And note, besides, that liquor of honey or milkYields in the mouth agreeable taste to tongue,Whilst nauseous wormwood, pungent centaury,With their foul flavour set the lips awry;Thus simple 'tis to see that whatsoeverCan touch the senses pleasingly are madeOf smooth and rounded elements, whilst thoseWhich seem the bitter and the sharp, are heldEntwined by elements more crook'd, and soAre wont to tear their ways into our senses,And rend our body as they enter in.In short all good to sense, all bad to touch,Being up-built of figures so unlike,Are mutually at strife- lest thou supposeThat the shrill rasping of a squeaking sawConsists of elements as smooth as songWhich, waked by nimble fingers, on the stringsThe sweet musicians fashion; or supposeThat same-shaped atoms through men's nostrils pierceWhen foul cadavers burn, as when the stageIs with Cilician saffron sprinkled fresh,And the altar near exhales Panchaean scent;Or hold as of like seed the goodly huesOf things which feast our eyes, as those which stingAgainst the smarting pupil and draw tears,Or show, with gruesome aspect, grim and vile.For never a shape which charms our sense was madeWithout some elemental smoothness; whilstWhate'er is harsh and irksome has been framedStill with some roughness in its elements.Some, too, there are which justly are supposedTo be nor smooth nor altogether hooked,With bended barbs, but slightly angled-out,To tickle rather than to wound the sense-And of which sort is the salt tartar of wineAnd flavours of the gummed elecampane.Again, that glowing fire and icy rimeAre fanged with teeth unlike whereby to stingOur body's sense, the touch of each gives proof.For touch- by sacred majesties of Gods!-Touch is indeed the body's only sense-Be't that something in-from-outward works,Be't that something in the body bornWounds, or delighteth as it passes outAlong the procreant paths of Aphrodite;Or be't the seeds by some collision whirlDisordered in the body and confoundBy tumult and confusion all the sense-As thou mayst find, if haply with the handThyself thou strike thy body's any part.On which account, the elemental formsMust differ widely, as enabled thusTo cause diverse sensations.And, again,What seems to us the hardened and condensedMust be of atoms among themselves more hooked,Be held compacted deep within, as 'twereBy branch-like atoms- of which sort the chiefAre diamond stones, despisers of all blows,And stalwart flint and strength of solid iron,And brazen bars, which, budging hard in locks,Do grate and scream. But what are liquid, formedOf fluid body, they indeed must beOf elements more smooth and round- becauseTheir globules severally will not cohere:To suck the poppy-seeds from palm of handIs quite as easy as drinking water down,And they, once struck, roll like unto the same.But that thou seest among the things that flowSome bitter, as the brine of ocean is,Is not the least a marvel...For since 'tis fluid, smooth its atoms areAnd round, with painful rough ones mixed therein;Yet need not these be held together hooked:In fact, though rough, they're globular besides,Able at once to roll, and rasp the sense.And that the more thou mayst believe me here,That with smooth elements are mixed the rough(Whence Neptune's salt astringent body comes),There is a means to separate the twain,And thereupon dividedly to seeHow the sweet water, after filtering throughSo often underground, flows freshened forthInto some hollow; for it leaves aboveThe primal germs of nauseating brine,Since cling the rough more readily in earth.Lastly, whatso thou markest to disperseUpon the instant- smoke, and cloud, and flame-Must not (even though not all of smooth and round)Be yet co-linked with atoms intertwined,That thus they can, without together cleaving,So pierce our body and so bore the rocks.Whatever we see...Given to senses, that thou must perceiveThey're not from linked but pointed elements.
