseless tossing of primordial seedsAmid the mightier void- at least so farAs small affair can for a vaster serve,And by example put thee on the spoorOf knowledge. For this reason too 'tis fitThou turn thy mind the more unto these bodiesWhich here are witnessed tumbling in the light:Namely, because such tumblings are a signThat motions also of the primal stuffSecret and viewless lurk beneath, behind.For thou wilt mark here many a speck, impelledBy viewless blows, to change its little course,And beaten backwards to return again,Hither and thither in all directions round.Lo, all their shifting movement is of old,From the primeval atoms; for the samePrimordial seeds of things first move of self,And then those bodies built of unions smallAnd nearest, as it were, unto the powersOf the primeval atoms, are stirred upBy impulse of those atoms' unseen blows,And these thereafter goad the next in size:Thus motion ascends from the primevals on,And stage by stage emerges to our sense,Until those objects also move which weCan mark in sunbeams, though it not appearsWhat blows do urge them.
Si cessare putas rerum primordia possecessandoque novos rerum progignere motus,avius a vera longe ratione vagaris.nam quoniam per inane vagantur, cuncta necessestaut gravitate sua ferri primordia rerumaut ictu forte alterius. nam ⟨cum⟩ cita saepeobvia conflixere, fit ut diversa repentedissiliant; neque enim mirum, durissima quae sintponderibus solidis neque quicquam a tergibus obstet.et quo iactari magis omnia materiaicorpora pervideas, reminiscere totius imumnil esse in summa, neque habere ubi corpora primaconsistant, quoniam spatium sine fine modoquestinmensumque patere in cunctas undique partispluribus ostendi et certa ratione probatumst.quod quoniam constat, ni mirum nulla quies estreddita corporibus primis per inane profundum,sed magis adsiduo varioque exercita motupartim intervallis magnis confulta resultant,pars etiam brevibus spatiis vexantur ab ictu.et quae cumque magis condenso conciliatuexiguis intervallis convecta resultant,indupedita suis perplexis ipsa figuris,haec validas saxi radices et fera ferricorpora constituunt et cetera ⟨de⟩ genere horum.paucula quae porro magnum per inane vagantur,cetera dissiliunt longe longeque recursantin magnis intervallis; haec aera rarumsufficiunt nobis et splendida lumina solis.multaque praeterea magnum per inane vagantur,conciliis rerum quae sunt reiecta nec usquamconsociare etiam motus potuere recepta.Cuius, uti memoro, rei simulacrum et imagoante oculos semper nobis versatur et instat.contemplator enim, cum solis lumina cumqueinserti fundunt radii per opaca domorum:multa minuta modis multis per inane videbiscorpora misceri radiorum lumine in ipsoet vel ut aeterno certamine proelia pugnasedere turmatim certantia nec dare pausam,conciliis et discidiis exercita crebris;conicere ut possis ex hoc, primordia rerumquale sit in magno iactari semper inani.dum taxat, rerum magnarum parva potest resexemplare dare et vestigia notitiai.Hoc etiam magis haec animum te advertere par estcorpora quae in solis radiis turbare videntur,quod tales turbae motus quoque materiaisignificant clandestinos caecosque subesse.multa videbis enim plagis ibi percita caeciscommutare viam retroque repulsa revertinunc huc nunc illuc in cunctas undique partis.scilicet hic a principiis est omnibus error.prima moventur enim per se primordia rerum,inde ea quae parvo sunt corpora conciliatuet quasi proxima sunt ad viris principiorum,ictibus illorum caecis inpulsa cientur,ipsaque ⟨pro⟩porro paulo maiora lacessunt.sic a principiis ascendit motus et exitpaulatim nostros ad sensus, ut moveanturilla quoque, in solis quae lumine cernere quimusnec quibus id faciant plagis apparet aperte.
