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De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)
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De Rerum Natura

Author: Lucretius
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
97
Nunc
age
,
cur
ultra
speculum
videatur
imago

percipe
:
nam
certe
penitus
remmota
videtur
.
quod
genus
illa
foris
quae
vere
transpiciuntur
,
ianua
cum
per
se
transpectum
praebet
apertum
,
multa
facitque
foris
ex
aedibus
ut
videantur
;
is
quoque
enim
duplici
geminoque
fit
aëre
visus
.
primus
enim
citra
postes
tum
cernitur
aër
,
inde
fores
ipsae
dextra
laevaque
secuntur
,
post
extraria
lux
oculos
perterget
et
aër

alter
,
et
illa
foris
quae
vere
transpiciuntur
.
sic
ubi
se
primum
speculi
proiecit
imago
,
dum
venit
ad
nostras
acies
,
protrudit
agitque
aëra

qui
inter
se
cumquest
oculosque
locatus
,
et
facit
,
ut
prius
hunc
omnem
sentire
queamus

quam
speculum
;
sed
ubi
speculum
quoque
sensimus
ipsum
,
continuo
a
nobis
in
eum
quae
fertur
imago

pervenit
,
et
nostros
oculos
reiecta
revisit

atque
alium
prae
se
propellens
aëra
volvit
,
et
facit
ut
prius
hunc
quam
se
videamus
,
eoque

distare
ab
speculo
tantum
semota
videtur
.
quare
etiam
atque
etiam
minime
mirarier
est
par

illis
quae
reddunt
speculorum
ex
aequore
visum
,
aëribus

binis
quoniam
res
confit
utraque
.
Nunc
ea
quae
nobis
membrorum
dextera
pars
est
,
in
speculis
fit
ut
in
laeva
videatur
eo
quod

planitiem
ad
speculi
veniens
cum
offendit
imago
,
non
convertitur
incolumis
,
sed
recta
retrorsum

sic
eliditur
,
ut
siquis
,
prius
arida
quam
sit

cretea
persona
,
adlidat
pilaeve
trabive
,
atque
ea
continuo
rectam
si
fronte
figuram

servet
et
elisam
retro
sese
exprimat
ipsa
.
fiet
ut
,
ante
oculus
fuerit
qui
dexter
,
ut
idem

nunc
sit
laevus
et
e
laevo
sit
mutua
dexter
.

Now come, and why beyond a looking-glass
An image may be seen, perceive. For seen
It soothly is, removed far within.
'Tis the same sort as objects peered upon
Outside in their true shape, whene'er a door
Yields through itself an open peering-place,
And lets us see so many things outside
Beyond the house. Also that sight is made
By a twofold twin air: for first is seen
The air inside the door-posts; next the doors,
The twain to left and right; and afterwards
A light beyond comes brushing through our eyes,
Then other air, then objects peered upon
Outside in their true shape. And thus, when first
The image of the glass projects itself,
As to our gaze it comes, it shoves ahead
And drives along the air that's in the space
Betwixt it and our eyes, and brings to pass
That we perceive the air ere yet the glass.
But when we've also seen the glass itself,
Forthwith that image which from us is borne
Reaches the glass, and there thrown back again
Comes back unto our eyes, and driving rolls
Ahead of itself another air, that then
'Tis this we see before itself, and thus
It looks so far removed behind the glass.
Wherefore again, again, there's naught for wonder
. . . . . .
In those which render from the mirror's plane
A vision back, since each thing comes to pass
By means of the two airs. Now, in the glass
The right part of our members is observed
Upon the left, because, when comes the image
Hitting against the level of the glass,
'Tis not returned unshifted; but forced off
Backwards in line direct and not oblique,-
Exactly as whoso his plaster-mask
Should dash, before 'twere dry, on post or beam,
And it should straightway keep, at clinging there,
Its shape, reversed, facing him who threw,
And so remould the features it gives back:
It comes that now the right eye is the left,
The left the right.
98
Fit
quoque
de
speculo
in
speculum
ut
tradatur
imago
,
quinque
etiam
sex
ut
fieri
simulacra
suërint
.
nam
quae
cumque
retro
parte
interiore
latebunt
,
inde
tamen
,
quamvis
torte
penitusque
remota
,
omnia
per
flexos
aditus
educta
licebit

