De Rerum Natura |
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
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Tum porro , quid id est , animum quod percutit , ipsum , quod movet et varios sensus expromere cogit , ex insensilibus ne credas sensile gigni ? ni mirum lapides et ligna et terra quod una mixta tamen nequeunt vitalem reddere sensum . illud in his igitur rebus meminisse decebit , non ex omnibus omnino , quaecumque creant res sensilia , extemplo me gigni dicere sensus , sed magni referre ea primum quantula constent , sensile quae faciunt , et qua sint praedita forma , motibus ordinibus posituris denique quae sint . quarum nil rerum in lignis glaebisque videmus ; et tamen haec , cum sunt quasi putrefacta per imbres , vermiculos pariunt , quia corpora materiai antiquis ex ordinibus permota nova re conciliantur ita ut debent animalia gigni . Deinde ex sensilibus qui sensile posse creari constituunt , porro ex aliis sentire sueti * * * mollia cum faciunt ; nam sensus iungitur omnis visceribus nervis venis , quae cumque videmus mollia mortali consistere corpore creta . sed tamen esto iam posse haec aeterna manere ; nempe tamen debent aut sensum partis habere aut similis totis animalibus esse putari . at nequeant per se partes sentire necesse est : namque animus sensus membrorum respuit omnis , nec manus a nobis potis est secreta neque ulla corporis omnino sensum pars sola tenere . linquitur ut totis animantibus adsimulentur , vitali ut possint consentire undique sensu . qui poterunt igitur rerum primordia dici et leti vitare vias , animalia cum sint , atque animalia sint mortalibus una eademque ? quod tamen ut possint , at coetu concilioque nil facient praeter volgum turbamque animantum , scilicet ut nequeant homines armenta feraeque inter sese ullam rem gignere conveniundo . sic itidem quae sentimus sentire necessest . quod si forte suum dimittunt corpore sensum atque alium capiunt , quid opus fuit adtribui id quod detrahitur ? tum praeterea , quod fudimus ante , quatinus in pullos animalis vertier ova cernimus alituum vermisque effervere terra , intempestivos quam putor cepit ob imbris , scire licet gigni posse ex non sensibus sensus .
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But now, what is't that strikes thy sceptic mind, Constraining thee to sundry arguments Against belief that from insensate germs The sensible is gendered?- Verily, 'Tis this: that liquids, earth, and wood, though mixed, Are yet unable to gender vital sense. And, therefore, 'twill be well in these affairs This to remember: that I have not said Senses are born, under conditions all, From all things absolutely which create Objects that feel; but much it matters here Firstly, how small the seeds which thus compose The feeling thing, then, with what shapes endowed, And lastly what they in positions be, In motions, in arrangements. Of which facts Naught we perceive in logs of wood and clods; And yet even these, when sodden by the rains, Give birth to wormy grubs, because the bodies Of matter, from their old arrangements stirred By the new factor, then combine anew In such a way as genders living things. Next, they who deem that feeling objects can From feeling objects be create, and these, In turn, from others that are wont to feel . . . . . . When soft they make them; for all sense is linked With flesh, and thews, and veins- and such, we see, Are fashioned soft and of a mortal frame. Yet be't that these can last forever on: They'll have the sense that's proper to a part, Or else be judged to have a sense the same As that within live creatures as a whole. But of themselves those parts can never feel, For all the sense in every member back To something else refers- a severed hand, Or any other member of our frame, Itself alone cannot support sensation. It thus remains they must resemble, then, Live creatures as a whole, to have the power Of feeling sensation concordant in each part With the vital sense; and so they're bound to feel The things we feel exactly as do we. If such the case, how, then, can they be named The primal germs of things, and how avoid The highways of destruction?- since they be Mere living things and living things be all One and the same with mortal. Grant they could, Yet by their meetings and their unions all, Naught would result, indeed, besides a throng And hurly-burly all of living things- Precisely as men, and cattle, and wild beasts, By mere conglomeration each with each Can still beget not anything of new. But if by chance they lose, inside a body, Their own sense and another sense take on, What, then, avails it to assign them that Which is withdrawn thereafter? And besides, To touch on proof that we pronounced before, Just as we see the eggs of feathered fowls To change to living chicks, and swarming worms To bubble forth when from the soaking rains The earth is sodden, sure, sensations all Can out of non-sensations be begot. |