Now what the speed to matter's atoms givenThou mayest in few, my Memmius, learn from this:When first the dawn is sprinkling with new lightThe lands, and all the breed of birds abroadFlit round the trackless forests, with liquid notesFilling the regions along the mellow air,We see 'tis forthwith manifest to manHow suddenly the risen sun is wontAt such an hour to overspread and clotheThe whole with its own splendour; but the sun'sWarm exhalations and this serene lightTravel not down an empty void; and thusThey are compelled more slowly to advance,Whilst, as it were, they cleave the waves of air;Nor one by one travel these particlesOf the warm exhalations, but are allEntangled and enmassed, whereby at onceEach is restrained by each, and from withoutChecked, till compelled more slowly to advance.But the primordial atoms with their oldSimple solidity, when forth they travelAlong the empty void, all undelayedBy aught outside them there, and they, each oneBeing one unit from nature of its parts,Are borne to that one place on which they striveStill to lay hold, must then, beyond a doubt,Outstrip in speed, and be more swiftly borneThan light of sun, and over regions rush,Of space much vaster, in the self-same timeThe sun's effulgence widens round the sky.......Nor to pursue the atoms one by one,To see the law whereby each thing goes on.But some men, ignorant of matter, think,Opposing this, that not without the gods,In such adjustment to our human ways,Can nature change the seasons of the years,And bring to birth the grains and all of elseTo which divine Delight, the guide of life,Persuades mortality and leads it on,That, through her artful blandishments of love,It propagate the generations still,Lest humankind should perish. When they feignThat gods have stablished all things but for man,They seem in all ways mightily to lapseFrom reason's truth: for ev'n if ne'er I knewWhat seeds primordial are, yet would I dareThis to affirm, ev'n from deep judgment basedUpon the ways and conduct of the skies-This to maintain by many a fact besides-That in no wise the nature of the worldFor us was builded by a power divine-So great the faults it stands encumbered with:The which, my Memmius, later on, for theeWe will clear up. Now as to what remainsConcerning motions we'll unfold our thought.
Nunc quae mobilitas sit reddita materiaicorporibus, paucis licet hinc cognoscere, Memmi.primum aurora novo cum spargit lumine terraset variae volucres nemora avia pervolitantesaera per tenerum liquidis loca vocibus opplent,quam subito soleat sol ortus tempore taliconvestire sua perfundens omnia luce,omnibus in promptu manifestumque esse videmus.at vapor is, quem sol mittit, lumenque serenumnon per inane meat vacuum; quo tardius irecogitur, aerias quasi dum diverberat undas;nec singillatim corpuscula quaeque vaporissed complexa meant inter se conque globata;qua propter simul inter se retrahuntur et extraofficiuntur, uti cogantur tardius ire.at quae sunt solida primordia simplicitate,cum per inane meant vacuum nec res remoraturulla foris atque ipsa suis e partibus unum,unum, in quem coepere, locum conixa feruntur,debent ni mirum praecellere mobilitateet multo citius ferri quam lumina solismultiplexque loci spatium transcurrere eodemtempore quo solis pervolgant fulgura caelum.* * *nec persectari primordia singula quaeque,ut videant qua quicque geratur cum ratione.At quidam contra haec, ignari materiai,naturam non posse deum sine numine reddunttanto opere humanis rationibus atmoderatetempora mutare annorum frugesque creareet iam cetera, mortalis quae suadet adireipsaque deducit dux vitae dia voluptaset res per Veneris blanditur saecla propagent,ne genus occidat humanum. quorum omnia causaconstituisse deos cum fingunt, omnibus rebusmagno opere a vera lapsi ratione videntur.nam quamvis rerum ignorem primordia quae sint,hoc tamen ex ipsis caeli rationibus ausimconfirmare aliisque ex rebus reddere multis,nequaquam nobis divinitus esse creatamnaturam mundi: tanta stat praedita culpa.quae tibi posterius, Memmi, faciemus aperta;nunc id quod super est de motibus expediemus.