pluribus
haec
speculis
videantur
in
aedibus
esse
.
usque
adeo
speculo
in
speculum
translucet
imago
,
et
cum
laeva
data
est
,
fit
rusum
ut
dextera
fiat
,
inde
retro
rursum
redit
et
convertit
eodem
.
Quin
etiam
quae
cumque
latuscula
sunt
speculorum

adsimili
lateris
flexura
praedita
nostri
,
dextera
ea
propter
nobis
simulacra
remittunt
,
aut
quia
de
speculo
in
speculum
transfertur
imago
,
inde
ad
nos
elisa
bis
advolat
,
aut
etiam
quod

circum
agitur
,
cum
venit
,
imago
propterea
quod

flexa
figura
docet
speculi
convertier
ad
nos
.
Indugredi
porro
pariter
simulacra
pedemque

ponere
nobiscum
credas
gestumque
imitari

propterea
quia
,
de
speculi
qua
parte
recedas
,
continuo
nequeunt
illinc
simulacra
reverti
;
omnia
quandoquidem
cogit
natura
referri

ac
resilire
ab
rebus
ad
aequos
reddita
flexus
.
Splendida
porro
oculi
fugitant
vitantque
tueri
.
sol
etiam
caecat
,
contra
si
tendere
pergas
,
propterea
quia
vis
magnast
ipsius
et
alte
aëra

per
purum
simulacra
feruntur

et
feriunt
oculos
turbantia
composituras
.
Praeterea
splendor
qui
cumque
est
acer
adurit

saepe
oculos
ideo
quod
semina
possidet
ignis

multa
,
dolorem
oculis
quae
gignunt
insinuando
.
lurida
praeterea
fiunt
quae
cumque
tuentur

arquati
,
quia
luroris
de
corpore
eorum

semina
multa
fluunt
simulacris
obvia
rerum
,
multaque
sunt
oculis
in
eorum
denique
mixta
,
quae
contage
sua
palloribus
omnia
pingunt
.

An image too may be
From mirror into mirror handed on,
Until of idol-films even five or six
Have thus been gendered. For whatever things
Shall hide back yonder in the house, the same,
However far removed in twisting ways,
May still be all brought forth through bending paths
And by these several mirrors seen to be
Within the house, since nature so compels
All things to be borne backward and spring off
At equal angles from all other things.
To such degree the image gleams across
From mirror unto mirror; where 'twas left
It comes to be the right, and then again
Returns and changes round unto the left.
Again, those little sides of mirrors curved
Proportionate to the bulge of our own flank
Send back to us their idols with the right
Upon the right; and this is so because
Either the image is passed on along
From mirror unto mirror, and thereafter,
When twice dashed off, flies back unto ourselves;
Or else the image wheels itself around,
When once unto the mirror it has come,
Since the curved surface teaches it to turn
To usward. Further, thou might'st well believe
That these film-idols step along with us
And set their feet in unison with ours
And imitate our carriage, since from that
Part of a mirror whence thou hast withdrawn
Straightway no images can be returned.
Further, our eye-balls tend to flee the bright
And shun to gaze thereon; the sun even blinds,
If thou goest on to strain them unto him,
Because his strength is mighty, and the films
Heavily downward from on high are borne
Through the pure ether and the viewless winds,
And strike the eyes, disordering their joints.
So piecing lustre often burns the eyes,
Because it holdeth many seeds of fire
Which, working into eyes, engender pain.
Again, whatever jaundiced people view
Becomes wan-yellow, since from out their bodies
Flow many seeds wan-yellow forth to meet
The films of things, and many too are mixed
Within their eye, which by contagion paint
All things with sallowness.
99
E
tenebris
autem
quae
sunt
in
luce
tuemur

propterea
quia
,
cum
propior
caliginis
aër

ater
init
oculos
prior
et
possedit
apertos
,
insequitur
candens
confestim
lucidus
aër
,
qui
quasi
purgat
eos
ac
nigras
discutit
umbras
aëris

