---
title: "On the Nature of Things · De Rerum Natura"
author: "Lucretius"
translator: "William Ellery Leonard"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 7 of 18
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucretius-de-rerum-natura/7/
cite: "Lucretius, tr. William Ellery Leonard, On the Nature of Things · De Rerum Natura, section 7. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucretius-de-rerum-natura/7/"
---

# On the Nature of Things · De Rerum Natura

*Lucretius, tr. William Ellery Leonard*

Epicurus’ universe of atoms and void, set out in verse to free us from the fear of the gods and of death.

> Latin: from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0550.phi001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: William Ellery Leonard, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0550.phi001.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (line numbers), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 7. Book III · lines 1–380

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucretius-de-rerum-natura/7/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucretius-de-rerum-natura/7/#p-N

[¶0] O thou who first uplifted in such dark
So clear a torch aloft, who first shed light
Upon the profitable ends of man,
O thee I follow, glory of the Greeks,
And set my footsteps squarely planted now
Even in the impress and the marks of thine-
Less like one eager to dispute the palm,
More as one craving out of very love
That I may copy thee!- for how should swallow
Contend with swans or what compare could be
In a race between young kids with tumbling legs
And the strong might of the horse? Our father thou,
And finder-out of truth, and thou to us
Suppliest a father's precepts; and from out
Those scriven leaves of thine, renowned soul
(Like bees that sip of all in flowery wolds),
We feed upon thy golden sayings all-
Golden, and ever worthiest endless life.
For soon as ever thy planning thought that sprang
From god-like mind begins its loud proclaim
Of nature's courses, terrors of the brain
Asunder flee, the ramparts of the world
Dispart away, and through the void entire
I see the movements of the universe.
Rises to vision the majesty of gods,
And their abodes of everlasting calm
Which neither wind may shake nor rain-cloud splash,
Nor snow, congealed by sharp frosts, may harm
With its white downfall: ever, unclouded sky
O'er roofs, and laughs with far-diffused light.
And nature gives to them their all, nor aught
May ever pluck their peace of mind away.
But nowhere to my vision rise no more
The vaults of Acheron, though the broad earth
Bars me no more from gazing down o'er all
Which under our feet is going on below
Along the void. O, here in these affairs
Some new divine delight and trembling awe
Takes hold through me, that thus by power of thine
Nature, so plain and manifest at last,
Hath been on every side laid bare to man!
And since I've taught already of what sort
The seeds of all things are, and how, distinct
In divers forms, they flit of own accord,
Stirred with a motion everlasting on,
And in what mode things be from them create,
Now, after such matters, should my verse, meseems,
Make clear the nature of the mind and soul,
And drive that dread of Acheron without,
Headlong, which so confounds our human life
Unto its deeps, pouring o'er all that is
The black of death, nor leaves not anything
To prosper- a liquid and unsullied joy.

> Latin: E tenebris tantis tam clarum extollere lumen
qui primus potuisti inlustrans commoda vitae,
te sequor, o Graiae gentis decus, inque tuis nunc
ficta pedum pono pressis vestigia signis,
non ita certandi cupidus quam propter amorem
quod te imitari aveo; quid enim contendat hirundo
cycnis, aut quid nam tremulis facere artubus haedi
consimile in cursu possint et fortis equi vis?
tu, pater, es rerum inventor, tu patria nobis
suppeditas praecepta, tuisque ex, inclute, chartis,
floriferis ut apes in saltibus omnia libant,
omnia nos itidem depascimur aurea dicta,
aurea, perpetua semper dignissima vita.
nam simul ac ratio tua coepit vociferari
naturam rerum divina mente coorta
diffugiunt animi terrores, moenia mundi
discedunt. totum video per inane geri res.
apparet divum numen sedesque quietae,
quas neque concutiunt venti nec nubila nimbis
aspergunt neque nix acri concreta pruina
cana cadens violat semper[que] innubilus aether
integit et large diffuso lumine ridet:
omnia suppeditat porro natura neque ulla
res animi pacem delibat tempore in ullo.
at contra nusquam apparent Acherusia templa,
nec tellus obstat quin omnia dispiciantur,
sub pedibus quae cumque infra per inane geruntur.
his ibi me rebus quaedam divina voluptas
percipit atque horror, quod sic natura tua vi
tam manifesta patens ex omni parte retecta est.
Et quoniam docui, cunctarum exordia rerum
qualia sint et quam variis distantia formis
sponte sua volitent aeterno percita motu,
quove modo possint res ex his quaeque creari,
hasce secundum res animi natura videtur
atque animae claranda meis iam versibus esse
et metus ille foras praeceps Acheruntis agendus,
funditus humanam qui vitam turbat ab imo
omnia suffundens mortis nigrore neque ullam
esse voluptatem liquidam puramque relinquit.