Now is the place, meseems, in these affairsTo prove for thee this too: nothing corporealOf its own force can e'er be upward borne,Or upward go- nor let the bodies of flamesDeceive thee here: for they engendered areWith urge to upwards, taking thus increase,Whereby grow upwards shining grains and trees,Though all the weight within them downward bears.Nor, when the fires will leap from under roundThe roofs of houses, and swift flame laps upTimber and beam, 'tis then to be supposedThey act of own accord, no force beneathTo urge them up. 'Tis thus that blood, dischargedFrom out our bodies, spurts its jets aloftAnd spatters gore. And hast thou never markedWith what a force the water will disgorgeTimber and beam? The deeper, straight and down,We push them in, and, many though we be,The more we press with main and toil, the moreThe water vomits up and flings them back,That, more than half their length, they there emerge,Rebounding. Yet we never doubt, meseems,That all the weight within them downward bearsThrough empty void. Well, in like manner, flamesOught also to be able, when pressed out,Through winds of air to rise aloft, even thoughThe weight within them strive to draw them down.Hast thou not seen, sweeping so far and high,The meteors, midnight flambeaus of the sky,How after them they draw long trails of flameWherever Nature gives a thoroughfare?How stars and constellations drop to earth,Seest not? Nay, too, the sun from peak of heavenSheds round to every quarter its large heat,And sows the new-ploughed intervales with light:Thus also sun's heat downward tends to earth.Athwart the rain thou seest the lightning fly;Now here, now there, bursting from out the clouds,The fires dash zig-zag- and that flaming powerFalls likewise down to earth.
Nunc locus est, ut opinor, in his illud quoque rebusconfirmare tibi, nullam rem posse sua vicorpoream sursum ferri sursumque meare.ne tibi dent in eo flammarum corpora frudem;sursus enim versus gignuntur et augmina sumuntet sursum nitidae fruges arbustaque crescunt,pondera, quantum in se est, cum deorsum cuncta ferantur.nec cum subsiliunt ignes ad tecta domorumet celeri flamma degustant tigna trabesque,sponte sua facere id sine vi subiecta putandum est.quod genus e nostro com missus corpore sanguisemicat exultans alte spargitque cruorem.nonne vides etiam quanta vi tigna trabesquerespuat umor aquae? nam quo magis ursimus altumderecta et magna vi multi pressimus aegre,tam cupide sursum removet magis atque remittit,plus ut parte foras emergant exiliantque.nec tamen haec, quantum est in se, dubitamus, opinor,quin vacuum per inane deorsum cuncta ferantur.sic igitur debent flammae quoque posse per aurasaeris expressae sursum succedere, quamquampondera, quantum in ⟨se⟩ est, deorsum ⟨de⟩ducere pugnent.nocturnasque faces caeli sublime volantisnonne vides longos flammarum ducere tractusin quas cumque dedit partis natura meatum?non cadere in terras stellas et sidera cernis?sol etiam ⟨caeli⟩ de vertice dissipat omnisardorem in partis et lumine conserit arva;in terras igitur quoque solis vergitur ardor.transversosque volare per imbris fulmina cernis,nunc hinc nunc illinc abrupti nubibus ignesconcursant; cadit in terras vis flammea volgo.