illius
;
nam
multis
partibus
hic
est

mobilior
multisque
minutior
et
mage
pollens
.
qui
simul
atque
vias
oculorum
luce
replevit

atque
pate
fecit
,
quas
ante
obsederat
aër

ATER
,
continuo
rerum
simulacra
secuntur
,
quae
sita
sunt
in
luce
,
lacessuntque
ut
videamus
.
quod
contra
facere
in
tenebris
e
luce
nequimus

propterea
quia
posterior
caliginis
aër

crassior
insequitur
,
qui
cuncta
foramina
complet

obsiditque
vias
oculorum
,
ne
simulacra

possint
ullarum
rerum
coniecta
moveri
.
Quadratasque
procul
turris
cum
cernimus
urbis
,
propterea
fit
uti
videantur
saepe
rutundae
,
angulus
optusus
quia
longe
cernitur
omnis

sive
etiam
potius
non
cernitur
ac
perit
eius

plaga
nec
ad
nostras
acies
perlabitur
ictus
,
aëra

per
multum
quia
dum
simulacra
feruntur
,
cogit
hebescere
eum
crebris
offensibus
aër
.
hoc
ubi
suffugit
sensum
simul
angulus
omnis
.
fit
quasi
ut
ad
turnum
saxorum
structa
tuantur
;
non
tamen
ut
coram
quae
sunt
vereque
rutunda
,
sed
quasi
adumbratim
paulum
simulata
videntur
.
Umbra
videtur
item
nobis
in
sole
moveri

et
vestigia
nostra
sequi
gestumque
imitari
,
aëra

si
credis
privatum
lumine
posse

indugredi
,
motus
hominum
gestumque
sequentem
;
nam
nihil
esse
potest
aliud
nisi
lumine
cassus
aër

id
quod
nos
umbram
perhibere
suëmus
.
ni
mirum
,
quia
terra
locis
ex
ordine
certis

lumine
privatur
solis
qua
cumque
meantes

officimus
,
repletur
item
quod
liquimus
eius
,
propterea
fit
uti
videatur
,
quae
fuit
umbra

corporis
,
e
regione
eadem
nos
usque
secuta
.
semper
enim
nova
se
radiorum
lumina
fundunt

primaque
dispereunt
,
quasi
in
ignem
lana
trahatur
.
propterea
facile
et
spoliatur
lumine
terra

et
repletur
item
nigrasque
sibi
abluit
umbras
.

Again, we view
From dark recesses things that stand in light,
Because, when first has entered and possessed
The open eyes this nearer darkling air,
Swiftly the shining air and luminous
Followeth in, which purges then the eyes
And scatters asunder of that other air
The sable shadows, for in large degrees
This air is nimbler, nicer, and more strong.
And soon as ever 'thas filled and oped with light
The pathways of the eyeballs, which before
Black air had blocked, there follow straightaway
Those films of things out-standing in the light,
Provoking vision- what we cannot do
From out the light with objects in the dark,
Because that denser darkling air behind
Followeth in, and fills each aperture
And thus blockades the pathways of the eyes
That there no images of any things
Can be thrown in and agitate the eyes.
And when from far away we do behold
The squared towers of a city, oft
Rounded they seem,- on this account because
Each distant angle is perceived obtuse,
Or rather it is not perceived at all;
And perishes its blow nor to our gaze
Arrives its stroke, since through such length of air
Are borne along the idols that the air
Makes blunt the idol of the angle's point
By numerous collidings. When thuswise
The angles of the tower each and all
Have quite escaped the sense, the stones appear
As rubbed and rounded on a turner's wheel-
Yet not like objects near and truly round,
But with a semblance to them, shadowily.
Likewise, our shadow in the sun appears
To move along and follow our own steps
And imitate our carriage- if thou thinkest
Air that is thus bereft of light can walk,
Following the gait and motion of mankind.
For what we use to name a shadow, sure
Is naught but air deprived of light. No marvel:
Because the earth from spot to spot is reft
Progressively of light of sun, whenever
In moving round we get within its way,
While any spot of earth by us abandoned
Is filled with light again, on this account
It comes to pass that what was body's shadow
Seems still the same to follow after us
In one straight course. Since, evermore pour in
New lights of rays, and perish then the old,
Just like the wool that's drawn into the flame.
Therefore the earth is easily spoiled of light
And easily refilled and from herself
Washeth the black shadows quite away.
100
Nec
tamen
hic
oculos
falli
concedimus
hilum
.
nam
quo
cumque
loco
sit
lux
atque
umbra
tueri

