De Rerum Natura |
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
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121 |
Nec Veneris fructu caret is qui vitat amorem , sed potius quae sunt sine poena commoda sumit ; nam certe purast sanis magis inde voluptas quam miseris ; etenim potiundi tempore in ipso fluctuat incertis erroribus ardor amantum nec constat quid primum oculis manibusque fruantur . quod petiere , premunt arte faciuntque dolorem corporis et dentes inlidunt saepe labellis osculaque adfigunt , quia non est pura voluptas et stimuli subsunt , qui instigant laedere id ipsum , quod cumque est , rabies unde illaec germina surgunt . sed leviter poenas frangit Venus inter amorem blandaque refrenat morsus admixta voluptas . namque in eo spes est , unde est ardoris origo , restingui quoque posse ab eodem corpore flammam . quod fieri contra totum natura repugnat ; unaque res haec est , cuius quam plurima habemus , tam magis ardescit dira cuppedine pectus . nam cibus atque umor membris adsumitur intus ; quae quoniam certas possunt obsidere partis , hoc facile expletur laticum frugumque cupido . ex hominis vero facie pulchroque colore nil datur in corpus praeter simulacra fruendum tenvia ; quae vento spes raptast saepe misella . ut bibere in somnis sitiens quom quaerit et umor non datur , ardorem qui membris stinguere possit , sed laticum simulacra petit frustraque laborat in medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans , sic in amore Venus simulacris ludit amantis , nec satiare queunt spectando corpora coram nec manibus quicquam teneris abradere membris possunt errantes incerti corpore toto . denique cum membris conlatis flore fruuntur aetatis , iam cum praesagit gaudia corpus atque in eost Venus ut muliebria conserat arva , adfigunt avide corpus iunguntque salivas oris et inspirant pressantes dentibus ora , ne quiquam , quoniam nihil inde abradere possunt nec penetrare et abire in corpus corpore toto ; nam facere inter dum velle et certare videntur . usque adeo cupide in Veneris compagibus haerent , membra voluptatis dum vi labefacta liquescunt . tandem ubi se erupit nervis coniecta cupido , parva fit ardoris violenti pausa parumper . inde redit rabies eadem et furor ille revisit , cum sibi quod cupiant ipsi contingere quaerunt , nec reperire malum id possunt quae machina vincat . usque adeo incerti tabescunt volnere caeco .
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Nor doth that man who keeps away from love Yet lack the fruits of Venus; rather takes Those pleasures which are free of penalties. For the delights of Venus, verily, Are more unmixed for mortals sane-of-soul Than for those sick-at-heart with love-pining. Yea, in the very moment of possessing, Surges the heat of lovers to and fro, Restive, uncertain; and they cannot fix On what to first enjoy with eyes and hands. The parts they sought for, those they squeeze so tight, And pain the creature's body, close their teeth Often against her lips, and smite with kiss Mouth into mouth,- because this same delight Is not unmixed; and underneath are stings Which goad a man to hurt the very thing, Whate'er it be, from whence arise for him Those germs of madness. But with gentle touch Venus subdues the pangs in midst of love, And the admixture of a fondling joy Doth curb the bites of passion. For they hope That by the very body whence they caught The heats of love their flames can be put out. But nature protests 'tis all quite otherwise; For this same love it is the one sole thing Of which, the more we have, the fiercer burns The breast with fell desire. For food and drink Are taken within our members; and, since they Can stop up certain parts, thus, easily Desire of water is glutted and of bread. But, lo, from human face and lovely bloom Naught penetrates our frame to be enjoyed Save flimsy idol-images and vain- A sorry hope which oft the winds disperse. As when the thirsty man in slumber seeks To drink, and water ne'er is granted him Wherewith to quench the heat within his members, But after idols of the liquids strives And toils in vain, and thirsts even whilst he gulps In middle of the torrent, thus in love Venus deludes with idol-images The lovers. Nor they cannot sate their lust By merely gazing on the bodies, nor They cannot with their palms and fingers rub Aught from each tender limb, the while they stray Uncertain over all the body. Then, At last, with members intertwined, when they Enjoy the flower of their age, when now Their bodies have sweet presage of keen joys, And Venus is about to sow the fields Of woman, greedily their frames they lock, And mingle the slaver of their mouths, and breathe Into each other, pressing teeth on mouths- Yet to no purpose, since they're powerless To rub off aught, or penetrate and pass With body entire into body- for oft They seem to strive and struggle thus to do; So eagerly they cling in Venus' bonds, Whilst melt away their members, overcome By violence of delight. But when at last Lust, gathered in the thews, hath spent itself, There come a brief pause in the raging heat- But then a madness just the same returns And that old fury visits them again, When once again they seek and crave to reach They know not what, all powerless to find The artifice to subjugate the bane. In such uncertain state they waste away With unseen wound. |