[¶1] For as to what men sometimes will affirm:
That more than Tartarus (the realm of death)
They fear diseases and a life of shame,
And know the substance of the soul is blood,
Or rather wind (if haply thus their whim),
And so need naught of this our science, then
Thou well may'st note from what's to follow now
That more for glory do they braggart forth
Than for belief. For mark these very same:
Exiles from country, fugitives afar
From sight of men, with charges foul attaint,
Abased with every wretchedness, they yet
Live, and where'er the wretches come, they yet
Make the ancestral sacrifices there,
Butcher the black sheep, and to gods below
Offer the honours, and in bitter case
Turn much more keenly to religion.
Wherefore, it's surer testing of a man
In doubtful perils- mark him as he is
Amid adversities; for then alone
Are the true voices conjured from his breast,
The mask off-stripped, reality behind.
And greed, again, and the blind lust of honours
Which force poor wretches past the bounds of law,
And, oft allies and ministers of crime,
To push through nights and days with hugest toil
To rise untrammelled to the peaks of power-
These wounds of life in no mean part are kept
Festering and open by this fright of death.
For ever we see fierce Want and foul Disgrace
Dislodged afar from secure life and sweet,
Like huddling Shapes before the doors of death.
And whilst, from these, men wish to scape afar,
Driven by false terror, and afar remove,
With civic blood a fortune they amass,
They double their riches, greedy, heapers-up
Of corpse on corpse they have a cruel laugh
For the sad burial of a brother-born,
And hatred and fear of tables of their kin.
Likewise, through this same terror, envy oft
Makes them to peak because before their eyes
That man is lordly, that man gazed upon
Who walks begirt with honour glorious,
Whilst they in filth and darkness roll around;
Some perish away for statues and a name,
And oft to that degree, from fright of death,
Will hate of living and beholding light
Take hold on humankind that they inflict
Their own destruction with a gloomy heart-
Forgetful that this fear is font of cares,
This fear the plague upon their sense of shame,
And this that breaks the ties of comradry
And oversets all reverence and faith,
Mid direst slaughter. For long ere to-day
Often were traitors to country and dear parents
Through quest to shun the realms of Acheron.
For just as children tremble and fear all
In the viewless dark, so even we at times
Dread in the light so many things that be
No 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 sun disperse,
But only nature's aspect and her law.

> Latin: nam quod saepe homines morbos magis esse timendos
infamemque ferunt vitam quam Tartara leti
et se scire animi naturam sanguinis esse,
aut etiam venti, si fert ita forte voluntas,
nec prosum quicquam nostrae rationis egere,
hinc licet advertas animum magis omnia laudis
iactari causa quam quod res ipsa probetur.
extorres idem patria longeque fugati
conspectu ex hominum, foedati crimine turpi,
omnibus aerumnis adfecti denique vivunt,
et quo cumque tamen miseri venere parentant
et nigras mactant pecudes et manibus divis
inferias mittunt multoque in rebus acerbis
acrius advertunt animos ad religionem.
quo magis in dubiis hominem spectare periclis
convenit adversisque in rebus noscere qui sit;
nam verae voces tum demum pectore ab imo
eliciuntur [et] eripitur persona amanare.
denique avarities et honorum caeca cupido,
quae miseros homines cogunt transcendere fines
iuris et inter dum socios scelerum atque ministros
noctes atque dies niti praestante labore
ad summas emergere opes, haec vulnera vitae
non minimam partem mortis formidine aluntur.
turpis enim ferme contemptus et acris egestas
semota ab dulci vita stabilique videtur
et quasi iam leti portas cunctarier ante;
unde homines dum se falso terrore coacti
effugisse volunt longe longeque remosse,
sanguine civili rem conflant divitiasque
conduplicant avidi, caedem caede accumulantes,
crudeles gaudent in tristi funere fratris
et consanguineum mensas odere timentque.
consimili ratione ab eodem saepe timore
macerat invidia ante oculos illum esse potentem,
illum aspectari, claro qui incedit honore,
ipsi se in tenebris volvi caenoque queruntur.
intereunt partim statuarum et nominis ergo.
et saepe usque adeo, mortis formidine, vitae
percipit humanos odium lucisque videndae,
ut sibi consciscant maerenti pectore letum
obliti fontem curarum hunc esse timorem:
hunc vexare pudorem, hunc vincula amicitiai
rumpere et in summa pietate evertere suadet:
nam iam saepe homines patriam carosque parentis
prodiderunt vitare Acherusia templa petentes.
nam vel uti pueri trepidant atque omnia caecis
in tenebris metuunt, sic nos in luce timemus
inter dum, nihilo quae sunt metuenda magis quam
quae pueri in tenebris pavitant finguntque futura.
hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necessest
non radii solis neque lucida tela diei
discutiant, sed naturae species ratioque.