Huc accedit uti mellis lactisque liquoresiucundo sensu linguae tractentur in ore;at contra taetra absinthi natura feriquecentauri foedo pertorquent ora sapore;ut facile agnoscas e levibus atque rutundisesse ea quae sensus iucunde tangere possunt,at contra quae amara atque aspera cumque videntur,haec magis hamatis inter se nexa teneriproptereaque solere vias rescindere nostrissensibus introituque suo perrumpere corpus.omnia postremo bona sensibus et mala tactudissimili inter se pugnant perfecta figura;ne tu forte putes serrae stridentis acerbumhorrorem constare elementis levibus aequeac musaea mele, per chordas organici quaemobilibus digitis expergefacta figurant;neu simili penetrare putes primordia formain nares hominum, cum taetra cadavera torrent,et cum scena croco Cilici perfusa recens estaraque Panchaeos exhalat propter odores;neve bonos rerum simili constare coloressemine constituas, oculos qui pascere possunt,et qui conpungunt aciem lacrimareque coguntaut foeda specie foedi turpesque videntur.omnis enim, sensus quae mulcet cumque, ⟨tibi res⟩haut sine principiali aliquo levore creatast;at contra quae cumque molesta atque aspera constat,non aliquo sine materiae squalore repertast.Sunt etiam quae iam nec levia iure putanturesse neque omnino flexis mucronibus unca,sed magis angellis paulum prostantibus, ⟨ut quae⟩titillare magis sensus quam laedere possint,fecula iam quo de genere est inulaeque sapores.Denique iam calidos ignis gelidamque pruinamdissimili dentata modo conpungere sensuscorporis, indicio nobis est tactus uterque.tactus enim, tactus, pro divum numina sancta,corporis est sensus, vel cum res extera seseinsinuat, vel cum laedit quae in corpore natastaut iuvat egrediens genitalis per Veneris res,aut ex offensu cum turbant corpore in ipso,semina confundunt inter se concita sensum;ut si forte manu quamvis iam corporis ipsetute tibi partem ferias atque experiare.qua propter longe formas distare necessestprincipiis, varios quae possint edere sensus.Denique quae nobis durata ac spissa videntur,haec magis hamatis inter sese esse necessestet quasi ramosis alte compacta teneri.in quo iam genere in primis adamantina saxaprima acie constant ictus contemnere suetaet validi silices ac duri robora ferriaeraque quae claustris restantia vociferantur.illa quidem debent e levibus atque rutundisesse magis, fluvido quae corpore liquida constant.namque papaveris haustus itemst facilis quod aquarum;nec retinentur enim inter se glomeramina quaequeet perculsus item proclive volubilis exstat.omnia postremo quae puncto tempore cernisdiffugere ut fumum nebulas flammasque, necessest,si minus omnia sunt e levibus atque rotundis,at non esse tamen perplexis indupedita,pungere uti possint corpus penetrareque saxa,nec tamen haerere inter se; quod cumque videmussensibus dentatum, facile ut cognoscere possisnon e perplexis, sed acutis esse elementis.sed quod amara vides eadem quae fluvida constant,sudor uti maris est, minime mirabile debet* * *nam quod fluvidus est, e levibus atque rotundisest, sed levibus ⟨sunt hamata⟩ admixta doloriscorpora. nec tamen haec retineri hamata necessust:scilicet esse globosa tamen, cum squalida constent,provolvi simul ut possint et laedere sensus.et quo mixta putes magis aspera levibus esseprincipiis, unde est Neptuni corpus acerbum,est ratio secernendi seorsumque videndi,umor dulcis ubi per terras crebrius idempercolatur, ut in foveam fluat ac mansuescat;linquit enim supera taetri primordia viri,aspera quo magis in terris haerescere possint.
The which now having taught, I will go onTo bind thereto a fact to this alliedAnd drawing from this its proof: these primal germsVary, yet only with finite tale of shapes.For were these shapes quite infinite, some seedsWould have a body of infinite increase.For in one seed, in one small frame of any,The shapes can't vary from one another much.Assume, we'll say, that of three minim partsConsist the primal bodies, or add a few:When, now, by placing all these parts of oneAt top and bottom, changing lefts and rights,Thou hast with every kind of shift found outWhat the aspect of shape of its whole bodyEach new arrangement gives, for what remains,If thou percase wouldst vary its old shapes,New parts must then be added; follows next,If thou percase wouldst vary still its shapes,That by like logic each arrangement stillRequires its increment of other parts.Ergo, an augmentation of its frameFollows upon each novelty of forms.Wherefore, it cannot be thou'lt undertakeThat seeds have infinite differences in form,Lest thus thou forcest some indeed to beOf an immeasurable immensity-Which I have taught above cannot be proved.......And now for thee barbaric robes, and gleamOf Meliboean purple, touched with dyeOf the Thessalian shell...The peacock's golden generations, stainedWith spotted gaieties, would lie o'erthrownBy some new colour of new things more bright;The odour of myrrh and savours of honey despised;The swan's old lyric, and Apollo's hymns,Once modulated on the many chords,Would likewise sink o'ermastered and be mute:For, lo, a somewhat, finer than the rest,Would be arising evermore. So, too,Into some baser part might all retire,Even as we said to better might they come:For, lo, a somewhat, loathlier than the restTo nostrils, ears, and eyes, and taste of tongue,Would then, by reasoning reversed, be there.Since 'tis not so, but unto things are givenTheir fixed limitations which do boundTheir sum on either side, 'tmust be confessedThat matter, too, by finite tale of shapesDoes differ. Again, from earth's midsummer heatsUnto the icy hoar-frosts of the yearThe forward path is fixed, and by like lawO'ertravelled backwards at the dawn of spring.For each degree of hot, and each of cold,And the half-warm, all filling up the sumIn due progression, lie, my Memmius, thereBetwixt the two extremes: the things createMust differ, therefore, by a finite change,Since at each end marked off they ever areBy fixed point- on one side plagued by flamesAnd on the other by congealing frosts.