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Quod si forte aliquis dicet , dum taxat oriri posse ex non sensu sensus mutabilitate , aut aliquo tamquam partu quod proditur extra , huic satis illud erit planum facere atque probare , non fieri partum nisi concilio ante coacto , nec quicquam commutari sine conciliatu . Principio nequeunt ullius corporis esse sensus ante ipsam genitam naturam animantis , ni mirum quia materies disiecta tenetur aere fluminibus terris terraque creatis , nec congressa modo vitalis convenientes contulit inter se motus , quibus omnituentes accensi sensus animantem quamque tuentur . Praeterea quamvis animantem grandior ictus , quam patitur natura , repente adfligit et omnis corporis atque animi pergit confundere sensus . dissoluuntur enim positurae principiorum et penitus motus vitales inpediuntur , donec materies omnis concussa per artus vitalis animae nodos a corpore solvit dispersamque foras per caulas eiecit omnis ; nam quid praeterea facere ictum posse reamur oblatum , nisi discutere ac dissolvere quaeque ? fit quoque uti soleant minus oblato acriter ictu reliqui motus vitalis vincere saepe , vincere et ingentis plagae sedare tumultus inque suos quicquid rursus revocare meatus et quasi iam leti dominantem in corpore motum discutere ac paene amissos accendere sensus ; nam qua re potius leti iam limine ab ipso ad vitam possint conlecta mente reverti , quam quo decursum prope iam siet ire et abire ? Praeterea , quoniam dolor est , ubi materiai corpora vi quadam per viscera viva per artus sollicitata suis trepidant in sedibus intus , inque locum quando remigrant , fit blanda voluptas , scire licet nullo primordia posse dolore temptari nullamque voluptatem capere ex se ; quandoquidem non sunt ex ullis principiorum corporibus , quorum motus novitate laborent aut aliquem fructum capiant dulcedinis almae . haut igitur debent esse ullo praedita sensu .
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But if one say that sense can so far rise From non-sense by mutation, or because Brought forth as by a certain sort of birth, 'Twill serve to render plain to him and prove There is no birth, unless there be before Some formed union of the elements, Nor any change, unless they be unite. In first place, senses can't in body be Before its living nature's been begot,- Since all its stuff, in faith, is held dispersed About through rivers, air, and earth, and all That is from earth created, nor has met In combination, and, in proper mode, Conjoined into those vital motions which Kindle the all-perceiving senses- they That keep and guard each living thing soever. Again, a blow beyond its nature's strength Shatters forthwith each living thing soe'er, And on it goes confounding all the sense Of body and mind. For of the primal germs Are loosed their old arrangements, and, throughout, The vital motions blocked,- until the stuff, Shaken profoundly through the frame entire, Undoes the vital knots of soul from body And throws that soul, to outward wide-dispersed, Through all the pores. For what may we surmise A blow inflicted can achieve besides Shaking asunder and loosening all apart? It happens also, when less sharp the blow, The vital motions which are left are wont Oft to win out- win out, and stop and still The uncouth tumults gendered by the blow, And call each part to its own courses back, And shake away the motion of death which now Begins its own dominion in the body, And kindle anew the senses almost gone. For by what other means could they the more Collect their powers of thought and turn again From very doorways of destruction Back unto life, rather than pass whereto They be already well-nigh sped and so Pass quite away? Again, since pain is there Where bodies of matter, by some force stirred up, Through vitals and through joints, within their seats Quiver and quake inside, but soft delight, When they remove unto their place again: 'Tis thine to know the primal germs can be Assaulted by no pain, nor from themselves Take no delight; because indeed they are Not made of any bodies of first things, Under whose strange new motions they might ache Or pluck the fruit of any dear new sweet. And so they must be furnished with no sense. |
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Denique uti possint sentire animalia quaeque , principiis si iam est sensus tribuendus eorum , quid , genus humanum propritim de quibus auctumst ? scilicet et risu tremulo concussa cachinnant et lacrimis spargunt rorantibus ora genasque multaque de rerum mixtura dicere callent et sibi proporro quae sint primordia quaerunt ; quando quidem totis mortalibus adsimulata ipsa quoque ex aliis debent constare elementis , inde alia ex aliis , nusquam consistere ut ausis ; quippe sequar , quod cumque loqui ridereque dices et sapere , ex aliis eadem haec facientibus ut sit . quod si delira haec furiosaque cernimus esse et ridere potest non ex ridentibus auctus , et sapere et doctis rationem reddere dictis non ex seminibus sapientibus atque disertis , qui minus esse queant ea quae sentire videmus seminibus permixta carentibus undique sensu ?