[¶2] First, then, I say, the mind which oft we call
The intellect, wherein is seated life's
Counsel and regimen, is part no less
Of man than hand and foot and eyes are parts
Of one whole breathing creature. [But some hold]
That sense of mind is in no fixed part seated,
But is of body some one vital state,-
Named "harmony" by Greeks, because thereby
We live with sense, though intellect be not
In any part: as oft the body is said
To have good health (when health, however, 's not
One part of him who has it), so they place
The sense of mind in no fixed part of man.
Mightily, diversly, meseems they err.
Often the body palpable and seen
Sickens, while yet in some invisible part
We feel a pleasure; oft the other way,
A miserable in mind feels pleasure still
Throughout his body- quite the same as when
A foot may pain without a pain in head.
Besides, when these our limbs are given o'er
To gentle sleep and lies the burdened frame
At random void of sense, a something else
Is yet within us, which upon that time
Bestirs itself in many a wise, receiving
All motions of joy and phantom cares of heart.
Now, for to see that in man's members dwells
Also the soul, and body ne'er is wont
To feel sensation by a "harmony"
Take this in chief: the fact that life remains
Oft in our limbs, when much of body's gone;
Yet that same life, when particles of heat,
Though few, have scattered been, and through the mouth
Air has been given forth abroad, forthwith
Forever deserts the veins, and leaves the bones.
Thus mayst thou know that not all particles
Perform like parts, nor in like manner all
Are props of weal and safety: rather those-
The seeds of wind and exhalations warm-
Take care that in our members life remains.
Therefore a vital heat and wind there is
Within the very body, which at death
Deserts our frames. And so, since nature of mind
And even of soul is found to be, as 'twere,
A part of man, give over "harmony"-
Name to musicians brought from Helicon,-
Unless themselves they filched it otherwise,
To serve for what was lacking name till then.
Whate'er it be, they're welcome to it- thou,
Hearken my other maxims.

> Latin: Primum animum dico, mentem quem saepe vocamus,
in quo consilium vitae regimenque locatum est,
esse hominis partem nihilo minus ac manus et pes
atque oculei partes animantis totius extant.
…
sensum animi certa non esse in parte locatum,
verum habitum quendam vitalem corporis esse,
harmoniam Grai quam dicunt, quod faciat nos
vivere cum sensu, nulla cum in parte siet mens;
ut bona saepe valetudo cum dicitur esse
corporis, et non est tamen haec pars ulla valentis,
sic animi sensum non certa parte reponunt;
magno opere in quo mi diversi errare videntur.
Saepe itaque, in promptu corpus quod cernitur, aegret,
cum tamen ex alia laetamur parte latenti;
et retro fit ubi contra sit saepe vicissim,
cum miser ex animo laetatur corpore toto;
non alio pacto quam si, pes cum dolet aegri,
in nullo caput interea sit forte dolore.
Praeterea molli cum somno dedita membra
effusumque iacet sine sensu corpus honustum,
est aliud tamen in nobis quod tempore in illo
multimodis agitatur et omnis accipit in se
laetitiae motus et curas cordis inanis.
Nunc animam quoque ut in membris cognoscere possis
esse neque harmonia corpus sentire solere,
principio fit uti detracto corpore multo
saepe tamen nobis in membris vita moretur.
Atque eadem rursum, cum corpora pauca caloris
diffugere forasque per os est editus aër,
deserit extemplo venas atque ossa relinquit;
noscere ut hinc possis non aequas omnia partis
corpora habere neque ex aequo fulcire salutem,
sed magis haec, venti quae sunt calidique vaporis
semina, curare in membris ut vita moretur.
est igitur calor ac ventus vitalis in ipso
corpore, qui nobis moribundos deserit artus.
quapropter quoniam est animi natura reperta
atque animae quasi pars hominis, redde harmoniai
nomen, ad organicos alto delatum Heliconi,
sive aliunde ipsi porro traxere et in illam
transtulerunt, proprio quae tum res nomine egebat.
quidquid [id] est, habeant: tu cetera percipe dicta.