In these affairsWe wish thee also well aware of this:The atoms, as their own weight bears them downPlumb through the void, at scarce determined times,In scarce determined places, from their courseDecline a little- call it, so to speak,Mere changed trend. For were it not their wontThuswise to swerve, down would they fall, each one,Like drops of rain, through the unbottomed void;And then collisions ne'er could be nor blowsAmong the primal elements; and thusNature would never have created aught.But, if perchance be any that believeThe heavier bodies, as more swiftly bornePlumb down the void, are able from aboveTo strike the lighter, thus engendering blowsAble to cause those procreant motions, farFrom highways of true reason they retire.For whatsoever through the waters fall,Or through thin air, must quicken their descent,Each after its weight- on this account, becauseBoth bulk of water and the subtle airBy no means can retard each thing alike,But give more quick before the heavier weight;But contrariwise the empty void cannot,On any side, at any time, to aughtOppose resistance, but will ever yield,True to its bent of nature. Wherefore all,With equal speed, though equal not in weight,Must rush, borne downward through the still inane.Thus ne'er at all have heavier from aboveBeen swift to strike the lighter, gendering strokesWhich cause those divers motions, by whose meansNature transacts her work. And so I say,The atoms must a little swerve at times-But only the least, lest we should seem to feignMotions oblique, and fact refute us there.For this we see forthwith is manifest:Whatever the weight, it can't obliquely go,Down on its headlong journey from above,At least so far as thou canst mark; but whoIs there can mark by sense that naught can swerveAt all aside from off its road's straight line?Again, if ev'r all motions are co-linked,And from the old ever arise the newIn fixed order, and primordial seedsProduce not by their swerving some new startOf motion to sunder the covenants of fate,That cause succeed not cause from everlasting,Whence this free will for creatures o'er the lands,Whence is it wrested from the fates,- this willWhereby we step right forward where desireLeads each man on, whereby the same we swerveIn motions, not as at some fixed time,Nor at some fixed line of space, but whereThe mind itself has urged? For out of doubtIn these affairs 'tis each man's will itselfThat gives the start, and hence throughout our limbsIncipient motions are diffused. Again,Dost thou not see, when, at a point of time,The bars are opened, how the eager strengthOf horses cannot forward break as soonAs pants their mind to do? For it behoovesThat all the stock of matter, through the frame,Be roused, in order that, through every joint,Aroused, it press and follow mind's desire;So thus thou seest initial motion's genderedFrom out the heart, aye, verily, proceedsFirst from the spirit's will, whence at the last'Tis given forth through joints and body entire.Quite otherwise it is, when forth we move,Impelled by a blow of another's mighty powersAnd mighty urge; for then 'tis clear enoughAll matter of our total body goes,Hurried along, against our own desire-Until the will has pulled upon the reinsAnd checked it back, throughout our members all;At whose arbitrament indeed sometimesThe stock of matter's forced to change its path,Throughout our members and throughout our joints,And, after being forward cast, to beReined up, whereat it settles back again.So seest thou not, how, though external forceDrive men before, and often make them move,Onward against desire, and headlong snatched,Yet is there something in these breasts of oursStrong to combat, strong to withstand the same?-Wherefore no less within the primal seedsThou must admit, besides all blows and weight,Some other cause of motion, whence derivesThis power in us inborn, of some free act.-Since naught from nothing can become, we see.For weight prevents all things should come to passThrough blows, as 'twere, by some external force;But that man's mind itself in all it doesHath not a fixed necessity within,Nor is not, like a conquered thing, compelledTo bear and suffer,- this state comes to manFrom that slight swervement of the elementsIn no fixed line of space, in no fixed time.