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Adde quod absumunt viris pereuntque labore , adde quod alterius sub nutu degitur aetas , languent officia atque aegrotat fama vacillans . labitur interea res et Babylonia fiunt unguenta et pulchra in pedibus Sicyonia rident , scilicet et grandes viridi cum luce zmaragdi auro includuntur teriturque thalassina vestis adsidue et Veneris sudorem exercita potat . et bene parta patrum fiunt anademata , mitrae , inter dum in pallam atque Alidensia Ciaque vertunt . eximia veste et victu convivia , ludi , pocula crebra , unguenta , coronae , serta parantur , ne quiquam , quoniam medio de fonte leporum surgit amari aliquid , quod in ipsis floribus angat , aut cum conscius ipse animus se forte remordet desidiose agere aetatem lustrisque perire , aut quod in ambiguo verbum iaculata reliquit , quod cupido adfixum cordi vivescit ut ignis , aut nimium iactare oculos aliumve tueri quod putat in voltuque videt vestigia risus .
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To which be added too, They squander powers and with the travail wane; Be added too, they spend their futile years Under another's beck and call; their duties Neglected languish and their honest name Reeleth sick, sick; and meantime their estates Are lost in Babylonian tapestries; And unguents and dainty Sicyonian shoes Laugh on her feet; and (as ye may be sure) Big emeralds of green light are set in gold; And rich sea-purple dress by constant wear Grows shabby and all soaked with Venus' sweat; And the well-earned ancestral property Becometh head-bands, coifs, and many a time The cloaks, or garments Alidensian Or of the Cean isle. And banquets, set With rarest cloth and viands, are prepared- And games of chance, and many a drinking cup, And unguents, crowns and garlands. All in vain, Since from amid the well-spring of delights Bubbles some drop of bitter to torment Among the very flowers- when haply mind Gnaws into self, now stricken with remorse For slothful years and ruin in baudels, Or else because she's left him all in doubt By launching some sly word, which still like fire Lives wildly, cleaving to his eager heart; Or else because he thinks she darts her eyes Too much about and gazes at another,- And in her face sees traces of a laugh. |
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Atque in amore mala haec proprio summeque secundo inveniuntur ; in adverso vero atque inopi sunt , prendere quae possis oculorum lumine operto . innumerabilia ; ut melius vigilare sit ante , qua docui ratione , cavereque , ne inliciaris . nam vitare , plagas in amoris ne iaciamur , non ita difficile est quam captum retibus ipsis exire et validos Veneris perrumpere nodos . et tamen implicitus quoque possis inque peditus effugere infestum , nisi tute tibi obvius obstes et praetermittas animi vitia omnia primum aut quae corporis sunt eius , quam praepetis ac vis . nam faciunt homines plerumque cupidine caeci et tribuunt ea quae non sunt his commoda vere . multimodis igitur pravas turpisque videmus esse in deliciis summoque in honore vigere . atque alios alii inrident Veneremque suadent ut placent , quoniam foedo adflictentur amore , nec sua respiciunt miseri mala maxima saepe . nigra melichrus est , inmunda et fetida acosmos , caesia Palladium , nervosa et lignea dorcas , parvula , pumilio , chariton mia , tota merum sal , magna atque inmanis cataplexis plenaque honoris . balba loqui non quit , traulizi , muta pudens est ; at flagrans , odiosa , loquacula Lampadium fit . ischnon eromenion tum fit , cum vivere non quit prae macie ; rhadine verost iam mortua tussi . at nimia et mammosa Ceres est ipsa ab Iaccho , simula Silena ac Saturast , labeosa philema . cetera de genere hoc longum est si dicere coner . sed tamen esto iam quantovis oris honore , cui Veneris membris vis omnibus exoriatur ; nempe aliae quoque sunt ; nempe hac sine viximus ante ; nempe eadem facit et scimus facere omnia turpi et miseram taetris se suffit odoribus ipsa , quam famulae longe fugitant furtimque cachinnant . at lacrimans exclusus amator limina saepe floribus et sertis operit postisque superbos unguit amaracino et foribus miser oscula figit ; quem si iam ammissum venientem offenderit aura una modo , causas abeundi quaerat honestas et meditata diu cadat alte sumpta querella stultitiaque ibi se damnet , tribuisse quod illi plus videat quam mortali concedere par est . nec Veneres nostras hoc fallit ; quo magis ipsae omnia summo opere hos vitae poscaenia celant , quos retinere volunt adstrictosque esse in amore , ne quiquam , quoniam tu animo tamen omnia possis protrahere in lucem atque omnis inquirere risus et , si bello animost et non odiosa , vicissim praetermittere humanis concedere rebus .