illorum
est
;
eadem
vero
sint
lumina
necne
,
umbraque
quae
fuit
hic
eadem
nunc
transeat
illuc
,
an
potius
fiat
paulo
quod
diximus
ante
,
hoc
animi
demum
ratio
discernere
debet
,
nec
possunt
oculi
naturam
noscere
rerum
.
proinde
animi
vitium
hoc
oculis
adfingere
noli
.
Qua
vehimur
navi
,
fertur
,
cum
stare
videtur
;
quae
manet
in
statione
,
ea
praeter
creditur
ire
.
et
fugere
ad
puppim
colles
campique
videntur
,
quos
agimus
praeter
navem
velisque
volamus
.
Sidera
cessare
aetheriis
adfixa
cavernis

cuncta
videntur
,
et
adsiduo
sunt
omnia
motu
,
quandoquidem
longos
obitus
exorta
revisunt
,
cum
permensa
suo
sunt
caelum
corpore
claro
.
solque
pari
ratione
manere
et
luna
videtur

in
statione
,
ea
quae
ferri
res
indicat
ipsa
.
Exstantisque
procul
medio
de
gurgite
montis

classibus
inter
quos
liber
patet
exitus
ingens
,
insula
coniunctis
tamen
ex
his
una
videtur
.
atria
versari
et
circum
cursare
columnae

usque
adeo
fit
uti
pueris
videantur
,
ubi
ipsi

desierunt
verti
,
vix
ut
iam
credere
possint

non
supra
sese
ruere
omnia
tecta
minari
.
Iamque
rubrum
tremulis
iubar
ignibus
erigere
alte

cum
coeptat
natura
supraque
extollere
montes
,
quos
tibi
tum
supra
sol
montis
esse
videtur

comminus
ipse
suo
contingens
fervidus
igni
,
vix
absunt
nobis
missus
bis
mille
sagittae
,
vix
etiam
cursus
quingentos
saepe
veruti
;
inter
eos
solemque
iacent
immania
ponti

aequora
substrata
aetheriis
ingentibus
oris
,
interiectaque
sunt
terrarum
milia
multa
,
quae
variae
retinent
gentes
et
saecla
ferarum
.

And yet in this we don't at all concede
That eyes be cheated. For their task it is
To note in whatsoever place be light,
In what be shadow: whether or no the gleams
Be still the same, and whether the shadow which
Just now was here is that one passing thither,
Or whether the facts be what we said above,
'Tis after all the reasoning of mind
That must decide; nor can our eyeballs know
The nature of reality. And so
Attach thou not this fault of mind to eyes,
Nor lightly think our senses everywhere
Are tottering. The ship in which we sail
Is borne along, although it seems to stand;
The ship that bides in roadstead is supposed
There to be passing by. And hills and fields
Seem fleeing fast astern, past which we urge
The ship and fly under the bellying sails.
The stars, each one, do seem to pause, affixed
To the ethereal caverns, though they all
Forever are in motion, rising out
And thence revisiting their far descents
When they have measured with their bodies bright
The span of heaven. And likewise sun and moon
Seem biding in a roadstead,- objects which,
As plain fact proves, are really borne along.
Between two mountains far away aloft
From midst the whirl of waters open lies
A gaping exit for the fleet, and yet
They seem conjoined in a single isle.
When boys themselves have stopped their spinning round,
The halls still seem to whirl and posts to reel,
Until they now must almost think the roofs
Threaten to ruin down upon their heads.
And now, when nature begins to lift on high
The sun's red splendour and the tremulous fires,
And raise him o'er the mountain-tops, those mountains-
O'er which he seemeth then to thee to be,
His glowing self hard by atingeing them
With his own fire- are yet away from us
Scarcely two thousand arrow-shots, indeed
Oft scarce five hundred courses of a dart;
Although between those mountains and the sun
Lie the huge plains of ocean spread beneath
The vasty shores of ether, and intervene
A thousand lands, possessed by many a folk
And generations of wild beasts. Again,
101
At
coniectus
aquae
digitum
non
altior
unum
,
qui
lapides
inter
sistit
per
strata
viarum
,
despectum
praebet
sub
terras
inpete
tanto
,
a
terris
quantum
caeli
patet
altus
hiatus
,
nubila
despicere
et
caelum
ut
videare
videre
,
corpora
mirande
sub
terras
abdita
caelo
.
Denique
ubi
in
medio
nobis
ecus
acer
obhaesit