Illud in his quoque te rebus cognoscere avemus,corpora cum deorsum rectum per inane ferunturponderibus propriis, incerto tempore fermeincertisque locis spatio depellere paulum,tantum quod momen mutatum dicere possis.quod nisi declinare solerent, omnia deorsumimbris uti guttae caderent per inane profundumnec foret offensus natus nec plaga creataprincipiis; ita nihil umquam natura creasset.Quod si forte aliquis credit graviora potessecorpora, quo citius rectum per inane feruntur,incidere ex supero levioribus atque ita plagasgignere, quae possint genitalis reddere motus,avius a vera longe ratione recedit.nam per aquas quae cumque cadunt atque aera rarum,haec pro ponderibus casus celerare necessestpropterea quia corpus aquae naturaque tenvisaeris haud possunt aeque rem quamque morari,sed citius cedunt gravioribus exsuperata;at contra nulli de nulla parte neque ullotempore inane potest vacuum subsistere rei,quin, sua quod natura petit, concedere pergat;omnia qua propter debent per inane quietumaeque ponderibus non aequis concita ferri.haud igitur poterunt levioribus incidere umquamex supero graviora neque ictus gignere per se,qui varient motus, per quos natura gerat res.quare etiam atque etiam paulum inclinare necessestcorpora; nec plus quam minimum, ne fingere motusobliquos videamur et id res vera refutet.namque hoc in promptu manifestumque esse videmus,pondera, quantum in ⟨se⟩ est, non posse obliqua meare,ex supero cum praecipitant, quod cernere possis;sed nihil omnino ⟨recta⟩ regione viaideclinare quis est qui possit cernere sese?Denique si semper motu conectitur omniset vetere exoritur ⟨motus⟩ novus ordine certonec declinando faciunt primordia motusprincipium quoddam, quod fati foedera rumpat,ex infinito ne causam causa sequatur,libera per terras unde haec animantibus exstat,unde est haec, inquam, fatis avolsa voluntas,per quam progredimur quo ducit quemque voluptas,declinamus item motus nec tempore certonec regione loci certa, sed ubi ipsa tulit mens?nam dubio procul his rebus sua cuique voluntasprincipium dat et hinc motus per membra rigantur.nonne vides etiam patefactis tempore punctocarceribus non posse tamen prorumpere equorumvim cupidam tam de subito quam mens avet ipsa?omnis enim totum per corpus materiaicopia conciri debet, concita per artusomnis ut studium mentis conixa sequatur;ut videas initum motus a corde creariex animique voluntate id procedere primum,inde dari porro per totum corpus et artus.nec similest ut cum inpulsi procedimus ictuviribus alterius magnis magnoque coactu;nam tum materiem totius corporis omnemperspicuumst nobis invitis ire rapique,donec eam refrenavit per membra voluntas.iamne vides igitur, quamquam vis extera multospellat et invitos cogat procedere saepepraecipitesque rapi, tamen esse in pectore nostroquiddam quod contra pugnare obstareque possit?cuius ad arbitrium quoque copia materiaicogitur inter dum flecti per membra per artuset proiecta refrenatur retroque residit.quare in seminibus quoque idem fateare necessest,esse aliam praeter plagas et pondera causammotibus, unde haec est nobis innata potestas,de nihilo quoniam fieri nihil posse videmus.pondus enim prohibet ne plagis omnia fiantexterna quasi vi; sed ne res ipsa necessumintestinum habeat cunctis in rebus agendiset devicta quasi cogatur ferre patique,id facit exiguum clinamen principiorumnec regione loci certa nec tempore certo.
Nor ever was the stock of stuff more crammed,Nor ever, again, sundered by bigger gaps:For naught gives increase and naught takes away;On which account, just as they move to-day,The elemental bodies moved of oldAnd shall the same hereafter evermore.And what was wont to be begot of oldShall be begotten under selfsame termsAnd grow and thrive in power, so far as givenTo each by Nature's changeless, old decrees.The sum of things there is no power can change,For naught exists outside, to which can fleeOut of the world matter of any kind,Nor forth from which a fresh supply can spring,Break in upon the founded world, and changeWhole nature of things, and turn their motions about.
Nec stipata magis fuit umquam materiaicopia nec porro maioribus intervallis;nam neque adaugescit quicquam neque deperit inde.qua propter quo nunc in motu principiorumcorpora sunt, in eodem ante acta aetate fuereet post haec semper simili ratione ferentur,et quae consuerint gigni gignentur eademcondicione et erunt et crescent vique valebunt,quantum cuique datum est per foedera naturai.nec rerum summam commutare ulla potest vis;nam neque quo possit genus ullum materiaieffugere ex omni quicquam est ⟨extra⟩, neque in omneunde coorta queat nova vis inrumpere et omnemnaturam rerum mutare et vertere motus.