[¶3] Mind and soul,
I say, are held conjoined one with other,
And form one single nature of themselves;
But chief and regnant through the frame entire
Is still that counsel which we call the mind,
And that cleaves seated in the midmost breast.
Here leap dismay and terror; round these haunts
Be blandishments of joys; and therefore here
The intellect, the mind. The rest of soul,
Throughout the body scattered, but obeys-
Moved by the nod and motion of the mind.
This, for itself, sole through itself, hath thought;
This for itself hath mirth, even when the thing
That moves it, moves nor soul nor body at all.
And as, when head or eye in us is smit
By assailing pain, we are not tortured then
Through all the body, so the mind alone
Is sometimes smitten, or livens with a joy,
Whilst yet the soul's remainder through the limbs
And through the frame is stirred by nothing new.
But when the mind is moved by shock more fierce,
We mark the whole soul suffering all at once
Along man's members: sweats and pallors spread
Over the body, and the tongue is broken,
And fails the voice away, and ring the ears,
Mists blind the eyeballs, and the joints collapse,-
Aye, men drop dead from terror of the mind.
Hence, whoso will can readily remark
That soul conjoined is with mind, and, when
'Tis strook by influence of the mind, forthwith
In turn it hits and drives the body too.
And this same argument establisheth
That nature of mind and soul corporeal is:
For when 'tis seen to drive the members on,
To snatch from sleep the body, and to change
The countenance, and the whole state of man
To rule and turn,- what yet could never be
Sans contact, and sans body contact fails-
Must we not grant that mind and soul consist
Of a corporeal nature?- And besides
Thou markst that likewise with this body of ours
Suffers the mind and with our body feels.
If the dire speed of spear that cleaves the bones
And bares the inner thews hits not the life,
Yet follows a fainting and a foul collapse,
And, on the ground, dazed tumult in the mind,
And whiles a wavering will to rise afoot.
So nature of mind must be corporeal, since
From stroke and spear corporeal 'tis in throes.
Now, of what body, what components formed
Is this same mind I will go on to tell.
First, I aver, 'tis superfine, composed
Of tiniest particles- that such the fact
Thou canst perceive, if thou attend, from this:

> Latin: Nunc animum atque animam dico coniuncta teneri
inter se atque unam naturam conficere ex se,
sed caput esse quasi et dominari in corpore toto
consilium, quod nos animum mentemque vocamus.
idque situm media regione in pectoris haeret.
hic exultat enim pavor ac metus, haec loca circum
laetitiae mulcent: hic ergo mens animusquest.
cetera pars animae per totum dissita corpus
paret et ad numen mentis momenque movetur.
idque sibi solum per se sapit et sibi gaudet,
cum neque res animam neque corpus commovet una.
et quasi, cum caput aut oculus temptante dolore
laeditur in nobis, non omni concruciamur
corpore, sic animus nonnumquam laeditur ipse
laetitiaque viget, cum cetera pars animai
per membra atque artus nulla novitate cietur;
verum ubi vementi magis est commota metu mens,
consentire animam totam per membra videmus
sudoresque ita palloremque existere toto
corpore et infringi linguam vocemque aboriri,
caligare oculos, sonere auris, succidere artus,
denique concidere ex animi terrore videmus
saepe homines; facile ut quivis hinc noscere possit
esse animam cum animo coniunctam, quae cum animi [vi]
percussa est, exim corpus propellit et icit.
Haec eadem ratio naturam animi atque animai
corpoream docet esse; ubi enim propellere membra,
corripere ex somno corpus mutareque vultum
atque hominem totum regere ac versare videtur,
quorum nil fieri sine tactu posse videmus
nec tactum porro sine corpore, nonne fatendumst
corporea natura animum constare animamque?
praeterea pariter fungi cum corpore et una
consentire animum nobis in corpore cernis.
si minus offendit vitam vis horrida teli
ossibus ac nervis disclusis intus adacta,
at tamen insequitur languor terraeque petitus
suavis et in terra mentis qui gignitur aestus
inter dumque quasi exsurgendi incerta voluntas.
ergo corpoream naturam animi esse necessest,
corporeis quoniam telis ictuque laborat.
Is tibi nunc animus quali sit corpore et unde
constiterit pergam rationem reddere dictis.
principio esse aio persuptilem atque minutis
perquam corporibus factum constare. id ita esse
hinc licet advertas animum, ut pernoscere possis.