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Once more, if thus, that every living thing May have sensation, needful 'tis to assign Sense also to its elements, what then Of those fixed elements from which mankind Hath been, by their peculiar virtue, formed? Of verity, they'll laugh aloud, like men, Shaken asunder by a spasm of mirth, Or sprinkle with dewy tear-drops cheeks and chins, And have the cunning hardihood to say Much on the composition of the world, And in their turn inquire what elements They have themselves,- since, thus the same in kind As a whole mortal creature, even they Must also be from other elements, And then those others from others evermore- So that thou darest nowhere make a stop. Oho, I'll follow thee until thou grant The seed (which here thou say'st speaks, laughs, and thinks) Is yet derived out of other seeds Which in their turn are doing just the same. But if we see what raving nonsense this, And that a man may laugh, though not, forsooth, Compounded out of laughing elements, And think and utter reason with learn'd speech, Though not himself compounded, for a fact, Of sapient seeds and eloquent, why, then, Cannot those things which we perceive to have Their own sensation be composed as well Of intermixed seeds quite void of sense? |
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Denique caelesti sumus omnes semine oriundi ; omnibus ille idem pater est , unde alma liquentis umoris guttas mater cum terra recepit , feta parit nitidas fruges arbustaque laeta et genus humanum , parit omnia saecla ferarum , pabula cum praebet , quibus omnes corpora pascunt et dulcem ducunt vitam prolemque propagant ; qua propter merito maternum nomen adepta est . cedit item retro , de terra quod fuit ante , in terras , et quod missumst ex aetheris oris , id rursum caeli rellatum templa receptant . nec sic interemit mors res ut materiai corpora conficiat , sed coetum dissupat ollis ; inde aliis aliud coniungit et efficit , omnis res ut convertant formas mutentque colores et capiant sensus et puncto tempore reddant ; ut noscas referre earum primordia rerum cum quibus et quali positura contineantur et quos inter se dent motus accipiantque , neve putes aeterna penes residere potesse corpora prima quod in summis fluitare videmus rebus et interdum nasci subitoque perire . quin etiam refert nostris in versibus ipsis cum quibus et quali sint ordine quaeque locata ; namque eadem caelum mare terras flumina solem significant , eadem fruges arbusta animantis ; si non omnia sunt , at multo maxima pars est consimilis ; verum positura discrepitant res . sic ipsis in rebus item iam materiai concursus motus ordo positura figurae cum permutantur , mutari res quoque debent . Nunc animum nobis adhibe veram ad rationem . nam tibi vehementer nova res molitur ad auris accedere et nova se species ostendere rerum . sed neque tam facilis res ulla est , quin ea primum difficilis magis ad credendum constet , itemque nil adeo magnum neque tam mirabile quicquam , quod non paulatim minuant mirarier omnes , principio caeli clarum purumque colorem quaeque in se cohibet , palantia sidera passim , lunamque et solis praeclara luce nitorem ; omnia quae nunc si primum mortalibus essent ex improviso si sint obiecta repente , quid magis his rebus poterat mirabile dici , aut minus ante quod auderent fore credere gentes ? nil , ut opinor ; ita haec species miranda fuisset . quam tibi iam nemo fessus satiate videndi , suspicere in caeli dignatur lucida templa . desine qua propter novitate exterritus ipsa expuere ex animo rationem , sed magis acri iudicio perpende , et si tibi vera videntur , dede manus , aut , si falsum est , accingere contra . quaerit enim rationem animus , cum summa loci sit infinita foris haec extra moenia mundi , quid sit ibi porro , quo prospicere usque velit mens atque animi iactus liber quo pervolet ipse .