Herein wonder notHow 'tis that, while the seeds of things are allMoving forever, the sum yet seems to standSupremely still, except in cases whereA thing shows motion of its frame as whole.For far beneath the ken of senses liesThe nature of those ultimates of the world;And so, since those themselves thou canst not see,Their motion also must they veil from men-For mark, indeed, how things we can see, oftYet hide their motions, when afar from usAlong the distant landscape. Often thus,Upon a hillside will the woolly flocksBe cropping their goodly food and creeping aboutWhither the summons of the grass, begemmedWith the fresh dew, is calling, and the lambs,Well filled, are frisking, locking horns in sport:Yet all for us seem blurred and blent afar-A glint of white at rest on a green hill.Again, when mighty legions, marching round,Fill all the quarters of the plains below,Rousing a mimic warfare, there the sheenShoots up the sky, and all the fields aboutGlitter with brass, and from beneath, a soundGoes forth from feet of stalwart soldiery,And mountain walls, smote by the shouting, sendThe voices onward to the stars of heaven,And hither and thither darts the cavalry,And of a sudden down the midmost fieldsCharges with onset stout enough to rockThe solid earth: and yet some post there isUp the high mountains, viewed from which they seemTo stand- a gleam at rest along the plains.
Illud in his rebus non est mirabile, quare,omnia cum rerum primordia sint in motu,summa tamen summa videatur stare quiete,praeter quam siquid proprio dat corpore motus.omnis enim longe nostris ab sensibus infraprimorum natura iacet; qua propter, ubi ipsacernere iam nequeas, motus quoque surpere debent;praesertim cum, quae possimus cernere, celentsaepe tamen motus spatio diducta locorum.nam saepe in colli tondentes pabula laetalanigerae reptant pecudes, quo quamque vocantesinvitant herbae gemmantes rore recenti,et satiati agni ludunt blandeque coruscant;omnia quae nobis longe confusa videnturet velut in viridi candor consistere colli.praeterea magnae legiones cum loca cursucamporum complent belli simulacra cientes,fulgor ubi ad caelum se tollit totaque circumaere renidescit tellus supterque virum viexcitur pedibus sonitus clamoreque montesicti reiectant voces ad sidera mundiet circum volitant equites mediosque repentetramittunt valido quatientes impete campos;et tamen est quidam locus altis montibus, ⟨unde⟩stare videntur et in campis consistere fulgor.
Now come, and next hereafter apprehendWhat sorts, how vastly different in form,How varied in multitudinous shapes they are-These old beginnings of the universe;Not in the sense that only few are furnishedWith one like form, but rather not at allIn general have they likeness each with each,No marvel: since the stock of them's so greatThat there's no end (as I have taught) nor sum,They must indeed not one and all be markedBy equal outline and by shape the same.......Moreover, humankind, and the mute flocksOf scaly creatures swimming in the streams,And joyous herds around, and all the wild,And all the breeds of birds- both those that teemIn gladsome regions of the water-haunts,About the river-banks and springs and pools,And those that throng, flitting from tree to tree,Through trackless woods- Go, take which one thou wilt,In any kind: thou wilt discover stillEach from the other still unlike in shape.Nor in no other wise could offspring knowMother, nor mother offspring- which we seeThey yet can do, distinguished one from other,No less than human beings, by clear signs.Thus oft before fair temples of the gods,Beside the incense-burning altars slain,Drops down the yearling calf, from out its breastBreathing warm streams of blood; the orphaned mother,Ranging meanwhile green woodland pastures round,Knows well the footprints, pressed by cloven hoofs,With eyes regarding every spot about,For sight somewhere of youngling gone from her;And, stopping short, filleth the leafy lanesWith her complaints; and oft she seeks againWithin the stall, pierced by her yearning still.Nor tender willows, nor dew-quickened grass,Nor the loved streams that glide along low banks,Can lure her mind and turn the sudden pain;Nor other shapes of calves that graze therebyDistract her mind or lighten pain the least-So keen her search for something known and hers.Moreover, tender kids with bleating throatsDo know their horned dams, and butting lambsThe flocks of sheep, and thus they patter on,Unfailingly each to its proper teat,As nature intends. Lastly, with any grain,Thou'lt see that no one kernel in one kindIs so far like another, that there stillIs not in shapes some difference running through.By a like law we see how earth is piedWith shells and conchs, where, with soft waves, the seaBeats on the thirsty sands of curving shores.Wherefore again, again, since seeds of thingsExist by nature, nor were wrought with handsAfter a fixed pattern of one other,They needs must flitter to and fro with shapesIn types dissimilar to one another.