Quod quoniam docui, pergam conectere rem quaeex hoc apta fidem ducat, primordia rerumfinita variare figurarum ratione.quod si non ita sit, rursum iam semina quaedamesse infinito debebunt corporis auctu.namque in eadem una cuiusvis iam brevitatecorporis inter se multum variare figuraenon possunt. fac enim minimis e partibus essecorpora prima tribus, vel paulo pluribus auge;nempe ubi eas partis unius corporis omnis,summa atque ima locans, transmutans dextera laevis,omnimodis expertus eris, quam quisque det ordoformai speciem totius corporis eius,quod super est, si forte voles variare figuras,addendum partis alias erit. inde sequetur,adsimili ratione alias ut postulet ordo,si tu forte voles etiam variare figuras.ergo formarum novitatem corporis augmensubsequitur. quare non est ut credere possisesse infinitis distantia semina formis,ne quaedam cogas inmani maximitateesse, supra quod iam docui non posse probari.iam tibi barbaricae vestes Meliboeaque fulgenspurpura Thessalico concharum tacta colore,aurea pavonum ridenti imbuta leporesaecla novo rerum superata colore iacerentet contemptus odor smyrnae mellisque sapores,et cycnea mele Phoebeaque daedala chordiscarmina consimili ratione oppressa silerent;namque aliis aliud praestantius exoreretur.cedere item retro possent in deterioresomnia sic partis, ut diximus in melioris;namque aliis aliud retro quoque taetrius essetnaribus auribus atque oculis orisque sapori.quae quoniam non sunt, ⟨sed⟩ rebus reddita certafinis utrimque tenet summam, fateare necessestmateriem quoque finitis differe figuris.denique ab ignibus ad gelidas hiemum usque pruinasfinitumst retroque pari ratione remensumst.omnis enim calor ac frigus mediique teporesinterutrasque iacent explentes ordine summam.ergo finita distant ratione creata,ancipiti quoniam mucroni utrimque notantur,hinc flammis illinc rigidis infesta pruinis.
The which now having taught, I will go onTo bind thereto a fact to this alliedAnd drawing from this its proof: those primal germsWhich have been fashioned all of one like shapeAre infinite in tale; for, since the formsThemselves are finite in divergences,Then those which are alike will have to beInfinite, else the sum of stuff remainsA finite- what I've proved is not the fact,Showing in verse how corpuscles of stuff,From everlasting and to-day the same,Uphold the sum of things, all sides aroundBy old succession of unending blows.For though thou view'st some beasts to be more rare,And mark'st in them a less prolific stock,Yet in another region, in lands remote,That kind abounding may make up the count;Even as we mark among the four-foot kindSnake-handed elephants, whose thousands wallWith ivory ramparts India about,That her interiors cannot entered be-So big her count of brutes of which we seeSuch few examples. Or suppose, besides,We feign some thing, one of its kind and soleWith body born, to which is nothing likeIn all the lands: yet now unless shall beAn infinite count of matter out of whichThus to conceive and bring it forth to life,It cannot be created and- what's more-It cannot take its food and get increase.Yea, if through all the world in finite taleBe tossed the procreant bodies of one thing,Whence, then, and where in what mode, by what power,Shall they to meeting come together there,In such vast ocean of matter and tumult strange?-No means they have of joining into one.But, just as, after mighty ship-wrecks piled,The mighty main is wont to scatter wideThe rowers' banks, the ribs, the yards, the prow,The masts and swimming oars, so that afarAlong all shores of lands are seen afloatThe carven fragments of the rended poop,Giving a lesson to mortalityTo shun the ambush of the faithless main,The violence and the guile, and trust it notAt any hour, however much may smileThe crafty enticements of the placid deep:Exactly thus, if once thou holdest trueThat certain seeds are finite in their tale,The various tides of matter, then, must needsScatter them flung throughout the ages all,So that not ever can they join, as drivenTogether into union, nor remainIn union, nor with increment can grow-But facts in proof are manifest for each:Things can be both begotten and increase.'Tis therefore manifest that primal germs,Are infinite in any class thou wilt-From whence is furnished matter for all things.Nor can those motions that bring death prevailForever, nor eternally entombThe welfare of the world; nor, further, canThose motions that give birth to things and growthKeep them forever when created there.Thus the long war, from everlasting waged,With equal strife among the elementsGoes on and on. Now here, now there, prevailThe vital forces of the world- or fall.Mixed with the funeral is the wildered wailOf infants coming to the shores of light:No night a day, no dawn a night hath followedThat heard not, mingling with the small birth-cries,The wild laments, companions old of deathAnd the black rites.