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These ills are found in prospering love and true; But in crossed love and helpless there be such As through shut eyelids thou canst still take in- Uncounted ills; so that 'tis better far To watch beforehand, in the way I've shown, And guard against enticements. For to shun A fall into the hunting-snares of love Is not so hard, as to get out again, When tangled in the very nets, and burst The stoutly-knotted cords of Aphrodite. Yet even when there enmeshed with tangled feet, Still canst thou scape the danger-lest indeed Thou standest in the way of thine own good, And overlookest first all blemishes Of mind and body of thy much preferred, Desirable dame. For so men do, Eyeless with passion, and assign to them Graces not theirs in fact. And thus we see Creatures in many a wise crooked and ugly The prosperous sweethearts in a high esteem; And lovers gird each other and advise To placate Venus, since their friends are smit With a base passion- miserable dupes Who seldom mark their own worst bane of all. The black-skinned girl is "tawny like the honey"; The filthy and the fetid's "negligee"; The cat-eyed she's "a little Pallas," she; The sinewy and wizened's "a gazelle"; The pudgy and the pigmy is "piquant, One of the Graces sure"; the big and bulky O she's "an Admiration, imposante"; The stuttering and tongue-tied "sweetly lisps"; The mute girl's "modest"; and the garrulous, The spiteful spit-fire, is "a sparkling wit"; And she who scarcely lives for scrawniness Becomes "a slender darling"; "delicate" Is she who's nearly dead of coughing-fit; The pursy female with protuberant breasts She is "like Ceres when the goddess gave Young Bacchus suck"; the pug-nosed lady-love "A Satyress, a feminine Silenus"; The blubber-lipped is "all one luscious kiss"- A weary while it were to tell the whole. But let her face possess what charm ye will, Let Venus' glory rise from all her limbs,- Forsooth there still are others; and forsooth We lived before without her; and forsooth She does the same things- and we know she does- All, as the ugly creature, and she scents, Yes she, her wretched self with vile perfumes; Whom even her handmaids flee and giggle at Behind her back. But he, the lover, in tears Because shut out, covers her threshold o'er Often with flowers and garlands, and anoints Her haughty door-posts with the marjoram, And prints, poor fellow, kisses on the doors- Admitted at last, if haply but one whiff Got to him on approaching, he would seek Decent excuses to go out forthwith; And his lament, long pondered, then would fall Down at his heels; and there he'd damn himself For his fatuity, observing how He had assigned to that same lady more- Than it is proper to concede to mortals. And these our Venuses are 'ware of this. Wherefore the more are they at pains to hide All the-behind-the-scenes of life from those Whom they desire to keep in bonds of love- In vain, since ne'ertheless thou canst by thought Drag all the matter forth into the light And well search out the cause of all these smiles; And if of graceful mind she be and kind, Do thou, in thy turn, overlook the same, And thus allow for poor mortality. |
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Nec mulier semper ficto suspirat amore , quae conplexa viri corpus cum corpore iungit et tenet adsuctis umectans oscula labris ; nam facit ex animo saepe et communia quaerens gaudia sollicitat spatium decurrere amoris . nec ratione alia volucres armenta feraeque et pecudes et equae maribus subsidere possent , si non , ipsa quod illarum subat , ardet abundans natura et Venerem salientum laeta retractat . nonne vides etiam quos mutua saepe voluptas vinxit , ut in vinclis communibus excrucientur , in triviis cum saepe canes discedere aventis divorsi cupide summis ex viribus tendunt , quom interea validis Veneris compagibus haerent ? quod facerent numquam , nisi mutua gaudia nossent , quae iacere in fraudem possent vinctosque tenere . quare etiam atque etiam , ut dico , est communis voluptas .