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INFINITE WORLDS Once more, we all from seed celestial spring, To all is that same father, from whom earth, The fostering mother, as she takes the drops Of liquid moisture, pregnant bears her broods- The shining grains, and gladsome shrubs and trees, And bears the human race and of the wild The generations all, the while she yields The foods wherewith all feed their frames and lead The genial life and propagate their kind; Wherefore she owneth that maternal name, By old desert. What was before from earth, The same in earth sinks back, and what was sent From shores of ether, that, returning home, The vaults of sky receive. Nor thus doth death So far annihilate things that she destroys The bodies of matter; but she dissipates Their combinations, and conjoins anew One element with others; and contrives That all things vary forms and change their colours And get sensations and straight give them o'er. And thus may'st know it matters with what others And in what structure the primordial germs Are held together, and what motions they Among themselves do give and get; nor think That aught we see hither and thither afloat Upon the crest of things, and now a birth And straightway now a ruin, inheres at rest Deep in the eternal atoms of the world. Why, even in these our very verses here It matters much with what and in what order Each element is set: the same denote Sky, and the ocean, lands, and streams, and sun; The same, the grains, and trees, and living things. And if not all alike, at least the most- But what distinctions by positions wrought! And thus no less in things themselves, when once Around are changed the intervals between, The paths of matter, its connections, weights, Blows, clashings, motions, order, structure, shapes, The things themselves must likewise changed be. Now to true reason give thy mind for us. Since here strange truth is putting forth its might To hit thee in thine ears, a new aspect Of things to show its front. Yet naught there is So easy that it standeth not at first More hard to credit than it after is; And naught soe'er that's great to such degree, Nor wonderful so far, but all mankind Little by little abandon their surprise. Look upward yonder at the bright clear sky And what it holds- the stars that wander o'er, The moon, the radiance of the splendour-sun: Yet all, if now they first for mortals were, If unforeseen now first asudden shown, What might there be more wonderful to tell, What that the nations would before have dared Less to believe might be?- I fancy, naught- So strange had been the marvel of that sight. The which o'erwearied to behold, to-day None deigns look upward to those lucent realms. Then, spew not reason from thy mind away, Beside thyself because the matter's new, But rather with keen judgment nicely weigh; And if to thee it then appeareth true, Render thy hands, or, if 'tis false at last, Gird thee to combat. For my mind-of-man Now seeks the nature of the vast Beyond There on the other side, that boundless sum Which lies without the ramparts of the world, Toward which the spirit longs to peer afar, Toward which indeed the swift elan of thought Flies unencumbered forth. |