Quod quoniam docui, pergam conectere rem quaeex hoc apta fidem ducat, primordia rerum,inter se simili quae sunt perfecta figura,infinita cluere. etenim distantia cum sitformarum finita, necesse est quae similes sintesse infinitas aut summam materiaifinitam constare, id quod non esse probavi.* * *versibus ostendam corpuscula materiaiex infinito summam rerum usque tenereundique protelo plagarum continuato.nam quod rara vides magis esse animalia quaedamfecundamque magis naturam cernis in illis,at regione locoque alio terrisque remotismulta licet genere esse in eo numerumque repleri;sicut quadripedum cum primis esse videmusin genere anguimanus elephantos, India quorummilibus e multis vallo munitur eburno,ut penitus nequeat penetrari: tanta ferarumvis est, quarum nos perpauca exempla videmus.sed tamen id quoque uti concedam, quam lubet estounica res quaedem nativo corpore sola,cui similis toto terrarum non sit, in orbi;infinita tamen nisi erit vis materiai,unde ea progigni possit concepta, crearinon poterit neque, quod super est, procrescere alique.quippe etenim sumant alii finita per omnecorpora iactari unius genitalia rei,unde ubi qua vi et quo pacto congressa coibuntmateriae tanto in pelago turbaque aliena?non, ut opinor, habent rationem conciliandi:sed quasi naufragiis magnis multisque coortisdisiactare solet magnum mare transtra cavernasantemnas prorem malos tonsasque natantis,per terrarum omnis oras fluitantia aplustraut videantur et indicium mortalibus edant,infidi maris insidias virisque dolumqueut vitare velint, neve ullo tempore credant,subdola cum ridet placidi pellacia ponti,sic tibi si finita semel primordia quaedamconstitues, aevom debebunt sparsa per omnemdisiectare aestus diversi materiai,numquam in concilium ut possint compulsa coirenec remorari in concilio nec crescere adaucta;quorum utrumque palam fieri manifesta docet res,et res progigni et genitas procrescere posse.esse igitur genere in quovis primordia reruminfinita palam est, unde omnia suppeditantur.Nec superare queunt motus itaque exitialesperpetuo neque in aeternum sepelire salutem,nec porro rerum genitales auctificiquemotus perpetuo possunt servare creata.sic aequo geritur certamine principiorumex infinito contractum tempore bellum.nunc hic nunc illic superant vitalia rerumet superantur item. miscetur funere vagor,quem pueri tollunt visentis luminis oras;nec nox ulla diem neque noctem aurora secutast,quae non audierit mixtos vagitibus aegrisploratus, mortis comites et funeris atri.
