De Rerum Natura |
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
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Quod quoniam docui , pergam conectere rem quae ex hoc apta fidem ducat , primordia rerum finita variare figurarum ratione . quod si non ita sit , rursum iam semina quaedam esse infinito debebunt corporis auctu . namque in eadem una cuiusvis iam brevitate corporis inter se multum variare figurae non possunt . fac enim minimis e partibus esse corpora prima tribus , vel paulo pluribus auge ; nempe ubi eas partis unius corporis omnis , summa atque ima locans , transmutans dextera laevis , omnimodis expertus eris , quam quisque det ordo formai speciem totius corporis eius , quod super est , si forte voles variare figuras , addendum partis alias erit . inde sequetur , adsimili ratione alias ut postulet ordo , si tu forte voles etiam variare figuras . ergo formarum novitatem corporis augmen subsequitur . quare non est ut credere possis esse infinitis distantia semina formis , ne quaedam cogas inmani maximitate esse , supra quod iam docui non posse probari . iam tibi barbaricae vestes Meliboeaque fulgens purpura Thessalico concharum tacta colore , aurea pavonum ridenti imbuta lepore saecla novo rerum superata colore iacerent et contemptus odor smyrnae mellisque sapores , et cycnea mele Phoebeaque daedala chordis carmina consimili ratione oppressa silerent ; namque aliis aliud praestantius exoreretur . cedere item retro possent in deteriores omnia sic partis , ut diximus in melioris ; namque aliis aliud retro quoque taetrius esset naribus auribus atque oculis orisque sapori . quae quoniam non sunt , sed rebus reddita certa finis utrimque tenet summam , fateare necessest materiem quoque finitis differe figuris . denique ab ignibus ad gelidas hiemum usque pruinas finitumst retroque pari ratione remensumst . omnis enim calor ac frigus mediique tepores interutrasque iacent explentes ordine summam . ergo finita distant ratione creata , ancipiti quoniam mucroni utrimque notantur , hinc flammis illinc rigidis infesta pruinis .
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The which now having taught, I will go on To bind thereto a fact to this allied And drawing from this its proof: these primal germs Vary, yet only with finite tale of shapes. For were these shapes quite infinite, some seeds Would have a body of infinite increase. For in one seed, in one small frame of any, The shapes can't vary from one another much. Assume, we'll say, that of three minim parts Consist the primal bodies, or add a few: When, now, by placing all these parts of one At top and bottom, changing lefts and rights, Thou hast with every kind of shift found out What the aspect of shape of its whole body Each new arrangement gives, for what remains, If thou percase wouldst vary its old shapes, New parts must then be added; follows next, If thou percase wouldst vary still its shapes, That by like logic each arrangement still Requires its increment of other parts. Ergo, an augmentation of its frame Follows upon each novelty of forms. Wherefore, it cannot be thou'lt undertake That seeds have infinite differences in form, Lest thus thou forcest some indeed to be Of an immeasurable immensity- Which I have taught above cannot be proved. . . . . . . And now for thee barbaric robes, and gleam Of Meliboean purple, touched with dye Of the Thessalian shell... The peacock's golden generations, stained With spotted gaieties, would lie o'erthrown By some new colour of new things more bright; The odour of myrrh and savours of honey despised; The swan's old lyric, and Apollo's hymns, Once modulated on the many chords, Would likewise sink o'ermastered and be mute: For, lo, a somewhat, finer than the rest, Would be arising evermore. So, too, Into some baser part might all retire, Even as we said to better might they come: For, lo, a somewhat, loathlier than the rest To nostrils, ears, and eyes, and taste of tongue, Would then, by reasoning reversed, be there. Since 'tis not so, but unto things are given Their fixed limitations which do bound Their sum on either side, 'tmust be confessed That matter, too, by finite tale of shapes Does differ. Again, from earth's midsummer heats Unto the icy hoar-frosts of the year The forward path is fixed, and by like law O'ertravelled backwards at the dawn of spring. For each degree of hot, and each of cold, And the half-warm, all filling up the sum In due progression, lie, my Memmius, there Betwixt the two extremes: the things create Must differ, therefore, by a finite change, Since at each end marked off they ever are By fixed point- on one side plagued by flames And on the other by congealing frosts. |