[¶4] Nothing is seen to happen with such speed
As what the mind proposes and begins;
Therefore the same bestirs itself more swiftly
Than aught whose nature's palpable to eyes.
But what's so agile must of seeds consist
Most round, most tiny, that they may be moved,
When hit by impulse slight. So water moves,
In waves along, at impulse just the least-
Being create of little shapes that roll;
But, contrariwise, the quality of honey
More stable is, its liquids more inert,
More tardy its flow; for all its stock of matter
Cleaves more together, since, indeed, 'tis made
Of atoms not so smooth, so fine, and round.
For the light breeze that hovers yet can blow
High heaps of poppy-seed away for thee
Downward from off the top; but, contrariwise,
A pile of stones or spiny ears of wheat
It can't at all. Thus, in so far as bodies
Are small and smooth, is their mobility;
But, contrariwise, the heavier and more rough,
The more immovable they prove. Now, then,
Since nature of mind is movable so much,
Consist it must of seeds exceeding small
And smooth and round. Which fact once known to thee,
Good friend, will serve thee opportune in else.
This also shows the nature of the same,
How nice its texture, in how small a space
'Twould go, if once compacted as a pellet:
When death's unvexed repose gets hold on man
And mind and soul retire, thou markest there
From the whole body nothing ta'en in form,
Nothing in weight. Death grants ye everything,
But vital sense and exhalation hot.
Thus soul entire must be of smallmost seeds,
Twined through the veins, the vitals, and the thews,
Seeing that, when 'tis from whole body gone,
The outward figuration of the limbs
Is unimpaired and weight fails not a whit.
Just so, when vanished the bouquet of wine,
Or when an unguent's perfume delicate
Into the winds away departs, or when
From any body savour's gone, yet still
The thing itself seems minished naught to eyes,
Thereby, nor aught abstracted from its weight-
No marvel, because seeds many and minute
Produce the savours and the redolence
In the whole body of the things.

> Latin: Nil adeo fieri celeri ratione videtur,
quam si mens fieri proponit et inchoat ipsa;
ocius ergo animus quam res se perciet ulla,
ante oculos quorum in promptu natura videtur.
at quod mobile tanto operest, constare rutundis
perquam seminibus debet perquamque minutis,
momine uti parvo possint inpulsa moveri.
namque movetur aqua et tantillo momine flutat,
quippe volubilibus parvisque creata figuris.
at contra mellis constantior est natura
et pigri latices magis et cunctantior actus:
haeret enim inter se magis omnis materiai
copia, ni mirum quia non tam levibus extat
corporibus neque tam suptilibus atque rutundis.
namque papaveris aura potest suspensa levisque
cogere ut ab summo tibi diffluat altus acervus,
at contra lapidum coniectum spicarumque
noenu potest. igitur parvissima corpora pro quam
et levissima sunt, ita mobilitate fruuntur;
at contra quae cumque magis cum pondere magno
asperaque inveniuntur, eo stabilita magis sunt.
nunc igitur quoniamst animi natura reperta
mobilis egregie, perquam constare necessest
corporibus parvis et levibus atque rutundis.
quae tibi cognita res in multis, o bone, rebus
utilis invenietur et opportuna cluebit.
Haec quoque res etiam naturam dedicat eius,
quam tenui constet textura quamque loco se
contineat parvo, si possit conglomerari,
quod simul atque hominem leti secura quies est
indepta atque animi natura animaeque recessit,
nil ibi libatum de toto corpore cernas
ad speciem, nihil ad pondus: mors omnia praestat,
vitalem praeter sensum calidumque vaporem.
ergo animam totam perparvis esse necessest
seminibus nexam per venas viscera nervos,
qua tenus, omnis ubi e toto iam corpore cessit,
extima membrorum circumcaesura tamen se
incolumem praestat nec defit ponderis hilum.
quod genus est, Bacchi cum flos evanuit aut cum
spiritus unguenti suavis diffugit in auras
aut aliquo cum iam sucus de corpore cessit;
nil oculis tamen esse minor res ipsa videtur
propterea neque detractum de pondere quicquam,
ni mirum quia multa minutaque semina sucos
efficiunt et odorem in toto corpore rerum.