This, too, in these affairs'Tis fit thou hold well sealed, and keep consignedWith no forgetting brain: nothing there isWhose nature is apparent out of handThat of one kind of elements consists-Nothing there is that's not of mixed seed.And whatsoe'er possesses in itselfMore largely many powers and propertiesShows thus that here within itself there areThe largest number of kinds and differing shapesOf elements. And, chief of all, the earthHath in herself first bodies whence the springs,Rolling chill waters, renew forevermoreThe unmeasured main; hath whence the fires arise-For burns in many a spot her flamed crust,Whilst the impetuous Aetna raves indeedFrom more profounder fires- and she, again,Hath in herself the seed whence she can raiseThe shining grains and gladsome trees for men;Whence, also, rivers, fronds, and gladsome pasturesCan she supply for mountain-roaming beasts.Wherefore great mother of gods, and mother of beasts,And parent of man hath she alone been named.Her hymned the old and learned bards of Greece......Seated in chariot o'er the realms of airTo drive her team of lions, teaching thusThat the great earth hangs poised and cannot lieResting on other earth. Unto her carThey've yoked the wild beasts, since a progeny,However savage, must be tamed and chidBy care of parents. They have girt aboutWith turret-crown the summit of her head,Since, fortressed in her goodly strongholds high,'Tis she sustains the cities; now, adornedWith that same token, to-day is carried forth,With solemn awe through many a mighty land,The image of that mother, the divine.Her the wide nations, after antique rite,Do name Idaean Mother, giving herEscort of Phrygian bands, since first, they say,From out those regions 'twas that grain beganThrough all the world. To her do they assignThe Galli, the emasculate, since thusThey wish to show that men who violateThe majesty of the mother and have provedIngrate to parents are to be adjudgedUnfit to give unto the shores of lightA living progeny. The Galli come:And hollow cymbals, tight-skinned tambourinesResound around to bangings of their hands;The fierce horns threaten with a raucous bray;The tubed pipe excites their maddened mindsIn Phrygian measures; they bear before them knives,Wild emblems of their frenzy, which have powerThe rabble's ingrate heads and impious heartsTo panic with terror of the goddess' might.And so, when through the mighty cities borne,She blesses man with salutations mute,They strew the highway of her journeyingsWith coin of brass and silver, gifting herWith alms and largesse, and shower her and shadeWith flowers of roses falling like the snowUpon the Mother and her companion-bands.Here is an armed troop, the which by GreeksAre called the Phrygian Curetes. SinceHaply among themselves they use to playIn games of arms and leap in measure roundWith bloody mirth and by their nodding shakeThe terrorizing crests upon their heads,This is the armed troop that representsThe arm'd Dictaean Curetes, who, in Crete,As runs the story, whilom did out-drownThat infant cry of Zeus, what time their band,Young boys, in a swift dance around the boy,To measured step beat with the brass on brass,That Saturn might not get him for his jaws,And give its mother an eternal woundAlong her heart. And 'tis on this accountThat armed they escort the mighty Mother,Or else because they signify by thisThat she, the goddess, teaches men to beEager with armed valour to defendTheir motherland, and ready to stand forth,The guard and glory of their parents' years.A tale, however beautifully wrought,That's wide of reason by a long remove:For all the gods must of themselves enjoyImmortal aeons and supreme repose,Withdrawn from our affairs, detached, afar:Immune from peril and immune from pain,Themselves abounding in riches of their own,Needing not us, they are not touched by wrathThey are not taken by service or by gift.Truly is earth insensate for all time;But, by obtaining germs of many things,In many a way she brings the many forthInto the light of sun. And here, whosoDecides to call the ocean Neptune, orThe grain-crop Ceres, and prefers to abuseThe name of Bacchus rather than pronounceThe liquor's proper designation, himLet us permit to go on calling earthMother of Gods, if only he will spareTo taint his soul with foul religion.
Illud in his obsignatum quoque rebus habereconvenit et memori mandatum mente tenere,nil esse, in promptu quorum natura videtur,quod genere ex uno consistat principiorum,nec quicquam quod non permixto semine constet.et quod cumque magis vis multas possidet in seatque potestates, ita plurima principiorumin sese genera ac varias docet esse figuras.Principio tellus habet in se corpora prima,unde mare inmensum volventes frigora fontesadsidue renovent, habet ignes unde oriantur;nam multis succensa locis ardent sola terrae,ex imis vero furit ignibus impetus Aetnae.tum porro nitidas fruges arbustaque laetagentibus humanis habet unde extollere possit,unde etiam fluvios frondes et pabula laetamontivago generi possit praebere ferarum.quare magna deum mater materque ferarumet nostri genetrix haec dicta est corporis una.Hanc veteres Graium docti cecinere poetaesedibus in curru biiugos agitare leones,aeris in spatio magnam pendere docentestellurem neque posse in terra sistere terram.adiunxere feras, quia quamvis effera prolesofficiis debet molliri victa parentum.muralique caput summum cinxere corona,eximiis munita locis quia sustinet urbes.quo nunc insigni per magnas praedita terrashorrifice fertur divinae matris imago.hanc variae gentes antiquo more sacrorumIdaeam vocitant matrem Phrygiasque catervasdant comites, quia primum ex illis finibus eduntper terrarum orbes fruges coepisse creari.Gallos attribuunt, quia, numen qui violarintMatris