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Quod quoniam docui , pergam conectere rem quae ex hoc apta fidem ducat , primordia rerum , inter se simili quae sunt perfecta figura , infinita cluere . etenim distantia cum sit formarum finita , necesse est quae similes sint esse infinitas aut summam materiai finitam constare , id quod non esse probavi . * * * versibus ostendam corpuscula materiai ex infinito summam rerum usque tenere undique protelo plagarum continuato . nam quod rara vides magis esse animalia quaedam fecundamque magis naturam cernis in illis , at regione locoque alio terrisque remotis multa licet genere esse in eo numerumque repleri ; sicut quadripedum cum primis esse videmus in genere anguimanus elephantos , India quorum milibus e multis vallo munitur eburno , ut penitus nequeat penetrari : tanta ferarum vis est , quarum nos perpauca exempla videmus . sed tamen id quoque uti concedam , quam lubet esto unica res quaedem nativo corpore sola , cui similis toto terrarum non sit , in orbi ; infinita tamen nisi erit vis materiai , unde ea progigni possit concepta , creari non poterit neque , quod super est , procrescere alique . quippe etenim sumant alii finita per omne corpora iactari unius genitalia rei , unde ubi qua vi et quo pacto congressa coibunt materiae tanto in pelago turbaque aliena ? non , ut opinor , habent rationem conciliandi : sed quasi naufragiis magnis multisque coortis disiactare solet magnum mare transtra cavernas antemnas prorem malos tonsasque natantis , per terrarum omnis oras fluitantia aplustra ut videantur et indicium mortalibus edant , infidi maris insidias virisque dolumque ut vitare velint , neve ullo tempore credant , subdola cum ridet placidi pellacia ponti , sic tibi si finita semel primordia quaedam constitues , aevom debebunt sparsa per omnem disiectare aestus diversi materiai , numquam in concilium ut possint compulsa coire nec remorari in concilio nec crescere adaucta ; quorum utrumque palam fieri manifesta docet res , et res progigni et genitas procrescere posse . esse igitur genere in quovis primordia rerum infinita palam est , unde omnia suppeditantur . Nec superare queunt motus itaque exitiales perpetuo neque in aeternum sepelire salutem , nec porro rerum genitales auctificique motus perpetuo possunt servare creata . sic aequo geritur certamine principiorum ex infinito contractum tempore bellum . nunc hic nunc illic superant vitalia rerum et superantur item . miscetur funere vagor , quem pueri tollunt visentis luminis oras ; nec nox ulla diem neque noctem aurora secutast , quae non audierit mixtos vagitibus aegris ploratus , mortis comites et funeris atri .
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The which now having taught, I will go on To bind thereto a fact to this allied And drawing from this its proof: those primal germs Which have been fashioned all of one like shape Are infinite in tale; for, since the forms Themselves are finite in divergences, Then those which are alike will have to be Infinite, else the sum of stuff remains A finite- what I've proved is not the fact, Showing in verse how corpuscles of stuff, From everlasting and to-day the same, Uphold the sum of things, all sides around By old succession of unending blows. For though thou view'st some beasts to be more rare, And mark'st in them a less prolific stock, Yet in another region, in lands remote, That kind abounding may make up the count; Even as we mark among the four-foot kind Snake-handed elephants, whose thousands wall With ivory ramparts India about, That her interiors cannot entered be- So big her count of brutes of which we see Such few examples. Or suppose, besides, We feign some thing, one of its kind and sole With body born, to which is nothing like In all the lands: yet now unless shall be An infinite count of matter out of which Thus to conceive and bring it forth to life, It cannot be created and- what's more- It cannot take its food and get increase. Yea, if through all the world in finite tale Be tossed the procreant bodies of one thing, Whence, then, and where in what mode, by what power, Shall they to meeting come together there, In such vast ocean of matter and tumult strange?- No means they have of joining into one. But, just as, after mighty ship-wrecks piled, The mighty main is wont to scatter wide The rowers' banks, the ribs, the yards, the prow, The masts and swimming oars, so that afar Along all shores of lands are seen afloat The carven fragments of the rended poop, Giving a lesson to mortality To shun the ambush of the faithless main, The violence and the guile, and trust it not At any hour, however much may smile The crafty enticements of the placid deep: Exactly thus, if once thou holdest true That certain seeds are finite in their tale, The various tides of matter, then, must needs Scatter them flung throughout the ages all, So that not ever can they join, as driven Together into union, nor remain In union, nor with increment can grow- But facts in proof are manifest for each: Things can be both begotten and increase. 