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Principio nobis in cunctas undique partis et latere ex utroque supra supterque per omne nulla est finis ; uti docui , res ipsaque per se vociferatur , et elucet natura profundi . nullo iam pacto veri simile esse putandumst , undique cum vorsum spatium vacet infinitum seminaque innumero numero summaque profunda multimodis volitent aeterno percita motu , hunc unum terrarum orbem caelumque creatum , nil agere illa foris tot corpora materiai ; cum praesertim hic sit natura factus et ipsa sponte sua forte offensando semina rerum multimodis temere in cassum frustraque coacta tandem coluerunt ea quae coniecta repente magnarum rerum fierent exordia semper , terrai maris et caeli generisque animantum . quare etiam atque etiam talis fateare necesse est esse alios alibi congressus materiai , qualis hic est , avido complexu quem tenet aether . Praeterea cum materies est multa parata , cum locus est praesto nec res nec causa moratur ulla , geri debent ni mirum et confieri res . nunc et seminibus si tanta est copia , quantam enumerare aetas animantum non queat omnis , quis eadem natura manet , quae semina rerum conicere in loca quaeque queat simili ratione atque huc sunt coniecta , necesse est confiteare esse alios aliis terrarum in partibus orbis et varias hominum gentis et saecla ferarum . Huc accedit ut in summa res nulla sit una , unica quae gignatur et unica solaque crescat , quin aliquoius siet saecli permultaque eodem sint genere . in primis animalibus indice mente invenies sic montivagum genus esse ferarum , sic hominum geminam prolem , sic denique mutas squamigerum pecudes et corpora cuncta volantum . qua propter caelum simili ratione fatendumst terramque et solem , lunam mare cetera quae sunt , non esse unica , sed numero magis innumerali ; quando quidem vitae depactus terminus alte tam manet haec et tam nativo corpore constant quam genus omne , quod his generatimst rebus abundans . Quae bene cognita si teneas , natura videtur libera continuo , dominis privata superbis , ipsa sua per se sponte omnia dis agere expers . nam pro sancta deum tranquilla pectora pace quae placidum degunt aevom vitamque serenam , quis regere immensi summam , quis habere profundi indu manu validas potis est moderanter habenas , quis pariter caelos omnis convertere et omnis ignibus aetheriis terras suffire feracis , omnibus inve locis esse omni tempore praesto , nubibus ut tenebras faciat caelique serena concutiat sonitu , tum fulmina mittat et aedis saepe suas disturbet et in deserta recedens saeviat exercens telum , quod saepe nocentes praeterit exanimatque indignos inque merentes ?
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Firstly, we find, Off to all regions round, on either side, Above, beneath, throughout the universe End is there none- as I have taught, as too The very thing of itself declares aloud, And as from nature of the unbottomed deep Shines clearly forth. Nor can we once suppose In any way 'tis likely, (seeing that space To all sides stretches infinite and free, And seeds, innumerable in number, in sum Bottomless, there in many a manner fly, Bestirred in everlasting motion there), That only this one earth and sky of ours Hath been create and that those bodies of stuff, So many, perform no work outside the same; Seeing, moreover, this world too hath been By nature fashioned, even as seeds of things By innate motion chanced to clash and cling- After they'd been in many a manner driven Together at random, without design, in vain- And as at last those seeds together dwelt, Which, when together of a sudden thrown, Should alway furnish the commencements fit Of mighty things- the earth, the sea, the sky, And race of living creatures. Thus, I say, Again, again, 'tmust be confessed there are Such congregations of matter otherwhere, Like this our world which vasty ether holds In huge embrace. Besides, when matter abundant Is ready there, when space on hand, nor object Nor any cause retards, no marvel 'tis That things are carried on and made complete, Perforce. And now, if store of seeds there is So great that not whole life-times of the living Can count the tale... And if their force and nature abide the same, Able to throw the seeds of things together Into their places, even as here