et ingrati genitoribus inventi sint,significare volunt indignos esse putandos,vivam progeniem qui in oras luminis edant.tympana tenta tonant palmis et cymbala circumconcava, raucisonoque minantur cornua cantu,et Phrygio stimulat numero cava tibia mentis,telaque praeportant, violenti signa furoris,ingratos animos atque impia pectora volgiconterrere metu quae possint numine divae.ergo cum primum magnas invecta per urbismunificat tacita mortalis muta salute,aere atque argento sternunt iter omne viarumlargifica stipe ditantes ninguntque rosarumfloribus umbrantes matrem comitumque catervam.hic armata manus, Curetas nomine Graiquos memorant, Phrygias inter si forte catervasludunt in numerumque exultant sanguine laetiterrificas capitum quatientes numine cristas,Dictaeos referunt Curetas, qui Iovis illumvagitum in Creta quondam occultasse feruntur,cum pueri circum puerum pernice chorea[armat et in numerum pernice chorea]armati in numerum pulsarent aeribus aera,ne Saturnus eum malis mandaret adeptusaeternumque daret matri sub pectore volnus.propterea magnam armati matrem comitantur,aut quia significant divam praedicere ut armisac virtute velint patriam defendere terrampraesidioque parent decorique parentibus esse.quae bene et eximie quamvis disposta ferantur,longe sunt tamen a vera ratione repulsa.omnis enim per se divom natura necessestinmortali aevo summa cum pace fruatursemota ab nostris rebus seiunctaque longe;nam privata dolore omni, privata periclis,ipsa suis pollens opibus, nihil indiga nostri,nec bene promeritis capitur neque tangitur ira.terra quidem vero caret omni tempore sensu,et quia multarum potitur primordia rerum,multa modis multis effert in lumina solis.hic siquis mare Neptunum Cereremque vocareconstituet fruges et Bacchi nomine abutimavolt quam laticis proprium proferre vocamen,concedamus ut hic terrarum dictitet orbemesse deum matrem, dum vera re tamen ipsereligione animum turpi contingere parcat.
So, too, the wooly flocks, and horned kine,And brood of battle-eager horses, grazingOften together along one grassy plain,Under the cope of one blue sky, and slakingFrom out one stream of water each its thirst,All live their lives with face and form unlike,Keeping the parents' nature, parents' habits,Which, kind by kind, through ages they repeat.So great in any sort of herb thou wilt,So great again in any river of earthAre the distinct diversities of matter.Hence, further, every creature- any oneFrom out them all- compounded is the sameOf bones, blood, veins, heat, moisture, flesh, and thews-All differing vastly in their forms, and builtOf elements dissimilar in shape.Again, all things by fire consumed ablaze,Within their frame lay up, if naught besides,At least those atoms whence derives their powerTo throw forth fire and send out light from under,To shoot the sparks and scatter embers wide.If, with like reasoning of mind, all elseThou traverse through, thou wilt discover thusThat in their frame the seeds of many thingsThey hide, and divers shapes of seeds contain.Further, thou markest much, to which are givenAlong together colour and flavour and smell,Among which, chief, are most burnt offerings.......Thus must they be of divers shapes composed.A smell of scorching enters in our frameWhere the bright colour from the dye goes not;And colour in one way, flavour in quite anotherWorks inward to our senses- so mayst seeThey differ too in elemental shapes.Thus unlike forms into one mass combine,And things exist by intermixed seed.But still 'tmust not be thought that in all waysAll things can be conjoined; for then wouldst viewPortents begot about thee every side:Hulks of mankind half brute astarting up,At times big branches sprouting from man's trunk,Limbs of a sea-beast to a land-beast knit,And nature along the all-producing earthFeeding those dire Chimaeras breathing flameFrom hideous jaws- Of which 'tis simple factThat none have been begot; because we seeAll are from fixed seed and fixed damEngendered and so function as to keepThroughout their growth their own ancestral type.This happens surely by a fixed law:For from all food-stuff, when once eaten down,Go sundered atoms, suited to each creature,Throughout their bodies, and, conjoining there,Produce the proper motions; but we seeHow, contrariwise, nature upon the groundThrows off those foreign to their frame; and manyWith viewless bodies from their bodies fly,By blows impelled- those impotent to joinTo any part, or, when inside, to accordAnd to take on the vital motions there.But think not, haply, living forms aloneAre bound by these laws: they distinguished all.......For just as all things of creation are,In their whole nature, each to each unlike,So must their atoms be in shape unlike-Not since few only are fashioned of like form,But since they all, as general rule, are notThe same as all. Nay, here in these our verses,Elements many, common to many words,Thou seest, though yet 'tis needful to confessThe words and verses differ, each from each,Compounded out of different elements-Not since few only, as common letters, runThrough all the words, or no two words are made,One and the other, from all like elements,But since they all, as general rule, are notThe same as all. Thus, too, in other things,Whilst many germs common to many thingsThere are, yet they, combined among themselves,Can form new wholes to others quite unlike.Thus fairly one may say that humankind,The grains, the gladsome trees, are all made upOf different atoms. Further, since the seedsAre different, difference must there also beIn intervening spaces, thoroughfares,Connections, weights, blows, clashings, motions, allWhich not alone distinguish living forms,But sunder earth's whole ocean from the lands,And hold all heaven from the lands away.