'Tis therefore manifest that primal germs, Are infinite in any class thou wilt- From whence is furnished matter for all things. Nor can those motions that bring death prevail Forever, nor eternally entomb The welfare of the world; nor, further, can Those motions that give birth to things and growth Keep them forever when created there. Thus the long war, from everlasting waged, With equal strife among the elements Goes on and on. Now here, now there, prevail The vital forces of the world- or fall. Mixed with the funeral is the wildered wail Of infants coming to the shores of light: No night a day, no dawn a night hath followed That heard not, mingling with the small birth-cries, The wild laments, companions old of death And the black rites. |
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Illud in his obsignatum quoque rebus habere convenit et memori mandatum mente tenere , nil esse , in promptu quorum natura videtur , quod genere ex uno consistat principiorum , nec quicquam quod non permixto semine constet . et quod cumque magis vis multas possidet in se atque potestates , ita plurima principiorum in sese genera ac varias docet esse figuras . Principio tellus habet in se corpora prima , unde mare inmensum volventes frigora fontes adsidue renovent , habet ignes unde oriantur ; nam multis succensa locis ardent sola terrae , ex imis vero furit ignibus impetus Aetnae . tum porro nitidas fruges arbustaque laeta gentibus humanis habet unde extollere possit , unde etiam fluvios frondes et pabula laeta montivago generi possit praebere ferarum . quare magna deum mater materque ferarum et nostri genetrix haec dicta est corporis una . Hanc veteres Graium docti cecinere poetae sedibus in curru biiugos agitare leones , aeris in spatio magnam pendere docentes tellurem neque posse in terra sistere terram . adiunxere feras , quia quamvis effera proles officiis debet molliri victa parentum . muralique caput summum cinxere corona , eximiis munita locis quia sustinet urbes . quo nunc insigni per magnas praedita terras horrifice fertur divinae matris imago . hanc variae gentes antiquo more sacrorum Idaeam vocitant matrem Phrygiasque catervas dant comites , quia primum ex illis finibus edunt per terrarum orbes fruges coepisse creari . Gallos attribuunt , quia , numen qui violarint Matris et ingrati genitoribus inventi sint , significare volunt indignos esse putandos , vivam progeniem qui in oras luminis edant . tympana tenta tonant palmis et cymbala circum concava , raucisonoque minantur cornua cantu , et Phrygio stimulat numero cava tibia mentis , telaque praeportant , violenti signa furoris , ingratos animos atque impia pectora volgi conterrere metu quae possint numine divae . ergo cum primum magnas invecta per urbis munificat tacita mortalis muta salute , aere atque argento sternunt iter omne viarum largifica stipe ditantes ninguntque rosarum floribus umbrantes matrem comitumque catervam . hic armata manus , Curetas nomine Grai quos memorant , Phrygias inter si forte catervas ludunt in numerumque exultant sanguine laeti terrificas capitum quatientes numine cristas , Dictaeos referunt Curetas , qui Iovis illum vagitum in Creta quondam occultasse feruntur , cum pueri circum puerum pernice chorea armati in numerum pulsarent aeribus aera , ne Saturnus eum malis mandaret adeptus aeternumque daret matri sub pectore volnus . propterea magnam armati matrem comitantur , aut quia significant divam praedicere ut armis ac virtute velint patriam defendere terram praesidioque parent decorique parentibus esse . quae bene et eximie quamvis disposta ferantur , longe sunt tamen a vera ratione repulsa . omnis enim per se divom natura necessest inmortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur semota ab nostris rebus seiunctaque longe ; nam privata dolore omni , privata periclis , ipsa suis pollens opibus , nihil indiga nostri , nec bene promeritis capitur neque tangitur ira . terra quidem vero caret omni tempore sensu , et quia multarum potitur primordia rerum , multa modis multis effert in lumina solis . hic siquis mare Neptunum Cereremque vocare constituet fruges et Bacchi nomine abuti mavolt quam laticis proprium proferre vocamen , concedamus ut hic terrarum dictitet orbem esse deum matrem , dum vera re tamen ipse religione animum turpi contingere parcat .