are thrown The seeds together in this world of ours, 'Tmust be confessed in other realms there are Still other worlds, still other breeds of men, And other generations of the wild. Hence too it happens in the sum there is No one thing single of its kind in birth, And single and sole in growth, but rather it is One member of some generated race, Among full many others of like kind. First, cast thy mind abroad upon the living: Thou'lt find the race of mountain-ranging wild Even thus to be, and thus the scions of men To be begot, and lastly the mute flocks Of scaled fish, and winged frames of birds. Wherefore confess we must on grounds the same That earth, sun, moon, and ocean, and all else, Exist not sole and single- rather in number Exceeding number. Since that deeply set Old boundary stone of life remains for them No less, and theirs a body of mortal birth No less, than every kind which here on earth Is so abundant in its members found. Which well perceived if thou hold in mind, Then Nature, delivered from every haughty lord, And forthwith free, is seen to do all things Herself and through herself of own accord, Rid of all gods. For- by their holy hearts Which pass in long tranquillity of peace Untroubled ages and a serene life!- Who hath the power (I ask), who hath the power To rule the sum of the immeasurable, To hold with steady hand the giant reins Of the unfathomed deep? Who hath the power At once to roll a multitude of skies, At once to heat with fires ethereal all The fruitful lands of multitudes of worlds, To be at all times in all places near, To stablish darkness by his clouds, to shake The serene spaces of the sky with sound, And hurl his lightnings,- ha, and whelm how oft In ruins his own temples, and to rave, Retiring to the wildernesses, there At practice with that thunderbolt of his, Which yet how often shoots the guilty by, And slays the honourable blameless ones! |
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Multaque post mundi tempus genitale diemque primigenum maris et terrae solisque coortum addita corpora sunt extrinsecus , addita circum semina , quae magnum iaculando contulit omne , unde mare et terrae possent augescere et unde appareret spatium caeli domus altaque tecta tolleret a terris procul et consurgeret aer . nam sua cuique , locis ex omnibus , omnia plagis corpora distribuuntur et ad sua saecla recedunt , umor ad umorem , terreno corpore terra crescit et ignem ignes procudunt aetheraque aether , donique ad extremum crescendi perfica finem omnia perduxit rerum natura creatrix ; ut fit ubi nihilo iam plus est quod datur intra vitalis venas quam quod fluit atque recedit . omnibus hic aetas debet consistere rebus , hic natura suis refrenat viribus auctum . nam quae cumque vides hilaro grandescere adauctu paulatimque gradus aetatis scandere adultae , plura sibi adsumunt quam de se corpora mittunt , dum facile in venas cibus omnis inditur et dum non ita sunt late dispessa , ut multa remittant et plus dispendi faciant quam vescitur aetas . nam certe fluere atque recedere corpora rebus multa manus dandum est ; sed plura accedere debent , donec alescendi summum tetigere cacumen . inde minutatim vires et robur adultum frangit et in partem peiorem liquitur aetas . quippe etenim quanto est res amplior , augmine adempto , et quo latior est , in cunctas undique partis plura modo dispargit et a se corpora mittit , nec facile in venas cibus omnis diditur ei nec satis est , pro quam largos exaestuat aestus , unde queat tantum suboriri ac subpeditare . iure igitur pereunt , cum rarefacta fluendo sunt et cum externis succumbunt omnia plagis , quando quidem grandi cibus aevo denique defit , nec tuditantia rem cessant extrinsecus ullam corpora conficere et plagis infesta domare .