[¶5] And so,
Again, again, nature of mind and soul
'Tis thine to know created is of seeds
The tiniest ever, since at flying-forth
It beareth nothing of the weight away.
Yet fancy not its nature simple so.
For an impalpable aura, mixed with heat,
Deserts the dying, and heat draws off the air;
And heat there's none, unless commixed with air:
For, since the nature of all heat is rare,
Athrough it many seeds of air must move.
Thus nature of mind is triple; yet those all
Suffice not for creating sense- since mind
Accepteth not that aught of these can cause
Sense-bearing motions, and much less the thoughts
A man revolves in mind. So unto these
Must added be a somewhat, and a fourth;
That somewhat's altogether void of name;
Than which existeth naught more mobile, naught
More an impalpable, of elements
More small and smooth and round. That first transmits
Sense-bearing motions through the frame, for that
Is roused the first, composed of little shapes;
Thence heat and viewless force of wind take up
The motions, and thence air, and thence all things
Are put in motion; the blood is strook, and then
The vitals all begin to feel, and last
To bones and marrow the sensation comes-
Pleasure or torment. Nor will pain for naught
Enter so far, nor a sharp ill seep through,
But all things be perturbed to that degree
That room for life will fail, and parts of soul
Will scatter through the body's every pore.
Yet as a rule, almost upon the skin
These motion aIl are stopped, and this is why
We have the power to retain our life.
Now in my eagerness to tell thee how
They are commixed, through what unions fit
They function so, my country's pauper-speech
Constrains me sadly. As I can, however,
I'll touch some points and pass.

> Latin: quare etiam atque etiam mentis naturam animaeque
scire licet perquam pauxillis esse creatam
seminibus, quoniam fugiens nil ponderis aufert.
Nec tamen haec simplex nobis natura putanda est.
tenvis enim quaedam moribundos deserit aura
mixta vapore, vapor porro trahit aëra secum;
nec calor est quisquam, cui non sit mixtus et aër;
rara quod eius enim constat natura, necessest
aëris inter eum primordia multa moveri.
iam triplex animi est igitur natura reperta;
nec tamen haec sat sunt ad sensum cuncta creandum,
nil horum quoniam recipit mens posse creare
sensiferos motus, quae denique mente volutat.
quarta quoque his igitur quaedam natura necessest
adtribuatur; east omnino nominis expers;
qua neque mobilius quicquam neque tenvius extat
nec magis e parvis et levibus ex elementis;
sensiferos motus quae didit prima per artus.
prima cietur enim, parvis perfecta figuris,
inde calor motus et venti caeca potestas
accipit, inde aër, inde omnia mobilitantur:
concutitur sanguis, tum viscera persentiscunt
omnia, postremis datur ossibus atque medullis
sive voluptas est sive est contrarius ardor.
nec temere huc dolor usque potest penetrare neque acre
permanare malum, quin omnia perturbentur
usque adeo [ut] vitae desit locus atque animai
diffugiant partes per caulas corporis omnis.
sed plerumque fit in summo quasi corpore finis
motibus: hanc ob rem vitam retinere valemus.
Nunc ea quo pacto inter sese mixta quibusque
compta modis vigeant rationem reddere aventem
abstrahit invitum patrii sermonis egestas;
sed tamen, ut potero summatim attingere, tangam.

[¶6] In such a wise
Course these primordials 'mongst one another
With inter-motions that no one can be
From other sundered, nor its agency
Perform, if once divided by a space;
Like many powers in one body they work.
As in the flesh of any creature still
Is odour and savour and a certain warmth,
And yet from all of these one bulk of body
Is made complete, so, viewless force of wind
And warmth and air, commingled, do create
One nature, by that mobile energy
Assisted which from out itself to them
Imparts initial motion, whereby first
Sense-bearing motion along the vitals springs.
For lurks this essence far and deep and under,
Nor in our body is aught more shut from view,
And 'tis the very soul of all the soul.
And as within our members and whole frame
The energy of mind and power of soul
Is mixed and latent, since create it is
Of bodies small and few, so lurks this fourth,
This essence void of name, composed of small,
And seems the very soul of all the soul,
And holds dominion o'er the body all.
And by like reason wind and air and heat
Must function so, commingled through the frame,
And now the one subside and now another
In interchange of dominance, that thus
From all of them one nature be produced,
Lest heat and wind apart, and air apart,
Make sense to perish, by disseverment.

> Latin: inter enim cursant primordia principiorum
motibus inter se, nihil ut secernier unum
possit nec spatio fieri divisa potestas,
sed quasi multae vis unius corporis extant.
quod genus in quovis animantum viscere volgo
est odor et quidam color et sapor, et tamen ex his
omnibus est unum perfectum corporis augmen,
sic calor atque aër et venti caeca potestas
mixta creant unam naturam et mobilis illa
vis, initum motus ab se quae dividit ollis,
sensifer unde oritur primum per viscera motus.
nam penitus prorsum latet haec natura subestque
nec magis hac infra quicquam est in corpore nostro
atque anima est animae proporro totius ipsa.
quod genus in nostris membris et corpore toto
mixta latens animi vis est animaeque potestas,
corporibus quia de parvis paucisque creatast,
sic tibi nominis haec expers vis, facta minutis
corporibus, latet atque animae quasi totius ipsa
proporrost anima et dominatur corpore toto.
consimili ratione necessest ventus et aër
et calor inter se vigeant commixta per artus
atque aliis aliud subsit magis emineatque,
ut quiddam fieri videatur ab omnibus unum,
ni calor ac ventus seorsum seorsumque potestas
aëris interemant sensum diductaque solvant.