flumine
et
in
rapidas
amnis
despeximus
undas
,
stantis
equi
corpus
transversum
ferre
videtur

vis
et
in
adversum
flumen
contrudere
raptim
,
et
quo
cumque
oculos
traiecimus
omnia
ferri

et
fluere
adsimili
nobis
ratione
videntur
.
Porticus
aequali
quamvis
est
denique
ductu

stansque
in
perpetuum
paribus
suffulta
columnis
,
longa
tamen
parte
ab
summa
cum
tota
videtur
,
paulatim
trahit
angusti
fastigia
coni
,
tecta
solo
iungens
atque
omnia
dextera
laevis

donec
in
obscurum
coni
conduxit
acumen
.
In
pelago
nautis
ex
undis
ortus
in
undis

sol
fit
uti
videatur
obire
et
condere
lumen
;
quippe
ubi
nil
aliud
nisi
aquam
caelumque
tuentur
;
ne
leviter
credas
labefactari
undique
sensus
.
at
maris
ignaris
in
portu
clauda
videntur

navigia
aplustris
fractis
obnitier
undis
.
nam
quae
cumque
supra
rorem
salis
edita
pars
est

remorum
,
recta
est
,
et
recta
superne
guberna
;
quae
demersa
liquore
obeunt
,
refracta
videntur

omnia
converti
sursumque
supina
reverti

et
reflexa
prope
in
summo
fluitare
liquore
.
Raraque
per
caelum
cum
venti
nubila
portant

tempore
nocturno
,
tum
splendida
signa
videntur

labier
adversum
nimbos
atque
ire
superne

longe
aliam
in
partem
ac
vera
ratione
feruntur

A pool of water of but a finger's depth,
Which lies between the stones along the pave,
Offers a vision downward into earth
As far, as from the earth o'erspread on high
The gulfs of heaven; that thus thou seemest to view
Clouds down below and heavenly bodies plunged
Wondrously in heaven under earth.
Then too, when in the middle of the stream
Sticks fast our dashing horse, and down we gaze
Into the river's rapid waves, some force
Seems then to bear the body of the horse,
Though standing still, reversely from his course,
And swiftly push up-stream. And wheresoe'er
We cast our eyes across, all objects seem
Thus to be onward borne and flow along
In the same way as we. A portico,
Albeit it stands well propped from end to end
On equal columns, parallel and big,
Contracts by stages in a narrow cone,
When from one end the long, long whole is seen,-
Until, conjoining ceiling with the floor,
And the whole right side with the left, it draws
Together to a cone's nigh-viewless point.
To sailors on the main the sun he seems
From out the waves to rise, and in the waves
To set and bury his light- because indeed
They gaze on naught but water and the sky.
Again, to gazers ignorant of the sea,
Vessels in port seem, as with broken poops,
To lean upon the water, quite agog;
For any portion of the oars that's raised
Above the briny spray is straight, and straight
The rudders from above. But other parts,
Those sunk, immersed below the water-line,
Seem broken all and bended and inclined
Sloping to upwards, and turned back to float
Almost atop the water. And when the winds
Carry the scattered drifts along the sky
In the night-time, then seem to glide along
The radiant constellations 'gainst the clouds
And there on high to take far other course
From that whereon in truth they're borne. And then,
102
At
si
forte
oculo
manus
uni
subdita
supter

pressit
eum
,
quodam
sensu
fit
uti
videantur

omnia
quae
tuimur
fieri
tum
bina
tuendo
,
bina
lucernarum
florentia
lumina
flammis