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Ere since the birth-time of the world, ere since The risen first-born day of sea, earth, sun, Have many germs been added from outside, Have many seeds been added round about, Which the great All, the while it flung them on, Brought hither, that from them the sea and lands Could grow more big, and that the house of heaven Might get more room and raise its lofty roofs Far over earth, and air arise around. For bodies all, from out all regions, are Divided by blows, each to its proper thing, And all retire to their own proper kinds: The moist to moist retires; earth gets increase From earthy body; and fires, as on a forge, Beat out new fire; and ether forges ether; Till nature, author and ender of the world, Hath led all things to extreme bound of growth: As haps when that which hath been poured inside The vital veins of life is now no more Than that which ebbs within them and runs off. This is the point where life for each thing ends; This is the point where nature with her powers Curbs all increase. For whatsoe'er thou seest Grow big with glad increase, and step by step Climb upward to ripe age, these to themselves Take in more bodies than they send from selves, Whilst still the food is easily infused Through all the veins, and whilst the things are not So far expanded that they cast away Such numerous atoms as to cause a waste Greater than nutriment whereby they wax. For 'tmust be granted, truly, that from things Many a body ebbeth and runs off; But yet still more must come, until the things Have touched development's top pinnacle; Then old age breaks their powers and ripe strength And falls away into a worser part. For ever the ampler and more wide a thing, As soon as ever its augmentation ends, It scatters abroad forthwith to all sides round More bodies, sending them from out itself. Nor easily now is food disseminate Through all its veins; nor is that food enough To equal with a new supply on hand Those plenteous exhalations it gives off. Thus, fairly, all things perish, when with ebbing They're made less dense and when from blows without They are laid low; since food at last will fail Extremest eld, and bodies from outside Cease not with thumping to undo a thing And overmaster by infesting blows. |
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Sic igitur magni quoque circum moenia mundi expugnata dabunt labem putrisque ruinas ; omnia debet enim cibus integrare novando et fulcire cibus , cibus omnia sustentare , ne quiquam , quoniam nec venae perpetiuntur quod satis est , neque quantum opus est natura ministrat . Iamque adeo fracta est aetas effetaque tellus vix animalia parva creat , quae cuncta creavit saecla deditque ferarum ingentia corpora partu . haud , ut opinor , enim mortalia saecla superne aurea de caelo demisit funis in arva nec mare nec fluctus plangentis saxa crearunt , sed genuit tellus eadem quae nunc alit ex se . praeterea nitidas fruges vinetaque laeta sponte sua primum mortalibus ipsa creavit , ipsa dedit dulcis fetus et pabula laeta ; quae nunc vix nostro grandescunt aucta labore , conterimusque boves et viris agricolarum , conficimus ferrum vix arvis suppeditati : usque adeo parcunt fetus augentque laborem . iamque caput quassans grandis suspirat arator crebrius , in cassum magnos cecidisse labores , et cum tempora temporibus praesentia confert praeteritis , laudat fortunas saepe parentis . tristis item vetulae vitis sator atque vietae temporis incusat momen saeclumque fatigat , et crepat , antiquum genus ut pietate repletum perfacile angustis tolerarit finibus aevom , cum minor esset agri multo modus ante viritim ; nec tenet omnia paulatim tabescere et ire ad capulum spatio aetatis defessa vetusto .
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Thus, too, the ramparts of the mighty world On all sides round shall taken be by storm, And tumble to wrack and shivered fragments down. For food it is must keep things whole, renewing; 'Tis food must prop and give support to all,- But to no purpose, since nor veins suffice To hold enough, nor nature ministers As much as needful. And even now 'tis thus: Its age is broken and the earth, outworn With many parturitions, scarce creates The little lives- she who created erst All generations and gave forth at birth Enormous bodies of wild beasts of old. For never, I fancy, did a golden cord From off the firmament above let down The mortal generations to the fields; Nor sea, nor breakers pounding on the rocks Created them; but earth it was who bore- The same to-day who feeds them from herself. Besides, herself of own accord, she first The shining grains and vineyards of all joy Created for mortality; herself Gave the sweet fruitage and the pastures glad, Which now to-day yet scarcely wax in size, Even when aided by our toiling arms. We break the ox, and wear away the strength Of sturdy farm-hands; iron tools to-day Barely avail for tilling of the fields, So niggardly they grudge our harvestings, So much increase our labour. Now to-day The aged ploughman, shaking of his head, Sighs o'er and o'er that labours of his hands Have fallen out in vain, and, as he thinks How present times are not as times of old, Often he praises the fortunes of his sire, And crackles, prating, how the ancient race, Fulfilled with piety, supported life With simple comfort in a narrow plot, Since, man for man, the measure of each field Was smaller far i' the old days. And, again, The gloomy planter of the withered vine Rails at the season's change and wearies heaven, Nor grasps that all of things by sure degrees Are wasting away and going to the tomb, Outworn by venerable length of life. |
56 |
Liber Tertius
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BOOK III |