[¶7] There is indeed in mind that heat it gets
When seething in rage, and flashes from the eyes
More swiftly fire; there is, again, that wind,
Much, and so cold, companion of all dread,
Which rouses the shudder in the shaken frame;
There is no less that state of air composed,
Making the tranquil breast, the serene face.
But more of hot have they whose restive hearts,
Whose minds of passion quickly seethe in rage-
Of which kind chief are fierce abounding lions,
Who often with roaring burst the breast o'erwrought,
Unable to hold the surging wrath within;
But the cold mind of stags has more of wind,
And speedier through their inwards rouses up
The icy currents which make their members quake.
But more the oxen live by tranquil air,
Nor e'er doth smoky torch of wrath applied,
O'erspreading with shadows of a darkling murk,
Rouse them too far; nor will they stiffen stark,
Pierced through by icy javelins of fear;
But have their place half-way between the two-
Stags and fierce lions. Thus the race of men:
Though training make them equally refined,
It leaves those pristine vestiges behind
Of each mind's nature. Nor may we suppose
Evil can e'er be rooted up so far
That one man's not more given to fits of wrath,
Another's not more quickly touched by fear,
A third not more long-suffering than he should.
And needs must differ in many things besides
The varied natures and resulting habits
Of humankind- of which not now can I
Expound the hidden causes, nor find names
Enough for all the divers shapes of those
Primordials whence this variation springs.
But this meseems I'm able to declare:
Those vestiges of natures left behind
Which reason cannot quite expel from us
Are still so slight that naught prevents a man
From living a life even worthy of the gods.
So then this soul is kept by all the body,
Itself the body's guard, and source of weal:
For they with common roots cleave each to each,
Nor can be torn asunder without death.
Not easy 'tis from lumps of frankincense
To tear their fragrance forth, without its nature
Perishing likewise: so, not easy 'tis
From all the body nature of mind and soul
To draw away, without the whole dissolved.
With seeds so intertwined even from birth,
They're dowered conjointly with a partner-life;
No energy of body or mind, apart,
Each of itself without the other's power,
Can have sensation; but our sense, enkindled
Along the vitals, to flame is blown by both
With mutual motions. Besides the body alone
Is nor begot nor grows, nor after death
Seen to endure. For not as water at times
Gives off the alien heat, nor is thereby
Itself destroyed, but unimpaired remains-
Not thus, I say, can the deserted frame
Bear the dissevering of its joined soul,
But, rent and ruined, moulders all away.
Thus the joint contact of the body and soul
Learns from their earliest age the vital motions,
Even when still buried in the mother's womb;
So no dissevering can hap to them,
Without their bane and ill. And thence mayst see
That, as conjoined is their source of weal,
Conjoined also must their nature be.