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Nor sighs the woman always with feigned love, Who links her body round man's body locked And holds him fast, making his kisses wet With lips sucked into lips; for oft she acts Even from desire, and, seeking mutual joys, Incites him there to run love's race-course through. Nor otherwise can cattle, birds, wild beasts, And sheep and mares submit unto the males, Except that their own nature is in heat, And burns abounding and with gladness takes Once more the Venus of the mounting males. And seest thou not how those whom mutual pleasure Hath bound are tortured in their common bonds? How often in the cross-roads dogs that pant To get apart strain eagerly asunder With utmost might?- When all the while they're fast In the stout links of Venus. But they'd ne'er So pull, except they knew those mutual joys- So powerful to cast them unto snares And hold them bound. Wherefore again, again, Even as I say, there is a joint delight. |
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Et commiscendo quom semine forte virilem femina vim vicit subita vi corripuitque , tum similes matrum materno semine fiunt , ut patribus patrio . sed quos utriusque figurae esse vides , iuxtim miscentes vulta parentum , corpore de patrio et materno sanguine crescunt , semina cum Veneris stimulis excita per artus obvia conflixit conspirans mutuus ardor , et neque utrum superavit eorum nec superatumst . fit quoque ut inter dum similes existere avorum possint et referant proavorum saepe figuras , propterea quia multa modis primordia multis mixta suo celant in corpore saepe parentis , quae patribus patres tradunt a stirpe profecta . inde Venus varia producit sorte figuras , maiorumque refert voltus vocesque comasque ; quandoquidem nihilo magis haec semine certo fiunt quam facies et corpora membraque nobis . et muliebre oritur patrio de semine saeclum maternoque mares existunt corpore creti ; semper enim partus duplici de semine constat , atque utri similest magis id quod cumque creatur , eius habet plus parte aequa ; quod cernere possis , sive virum suboles sivest muliebris origo .
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And when perchance, in mingling seed with his, The female hath o'erpowered the force of male And by a sudden fling hath seized it fast, Then are the offspring, more from mothers' seed, More like their mothers; as, from fathers' seed, They're like to fathers. But whom seest to be Partakers of each shape, one equal blend Of parents' features, these are generate From fathers' body and from mothers' blood, When mutual and harmonious heat hath dashed Together seeds, aroused along their frames By Venus' goads, and neither of the twain Mastereth or is mastered. Happens too That sometimes offspring can to being come In likeness of their grandsires, and bring back Often the shapes of grandsires' sires, because Their parents in their bodies oft retain Concealed many primal germs, commixed In many modes, which, starting with the stock, Sire handeth down to son, himself a sire; Whence Venus by a variable chance Engenders shapes, and diversely brings back Ancestral features, voices too, and hair. A female generation rises forth From seed paternal, and from mother's body Exist created males: since sex proceeds No more from singleness of seed than faces Or bodies or limbs of ours: for every birth Is from a twofold seed; and what's created Hath, of that parent which it is more like, More than its equal share; as thou canst mark,- Whether the breed be male or female stock. |
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Nec divina satum genitalem numina cuiquam absterrent , pater a gnatis ne dulcibus umquam appelletur et ut sterili Venere exigat aevom ; quod plerumque putant et multo sanguine maesti conspergunt aras adolentque altaria donis , ut gravidas reddant uxores semine largo ; ne quiquam divom numen sortisque fatigant ; nam steriles nimium crasso sunt semine partim , et liquido praeter iustum tenuique vicissim . tenve locis quia non potis est adfigere adhaesum , liquitur extemplo et revocatum cedit abortu . crassius hinc porro quoniam concretius aequo mittitur , aut non tam prolixo provolat ictu aut penetrare locos aeque nequit aut penetratum aegre admiscetur muliebri semine semen . nam multum harmoniae Veneris differre videntur . atque alias alii complent magis ex aliisque succipiunt aliae pondus magis inque gravescunt . et multae steriles Hymenaeis ante fuerunt pluribus et nactae post sunt tamen unde puellos suscipere et partu possent ditescere dulci . et quibus ante domi fecundae saepe nequissent uxoris parere , inventast illis quoque compar natura , ut possent gnatis munire senectam . usque adeo magni refert , ut semina possint seminibus commisceri genitaliter apta crassaque conveniant liquidis et liquida crassis . atque in eo refert quo victu vita colatur ; namque aliis rebus concrescunt semina membris atque aliis extenvantur tabentque vicissim . et quibus ipsa modis tractetur blanda voluptas . id quoque permagni refert ; nam more ferarum quadrupedumque magis ritu plerumque putantur concipere uxores , quia sic loca sumere possunt pectoribus positis sublatis semina lumbis . nec molles opus sunt motus uxoribus hilum . nam mulier prohibet se concipere atque repugnat , clunibus ipsa viri Venerem si laeta retractat atque exossato ciet omni pectore fluctus ; eicit enim sulcum recta regione viaque vomeris atque locis avertit seminis ictum . idque sua causa consuerunt scorta moveri , ne complerentur crebro gravidaeque iacerent , et simul ipsa viris Venus ut concinnior esset ; coniugibus quod nil nostris opus esse videtur .