Saepe itaque ex uno tondentes gramina campolanigerae pecudes et equorum duellica prolesbuceriaeque greges eodem sub tegmine caeliex unoque sitim sedantes flumine aquaidissimili vivont specie retinentque parentumnaturam et mores generatim quaeque imitantur.tanta est in quovis genere herbae materiaidissimilis ratio, tanta est in flumine quoque.Hinc porro quamvis animantem ex omnibus unamossa cruor venae calor umor viscera nerviconstituunt, quae sunt porro distantia longe,dissimili perfecta figura principiorum.Tum porro quae cumque igni flammata cremantur.si nil praeterea, tamen haec in corpore tradunt,unde ignem iacere et lumen submittere possintscintillasque agere ac late differre favillam.cetera consimili mentis ratione peragransinvenies igitur multarum semina rerumcorpore celare et varias cohibere figuras.Denique multa vides, quibus et color et sapor unareddita sunt cum odore in primis pleraque poma.haec igitur variis debent constare figuris;nidor enim penetrat qua fucus non it in artus,fucus item sorsum, ⟨sorsum⟩ sapor insinuatursensibus; ut noscas primis differre figuris.dissimiles igitur formae glomeramen in unumconveniunt et res permixto semine constant.Quin etiam passim nostris in versibus ipsismulta elementa vides multis communia verbis,cum tamen inter se versus ac verba necesse estconfiteare alia ex aliis constare elementis;non quo multa parum communis littera currataut nulla inter se duo sint ex omnibus isdem,sed quia non volgo paria omnibus omnia constant.sic aliis in rebus item communia multamultarum rerum cum sint, primordia rerumdissimili tamen inter se consistere summapossunt; ut merito ex aliis constare feraturhumanum genus et fruges arbustaque laeta.Nec tamen omnimodis conecti posse putandum estomnia; nam volgo fieri portenta videres,semiferas hominum species existere et altosinter dum ramos egigni corpore vivomultaque conecti terrestria membra marinis,tum flammam taetro spirantis ore Chimaeraspascere naturam per terras omniparentis.quorum nil fieri manifestum est, omnia quandoseminibus certis certa genetrice creataconservare genus crescentia posse videmus.scilicet id certa fieri ratione necessust.nam sua cuique cibis ex omnibus intus in artuscorpora discedunt conexaque convenientisefficiunt motus; at contra aliena videmusreicere in terras naturam, multaque caeciscorporibus fugiunt e corpore percita plagis,quae neque conecti quoquam potuere neque intusvitalis motus consentire atque imitari.sed ne forte putes animalia sola tenerilegibus his, quaedam ratio res terminat omnisnam vel uti tota natura dissimiles suntinter se genitae res quaeque, ita quamque necessestdissimili constare figura principiorum;non quo multa parum simili sint praedita forma,sed quia non volgo paria omnibus omnia constant.semina cum porro distent, differre necessustintervalla vias conexus pondera plagasconcursus motus; quae non animalia solumcorpora seiungunt, sed terras ac mare totumsecernunt caelumque a terris omne retentant.