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This, too, in these affairs 'Tis fit thou hold well sealed, and keep consigned With no forgetting brain: nothing there is Whose nature is apparent out of hand That of one kind of elements consists- Nothing there is that's not of mixed seed. And whatsoe'er possesses in itself More largely many powers and properties Shows thus that here within itself there are The largest number of kinds and differing shapes Of elements. And, chief of all, the earth Hath in herself first bodies whence the springs, Rolling chill waters, renew forevermore The unmeasured main; hath whence the fires arise- For burns in many a spot her flamed crust, Whilst the impetuous Aetna raves indeed From more profounder fires- and she, again, Hath in herself the seed whence she can raise The shining grains and gladsome trees for men; Whence, also, rivers, fronds, and gladsome pastures Can she supply for mountain-roaming beasts. Wherefore great mother of gods, and mother of beasts, And parent of man hath she alone been named. Her hymned the old and learned bards of Greece . . . . . . Seated in chariot o'er the realms of air To drive her team of lions, teaching thus That the great earth hangs poised and cannot lie Resting on other earth. Unto her car They've yoked the wild beasts, since a progeny, However savage, must be tamed and chid By care of parents. They have girt about With turret-crown the summit of her head, Since, fortressed in her goodly strongholds high, 'Tis she sustains the cities; now, adorned With that same token, to-day is carried forth, With solemn awe through many a mighty land, The image of that mother, the divine. Her the wide nations, after antique rite, Do name Idaean Mother, giving her Escort of Phrygian bands, since first, they say, From out those regions 'twas that grain began Through all the world. To her do they assign The Galli, the emasculate, since thus They wish to show that men who violate The majesty of the mother and have proved Ingrate to parents are to be adjudged Unfit to give unto the shores of light A living progeny. The Galli come: And hollow cymbals, tight-skinned tambourines Resound around to bangings of their hands; The fierce horns threaten with a raucous bray; The tubed pipe excites their maddened minds In Phrygian measures; they bear before them knives, Wild emblems of their frenzy, which have power The rabble's ingrate heads and impious hearts To panic with terror of the goddess' might. And so, when through the mighty cities borne, She blesses man with salutations mute, They strew the highway of her journeyings With coin of brass and silver, gifting her With alms and largesse, and shower her and shade With flowers of roses falling like the snow Upon the Mother and her companion-bands. Here is an armed troop, the which by Greeks Are called the Phrygian Curetes. Since Haply among themselves they use to play In games of arms and leap in measure round With bloody mirth and by their nodding shake The terrorizing crests upon their heads, This is the armed troop that represents The arm'd Dictaean Curetes, who, in Crete, As runs the story, whilom did out-drown That infant cry of Zeus, what time their band, Young boys, in a swift dance around the boy, To measured step beat with the brass on brass, That Saturn might not get him for his jaws, And give its mother an eternal wound Along her heart. And 'tis on this account That armed they escort the mighty Mother, Or else because they signify by this That she, the goddess, teaches men to be Eager with armed valour to defend Their motherland, and ready to stand forth, The guard and glory of their parents' years. A tale, however beautifully wrought, That's wide of reason by a long remove: For all the gods must of themselves enjoy Immortal aeons and supreme repose, Withdrawn from our affairs, detached, afar: Immune from peril and immune from pain, Themselves abounding in riches of their own, Needing not us, they are not touched by wrath They are not taken by service or by gift. Truly is earth insensate for all time; But, by obtaining germs of many things, In many a way she brings the many forth Into the light of sun. And here, whoso Decides to call the ocean Neptune, or The grain-crop Ceres, and prefers to abuse The name of Bacchus rather than pronounce The liquor's proper designation, him Let us permit to go on calling earth Mother of Gods, if only he will spare To taint his soul with foul religion. |
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Saepe itaque ex uno tondentes gramina campo lanigerae pecudes et equorum duellica proles buceriaeque greges eodem sub tegmine caeli ex unoque sitim sedantes flumine aquai dissimili vivont specie retinentque parentum naturam et mores generatim quaeque imitantur . tanta est in quovis genere herbae materiai dissimilis ratio , tanta est in flumine quoque . Hinc porro quamvis animantem ex omnibus unam ossa cruor venae calor umor viscera nervi constituunt , quae sunt porro distantia longe , dissimili perfecta figura principiorum . Tum porro quae cumque igni flammata cremantur . si nil praeterea , tamen haec in corpore tradunt , unde ignem iacere et lumen submittere possint scintillasque agere ac late differre favillam . cetera consimili mentis ratione peragrans invenies igitur multarum semina rerum corpore celare et varias cohibere figuras . Denique multa vides , quibus et color et sapor una reddita sunt cum odore in primis pleraque poma . haec igitur variis debent constare figuris ; nidor enim penetrat