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Nor do the powers divine grudge any man The fruits of his seed-sowing, so that never He be called "father" by sweet children his, And end his days in sterile love forever. What many men suppose; and gloomily They sprinkle the altars with abundant blood, And make the high platforms odorous with burnt gifts, To render big by plenteous seed their wives- And plague in vain godheads and sacred lots. For sterile are these men by seed too thick, Or else by far too watery and thin. Because the thin is powerless to cleave Fast to the proper places, straightaway It trickles from them, and, returned again, Retires abortively. And then since seed More gross and solid than will suit is spent By some men, either it flies not forth amain With spurt prolonged enough, or else it fails To enter suitably the proper places, Or, having entered, the seed is weakly mixed With seed of the woman: harmonies of Venus Are seen to matter vastly here; and some Impregnate some more readily, and from some Some women conceive more readily and become Pregnant. And many women, sterile before In several marriage-beds, have yet thereafter Obtained the mates from whom they could conceive The baby-boys, and with sweet progeny Grow rich. And even for husbands (whose own wives, Although of fertile wombs, have borne for them No babies in the house) are also found Concordant natures so that they at last Can bulwark their old age with goodly sons. A matter of great moment 'tis in truth, That seeds may mingle readily with seeds Suited for procreation, and that thick Should mix with fluid seeds, with thick the fluid. And in this business 'tis of some import Upon what diet life is nourished: For some foods thicken seeds within our members, And others thin them out and waste away. And in what modes the fond delight itself Is carried on- this too importeth vastly. For commonly 'tis thought that wives conceive More readily in manner of wild-beasts, After the custom of the four-foot breeds, Because so postured, with the breasts beneath And buttocks then upreared, the seeds can take Their proper places. Nor is need the least For wives to use the motions of blandishment; For thus the woman hinders and resists Her own conception, if too joyously Herself she treats the Venus of the man With haunches heaving, and with all her bosom Now yielding like the billows of the sea- Aye, from the ploughshare's even course and track She throws the furrow, and from proper places Deflects the spurt of seed. And courtesans Are thuswise wont to move for their own ends, To keep from pregnancy and lying in, And all the while to render Venus more A pleasure for the men- the which meseems Our wives have never need of. |
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Nec divinitus inter dum Venerisque sagittis deteriore fit ut forma muliercula ametur ; nam facit ipsa suis inter dum femina factis morigerisque modis et munde corpore culto , ut facile insuescat secum degere vitam . quod super est , consuetudo concinnat amorem ; nam leviter quamvis quod crebro tunditur ictu , vincitur in longo spatio tamen atque labascit . nonne vides etiam guttas in saxa cadentis umoris longo in spatio pertundere saxa ?
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Sometimes too It happens- and through no divinity Nor arrows of Venus- that a sorry chit Of scanty grace will be beloved by man; For sometimes she herself by very deeds, By her complying ways, and tidy habits, Will easily accustom thee to pass With her thy life-time- and, moreover, lo, Long habitude can gender human love, Even as an object smitten o'er and o'er By blows, however lightly, yet at last Is overcome and wavers. Seest thou not, Besides, how drops of water falling down Against the stones at last bore through the stones? |
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Liber Quintus
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BOOK V |