binaque
per
totas
aedis
geminare
supellex

et
duplicis
hominum
facies
et
corpora
bina
.
Denique
cum
suavi
devinxit
membra
sopore

somnus
et
in
summa
corpus
iacet
omne
quiete
,
tum
vigilare
tamen
nobis
et
membra
movere

nostra
videmur
,
et
in
noctis
caligine
caeca

cernere
censemus
solem
lumenque
diurnum
,
conclusoque
loco
caelum
mare
flumina
montis

mutare
et
campos
pedibus
transire
videmur
,
et
sonitus
audire
,
severa
silentia
noctis

undique
cum
constent
,
et
reddere
dicta
tacentes
.
Cetera
de
genere
hoc
mirande
multa
videmus
,
quae
violare
fidem
quasi
sensibus
omnia
quaerunt
,
ne
quiquam
,
quoniam
pars
horum
maxima
fallit

propter
opinatus
animi
,
quos
addimus
ipsi
,
pro
visis
ut
sint
quae
non
sunt
sensibus
visa
;
nam
nihil
aegrius
est
quam
res
secernere
apertas

ab
dubiis
,
animus
quas
ab
se
protinus
addit
.

If haply our hand be set beneath one eye
And press below thereon, then to our gaze
Each object which we gaze on seems to be,
By some sensation twain- then twain the lights
Of lampions burgeoning in flowers of flame,
And twain the furniture in all the house,
Two-fold the visages of fellow-men,
And twain their bodies. And again, when sleep
Has bound our members down in slumber soft
And all the body lies in deep repose,
Yet then we seem to self to be awake
And move our members; and in night's blind gloom
We think to mark the daylight and the sun;
And, shut within a room, yet still we seem
To change our skies, our oceans, rivers, hills,
To cross the plains afoot, and hear new sounds,
Though still the austere silence of the night
Abides around us, and to speak replies,
Though voiceless. Other cases of the sort
Wondrously many do we see, which all
Seek, so to say, to injure faith in sense-
In vain, because the largest part of these
Deceives through mere opinions of the mind,
Which we do add ourselves, feigning to see
What by the senses are not seen at all.
For naught is harder than to separate
Plain facts from dubious, which the mind forthwith
Adds by itself.
103
Denique
nil
sciri
siquis
putat
,
id
quoque
nescit

an
sciri
possit
,
quoniam
nil
scire
fatetur
.
hunc
igitur
contra
minuam
contendere
causam
,
qui
capite
ipse
suo
in
statuit
vestigia
sese
.
et
tamen
hoc
quoque
uti
concedam
scire
,
at
id
ipsum

quaeram
,
cum
in
rebus
veri
nil
viderit
ante
,
unde
sciat
quid
sit
scire
et
nescire
vicissim
,
notitiam
veri
quae
res
falsique
crearit

et
dubium
certo
quae
res
differre
probarit
.
invenies
primis
ab
sensibus
esse
creatam

notitiem
veri
neque
sensus
posse
refelli
.
nam
maiore
fide
debet
reperirier
illud
,
sponte
sua
veris
quod
possit
vincere
falsa
.
quid
maiore
fide
porro
quam
sensus
haberi

debet
?
an
ab
sensu
falso
ratio
orta
valebit

dicere
eos
contra
,
quae
tota
ab
sensibus
orta
est
?
qui
nisi
sunt
veri
,
ratio
quoque
falsa
fit
omnis
.
An
poterunt
oculos
aures
reprehendere
,
an
aures

tactus
?
an
hunc
porro
tactum
sapor
arguet
oris
,
an
confutabunt
nares
oculive
revincent
?
non
,
ut
opinor
,
ita
est
.
nam
seorsum
cuique
potestas

divisast
,
sua
vis
cuiquest
,
ideoque
necesse
est

et
quod
molle
sit
et
gelidum
fervensve
videre

et
seorsum
varios
rerum
sentire
colores

et
quae
cumque
coloribus
sint
coniuncta
necessest
.
seorsus
item
sapor
oris
habet
vim
,
seorsus
odores

nascuntur
,
seorsum
sonitus
.
ideoque
necesse
est

non
possint
alios
alii
convincere
sensus
.
nec
porro
poterunt
ipsi
reprehendere
sese
,
aequa
fides
quoniam
debebit
semper
haberi
.
proinde
quod
in
quoquest
his
visum
tempore
,
verumst
.