Now come, this wisdom by my sweet toil soughtLook thou perceive, lest haply thou shouldst guessThat the white objects shining to thine eyesAre gendered of white atoms, or the blackOf a black seed; or yet believe that aughtThat's steeped in any hue should take its dyeFrom bits of matter tinct with hue the same.For matter's bodies own no hue the least-Or like to objects or, again, unlike.But, if percase it seem to thee that mindItself can dart no influence of its ownInto these bodies, wide thou wand'rest off.For since the blind-born, who have ne'er surveyedThe light of sun, yet recognise by touchThings that from birth had ne'er a hue for them,'Tis thine to know that bodies can be broughtNo less unto the ken of our minds too,Though yet those bodies with no dye be smeared.Again, ourselves whatever in the darkWe touch, the same we do not find to beTinctured with any colour.Now that hereI win the argument, I next will teach......Now, every colour changes, none except,And every...Which the primordials ought nowise to do.Since an immutable somewhat must remain,Lest all things utterly be brought to naught.For change of anything from out its boundsMeans instant death of that which was before.Wherefore be mindful not to stain with colourThe seeds of things, lest things return for theeAll utterly to naught.But now, if seedsReceive no property of colour, and yetBe still endowed with variable formsFrom which all kinds of colours they begetAnd vary (by reason that ever it matters muchWith what seeds, and in what positions joined,And what the motions that they give and get),Forthwith most easily thou mayst deviseWhy what was black of hue an hour agoCan of a sudden like the marble gleam,-As ocean, when the high winds have upheavedIts level plains, is changed to hoary wavesOf marble whiteness: for, thou mayst declare,That, when the thing we often see as blackIs in its matter then commixed anew,Some atoms rearranged, and some withdrawn,And added some, 'tis seen forthwith to turnGlowing and white. But if of azure seedsConsist the level waters of the deep,They could in nowise whiten: for howeverThou shakest azure seeds, the same can neverPass into marble hue. But, if the seeds-Which thus produce the ocean's one pure sheen-Be now with one hue, now another dyed,As oft from alien forms and divers shapesA cube's produced all uniform in shape,'Twould be but natural, even as in the cubeWe see the forms to be dissimilar,That thus we'd see in brightness of the deep(Or in whatever one pure sheen thou wilt)Colours diverse and all dissimilar.Besides, the unlike shapes don't thwart the leastThe whole in being externally a cube;But differing hues of things do block and keepThe whole from being of one resultant hue.Then, too, the reason which entices usAt times to attribute colours to the seedsFalls quite to pieces, since white things are notCreate from white things, nor are black from black,But evermore they are create from thingsOf divers colours. Verily, the whiteWill rise more readily, is sooner bornOut of no colour, than of black or aughtWhich stands in hostile opposition thus.
Nunc age dicta meo dulci quaesita laborepercipe, ne forte haec albis ex alba rearisprincipiis esse, ante oculos quae candida cernis,aut ea quae nigrant nigro de semine nata;nive alium quemvis quae sunt inbuta colorem,propterea gerere hunc credas, quod materiaicorpora consimili sint eius tincta colore;nullus enim color est omnino materiaicorporibus, neque par rebus neque denique dispar.in quae corpora si nullus tibi forte videturposse animi iniectus fieri, procul avius erras.nam cum caecigeni, solis qui lumina numquamdispexere, tamen cognoscant corpora tactuex ineunte aevo nullo coniuncta colore,scire licet nostrae quoque menti corpora possevorti in notitiam nullo circum lita fuco.denique nos ipsi caecis quaecumque tenebristangimus, haud ullo sentimus tincta colore.Quod quoniam vinco fieri, nunc esse docebo.omnis enim color omnino mutatur in omnis;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.proinde colore cave contingas semina rerum,ne tibi res redeant ad nihilum funditus omnes.Praeterea si nulla coloris principiis estreddita natura et variis sunt praedita formis,e quibus omnigenus gignunt variantque colores,propterea magni quod refert, semina quaequecum quibus et quali positura contineanturet quos inter se dent motus accipiantque,perfacile extemplo rationem reddere possis,cur ea quae nigro fuerint paulo ante colore,marmoreo fieri possint candore repente,ut mare, cum magni commorunt aequora venti,vertitur in canos candenti marmore fluctus;dicere enim possis, nigrum quod saepe videmus,materies ubi permixta est illius et ordoprincipiis mutatus et addita demptaque quaedam,continuo id fieri ut candens videatur et album.quod si caeruleis constarent aequora pontiseminibus, nullo possent albescere pacto;nam quo cumque modo perturbes caerula quae sint,numquam in marmoreum possunt migrare colorem.sin alio atque alio sunt semina tincta colore,quae maris efficiunt unum purumque nitorem,ut saepe ex aliis formis variisque figurisefficitur quiddam quadratum unaque figura,conveniebat, ut in quadrato cernimus essedissimiles formas, ita cernere in aequore pontiaut alio in quovis uno puroque nitoredissimiles longe inter se variosque colores.praeterea nihil officiunt obstantque figuraedissimiles, quo quadratum minus omne sit extra;at varii rerum inpediunt prohibentque colores,quo minus esse uno possit res tota nitore.Tum porro quae ducit et inlicit ut tribuamusprincipiis rerum non numquam causa colores,occidit, ex albis quoniam non alba creantur,nec quae nigra cluent de nigris, sed variis ex.quippe etenim multo proclivius exorienturcandida de nullo quam nigro nata coloreaut alio quovis, qui contra pugnet et obstet.