> Latin: est etiam calor ille animo, quem sumit, in ira
cum fervescit et ex oculis micat acrius ardor;
est et frigida multa, comes formidinis, aura,
quae ciet horrorem membris et concitat artus;
est etiam quoque pacati status aëris ille,
pectore tranquillo fit qui voltuque sereno.
sed calidi plus est illis quibus acria corda
iracundaque mens facile effervescit in ira,
quo genere in primis vis est violenta leonum,
pectora qui fremitu rumpunt plerumque gementes
nec capere irarum fluctus in pectore possunt.
at ventosa magis cervorum frigida mens est
et gelidas citius per viscera concitat auras,
quae tremulum faciunt membris existere motum.
at natura boum placido magis aëre vivit
nec nimis irai fax umquam subdita percit
fumida, suffundens caecae caliginis umbra,
nec gelidis torpet telis perfixa pavoris;
interutrasque sitast cervos saevosque leones.
sic hominum genus est: quamvis doctrina politos
constituat pariter quosdam, tamen illa relinquit
naturae cuiusque animi vestigia prima.
nec radicitus evelli mala posse putandumst,
quin proclivius hic iras decurrat ad acris,
ille metu citius paulo temptetur, at ille
tertius accipiat quaedam clementius aequo.
inque aliis rebus multis differre necessest
naturas hominum varias moresque sequacis;
quorum ego nunc nequeo caecas exponere causas
nec reperire figurarum tot nomina quot sunt
principiis, unde haec oritur variantia rerum.
illud in his rebus video firmare potesse,
usque adeo naturarum vestigia linqui
parvola, quae nequeat ratio depellere nobis,
ut nihil inpediat dignam dis degere vitam.
Haec igitur natura tenetur corpore ab omni
ipsaque corporis est custos et causa salutis;
nam communibus inter se radicibus haerent
nec sine pernicie divelli posse videntur.
quod genus e thuris glaebis evellere odorem
haud facile est, quin intereat natura quoque eius,
sic animi atque animae naturam corpore toto
extrahere haut facile est, quin omnia dissoluantur.
inplexis ita principiis ab origine prima
inter se fiunt consorti praedita vita,
nec sibi quaeque sine alterius vi posse videtur
corporis atque animi seorsum sentire potestas,
sed communibus inter eas conflatur utrimque
motibus accensus nobis per viscera sensus.
Praeterea corpus per se nec gignitur umquam
nec crescit neque post mortem durare videtur.
non enim, ut umor aquae dimittit saepe vaporem,
qui datus est, neque ea causa convellitur ipse,
sed manet incolumis, non, inquam, sic animai
discidium possunt artus perferre relicti,
sed penitus pereunt convulsi conque putrescunt.
ex ineunte aevo sic corporis atque animai
mutua vitalis discunt contagia motus,
maternis etiam membris alvoque reposta,
discidium [ut] nequeat fieri sine peste maloque;
ut videas, quoniam coniunctast causa salutis,
coniunctam quoque naturam consistere eorum.

[¶8] If one, moreover, denies that body feel,
And holds that soul, through all the body mixed,
Takes on this motion which we title "sense,"
He battles in vain indubitable facts:
For who'll explain what body's feeling is,
Except by what the public fact itself
Has given and taught us? "But when soul is parted,
Body's without all sense." True!- loses what
Was even in its life-time not its own;
And much beside it loses, when soul's driven
Forth from that life-time. Or, to say that eyes
Themselves can see no thing, but through the same
The mind looks forth, as out of opened doors,
Is- a hard saying; since the feel in eyes
Says the reverse. For this itself draws on
And forces into the pupils of our eyes
Our consciousness. And note the case when often
We lack the power to see refulgent things,
Because our eyes are hampered by their light-
With a mere doorway this would happen not;
For, since it is our very selves that see,
No open portals undertake the toil.
Besides, if eyes of ours but act as doors,
Methinks that, were our sight removed, the mind
Ought then still better to behold a thing-
When even the door-posts have been cleared away.
Herein in these affairs nowise take up
What honoured sage, Democritus, lays down-
That proposition, that primordials
Of body and mind, each super-posed on each,
Vary alternately and interweave
The fabric of our members. For not only
Are the soul-elements smaller far than those
Which this our body and inward parts compose,
But also are they in their number less,
And scattered sparsely through our frame. And thus
This canst thou guarantee: soul's primal germs
Maintain between them intervals as large
At least as are the smallest bodies, which,
When thrown against us, in our body rouse
Sense-bearing motions.

> Latin: Quod super est, siquis corpus sentire refutat
atque animam credit permixtam corpore toto
suscipere hunc motum quem sensum nominitamus,
vel manifestas res contra verasque repugnat.
quid sit enim corpus sentire quis adferet umquam,
si non ipsa palam quod res dedit ac docuit nos?
'at dimissa anima corpus caret undique sensu.'
perdit enim quod non proprium fuit eius in aevo
multaque praeterea perdit quom expellitur aevo.
Dicere porro oculos nullam rem cernere posse,
sed per eos animum ut foribus spectare reclusis,
difficilest, contra cum sensus ducat eorum;
sensus enim trahit atque acies detrudit ad ipsas,
fulgida praesertim cum cernere saepe nequimus,
lumina luminibus quia nobis praepediuntur.
quod foribus non fit; neque enim, qua cernimus ipsi,
ostia suscipiunt ullum reclusa laborem.
praeterea si pro foribus sunt lumina nostra,
iam magis exemptis oculis debere videtur
cernere res animus sublatis postibus ipsis.
Illud in his rebus nequaquam sumere possis,
Democriti quod sancta viri sententia ponit,
corporis atque animi primordia singula primis
adposita alternis, variare ac nectere membra.
nam cum multo sunt animae elementa minora
quam quibus e corpus nobis et viscera constant,
tum numero quoque concedunt et rara per artus
dissita sunt, dum taxat ut hoc promittere possis,
quantula prima queant nobis iniecta ciere
corpora sensiferos motus in corpore, tanta
intervalla tenere exordia prima animai.