Again, if one suppose
That naught is known, he knows not whether this
Itself is able to be known, since he
Confesses naught to know. Therefore with him
I waive discussion- who has set his head
Even where his feet should be. But let me grant
That this he knows,- I question: whence he knows
What 'tis to know and not-to-know in turn,
And what created concept of the truth,
And what device has proved the dubious
To differ from the certain?- since in things
He's heretofore seen naught of true. Thou'lt find
That from the senses first hath been create
Concept of truth, nor can the senses be
Rebutted. For criterion must be found
Worthy of greater trust, which shall defeat
Through own authority the false by true;
What, then, than these our senses must there be
Worthy a greater trust? Shall reason, sprung
From some false sense, prevail to contradict
Those senses, sprung as reason wholly is
From out the senses?- For lest these be true,
All reason also then is falsified.
Or shall the ears have power to blame the eyes,
Or yet the touch the ears? Again, shall taste
Accuse this touch or shall the nose confute
Or eyes defeat it? Methinks not so it is:
For unto each has been divided off
Its function quite apart, its power to each;
And thus we're still constrained to perceive
The soft, the cold, the hot apart, apart
All divers hues and whatso things there be
Conjoined with hues. Likewise the tasting tongue
Has its own power apart, and smells apart
And sounds apart are known. And thus it is
That no one sense can e'er convict another.
Nor shall one sense have power to blame itself,
Because it always must be deemed the same,
Worthy of equal trust. And therefore what
At any time unto these senses showed,
The same is true.
104
Et
si
non
poterit
ratio
dissolvere
causam
,
cur
ea
quae
fuerint
iuxtim
quadrata
,
procul
sint

visa
rutunda
,
tamen
praestat
rationis
egentem

reddere
mendose
causas
utriusque
figurae
,
quam
manibus
manifesta
suis
emittere
quoquam

et
violare
fidem
primam
et
convellere
tota

fundamenta
quibus
nixatur
vita
salusque
.
non
modo
enim
ratio
ruat
omnis
,
vita
quoque
ipsa

concidat
extemplo
,
nisi
credere
sensibus
ausis

praecipitisque
locos
vitare
et
cetera
quae
sint

in
genere
hoc
fugienda
,
sequi
contraria
quae
sint
.
illa
tibi
est
igitur
verborum
copia
cassa

omnis
,
quae
contra
sensus
instructa
paratast
.
Denique
ut
in
fabrica
,
si
pravast
regula
prima
,
normaque
si
fallax
rectis
regionibus
exit
,
et
libella
aliqua
si
ex
parti
claudicat
hilum
,
omnia
mendose
fieri
atque
obstipa
necessu
est

prava
cubantia
prona
supina
atque
absona
tecta
,
iam
ruere
ut
quaedam
videantur
velle
,
ruantque

prodita
iudiciis
fallacibus
omnia
primis
,
sic
igitur
ratio
tibi
rerum
prava
necessest

falsaque
sit
,
falsis
quae
cumque
ab
sensibus
ortast
.

And if the reason be
Unable to unravel us the cause
Why objects, which at hand were square, afar
Seemed rounded, yet it more availeth us,
Lacking the reason, to pretend a cause
For each configuration, than to let
From out our hands escape the obvious things
And injure primal faith in sense, and wreck
All those foundations upon which do rest
Our life and safety. For not only reason
Would topple down; but even our very life
Would straightaway collapse, unless we dared
To trust our senses and to keep away
From headlong heights and places to be shunned
Of a like peril, and to seek with speed
Their opposites! Again, as in a building,
If the first plumb-line be askew, and if
The square deceiving swerve from lines exact,
And if the level waver but the least
In any part, the whole construction then
Must turn out faulty- shelving and askew,
Leaning to back and front, incongruous,
That now some portions seem about to fall,
And falls the whole ere long- betrayed indeed
By first deceiving estimates: so too
Thy calculations in affairs of life
Must be askew and false, if sprung for thee
From senses false. So all that troop of words
Marshalled against the senses is quite vain.