Nunc age, iam deinceps cunctarum exordia rerumqualia sint et quam longe distantia formis,percipe, multigenis quam sint variata figuris;non quo multa parum simili sint praedita forma,sed quia non volgo paria omnibus omnia constant.nec mirum; nam cum sit eorum copia tanta,ut neque finis, uti docui, neque summa sit ulla,debent ni mirum non omnibus omnia prorsumesse pari filo similique adfecta figura.Praeterea genus humanum mutaeque natantessquamigerum pecudes et laeta armenta feraequeet variae volucres, laetantia quae loca aquarumconcelebrant circum ripas fontisque lacusque,et quae pervolgant nemora avia pervolitantes,quorum unum quidvis generatim sumere perge;invenies tamen inter se differre figuris.nec ratione alia proles cognoscere matremnec mater posset prolem; quod posse videmusnec minus atque homines inter se nota cluere.nam saepe ante deum vitulus delubra decoraturicremas propter mactatus concidit arassanguinis expirans calidum de pectore flumen;at mater viridis saltus orbata peragransnovit humi pedibus vestigia pressa bisulcis,omnia convisens oculis loca, si queat usquamconspicere amissum fetum, completque querellisfrondiferum nemus adsistens et crebra revisitad stabulum desiderio perfixa iuvenci,nec tenerae salices atque herbae rore vigentesfluminaque ulla queunt summis labentia ripisoblectare animum subitamque avertere curam,nec vitulorum aliae species per pabula laetaderivare queunt animum curaque levare;usque adeo quiddam proprium notumque requirit.praeterea teneri tremulis cum vocibus haedicornigeras norunt matres agnique petulcibalantum pecudes; ita, quod natura resposcit,ad sua quisque fere decurrunt ubera lactis.Postremo quodvis frumentum non tamen omnequidque suo genere inter se simile esse videbis,quin intercurrat quaedam distantia formis.concharumque genus parili ratione videmuspingere telluris gremium, qua mollibus undislitoris incurvi bibulam pavit aequor harenam.quare etiam atque etiam simili ratione necessest,natura quoniam constant neque facta manu suntunius ad certam formam primordia rerum,dissimili inter se quaedam volitare figura.
......Easy enough by thought of mind to solveWhy fires of lightning more can penetrateThan these of ours from pitch-pine born on earth.For thou canst say lightning's celestial fire,So subtle, is formed of figures finer far,And passes thus through holes which this our fire,Born from the wood, created from the pine,Cannot. Again, light passes through the hornOn the lantern's side, while rain is dashed away.And why?- unless those bodies of light should beFiner than those of water's genial showers.We see how quickly through a colanderThe wines will flow; how, on the other hand,The sluggish olive-oil delays: no doubt,Because 'tis wrought of elements more large,Or else more crook'd and intertangled. ThusIt comes that the primordials cannot beSo suddenly sundered one from other, and seep,One through each several hole of anything.
Perfacile est animi ratione exsolvere nobisquare fulmineus multo penetralior ignisquam noster fluat e taedis terrestribus ortus;dicere enim possis caelestem fulminis ignemsubtilem magis e parvis constare figurisatque ideo transire foramina quae nequit ignisnoster hic e lignis ortus taedaque creatus.praeterea lumen per cornum transit, at imberrespuitur. quare, nisi luminis illa minoracorpora sunt quam de quibus est liquor almus aquarum?et quamvis subito per colum vina videmusperfluere, at contra tardum cunctatur olivom,aut quia ni mirum maioribus est elementisaut magis hamatis inter se perque plicatis,atque ideo fit uti non tam diducta repenteinter se possint primordia singula quaequesingula per cuiusque foramina permanare.