qua fucus non it in artus , fucus item sorsum , sorsum sapor insinuatur sensibus ; ut noscas primis differre figuris . dissimiles igitur formae glomeramen in unum conveniunt et res permixto semine constant . Quin etiam passim nostris in versibus ipsis multa elementa vides multis communia verbis , cum tamen inter se versus ac verba necesse est confiteare alia ex aliis constare elementis ; non quo multa parum communis littera currat aut nulla inter se duo sint ex omnibus isdem , sed quia non volgo paria omnibus omnia constant . sic aliis in rebus item communia multa multarum rerum cum sint , primordia rerum dissimili tamen inter se consistere summa possunt ; ut merito ex aliis constare feratur humanum genus et fruges arbustaque laeta . Nec tamen omnimodis conecti posse putandum est omnia ; nam volgo fieri portenta videres , semiferas hominum species existere et altos inter dum ramos egigni corpore vivo multaque conecti terrestria membra marinis , tum flammam taetro spirantis ore Chimaeras pascere naturam per terras omniparentis . quorum nil fieri manifestum est , omnia quando seminibus certis certa genetrice creata conservare genus crescentia posse videmus . scilicet id certa fieri ratione necessust . nam sua cuique cibis ex omnibus intus in artus corpora discedunt conexaque convenientis efficiunt motus ; at contra aliena videmus reicere in terras naturam , multaque caecis corporibus fugiunt e corpore percita plagis , quae neque conecti quoquam potuere neque intus vitalis motus consentire atque imitari . sed ne forte putes animalia sola teneri legibus his , quaedam ratio res terminat omnis nam vel uti tota natura dissimiles sunt inter se genitae res quaeque , ita quamque necessest dissimili constare figura principiorum ; non quo multa parum simili sint praedita forma , sed quia non volgo paria omnibus omnia constant . semina cum porro distent , differre necessust intervalla vias conexus pondera plagas concursus motus ; quae non animalia solum corpora seiungunt , sed terras ac mare totum secernunt caelumque a terris omne retentant .
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So, too, the wooly flocks, and horned kine, And brood of battle-eager horses, grazing Often together along one grassy plain, Under the cope of one blue sky, and slaking From out one stream of water each its thirst, All live their lives with face and form unlike, Keeping the parents' nature, parents' habits, Which, kind by kind, through ages they repeat. So great in any sort of herb thou wilt, So great again in any river of earth Are the distinct diversities of matter. Hence, further, every creature- any one From out them all- compounded is the same Of bones, blood, veins, heat, moisture, flesh, and thews- All differing vastly in their forms, and built Of elements dissimilar in shape. Again, all things by fire consumed ablaze, Within their frame lay up, if naught besides, At least those atoms whence derives their power To throw forth fire and send out light from under, To shoot the sparks and scatter embers wide. If, with like reasoning of mind, all else Thou traverse through, thou wilt discover thus That in their frame the seeds of many things They hide, and divers shapes of seeds contain. Further, thou markest much, to which are given Along together colour and flavour and smell, Among which, chief, are most burnt offerings. . . . . . . Thus must they be of divers shapes composed. A smell of scorching enters in our frame Where the bright colour from the dye goes not; And colour in one way, flavour in quite another Works inward to our senses- so mayst see They differ too in elemental shapes. Thus unlike forms into one mass combine, And things exist by intermixed seed. But still 'tmust not be thought that in all ways All things can be conjoined; for then wouldst view Portents begot about thee every side: Hulks of mankind half brute astarting up, At times big branches sprouting from man's trunk, Limbs of a sea-beast to a land-beast knit, And nature along the all-producing earth Feeding those dire Chimaeras breathing flame From hideous jaws- Of which 'tis simple fact That none have been begot; because we see All are from fixed seed and fixed dam Engendered and so function as to keep Throughout their growth their own ancestral type. This happens surely by a fixed law: For from all food-stuff, when once eaten down, Go sundered atoms, suited to each creature, Throughout their bodies, and, conjoining there, Produce the proper motions; but we see How, contrariwise, nature upon the ground Throws off those foreign to their frame; and many With viewless bodies from their bodies fly, By blows impelled- those impotent to join To any part, or, when inside, to accord And to take on the vital motions there. But think not, haply, living forms alone Are bound by these laws: they distinguished all. . . . . . . For just as all things of creation are, In their whole nature, each to each unlike, So must their atoms be in shape unlike- Not since few only are fashioned of like form, But since they all, as general rule, are not The same as all. Nay, here in these our verses, Elements many, common to many words, Thou seest, though yet 'tis needful to confess The words and verses differ, each from each, Compounded out of different elements- Not since few only, as common letters, run Through all the words, or no two words are made, One and the other, from all like elements, But since they all, as general rule, are not The same as all. Thus, too, in other things, Whilst many germs common to many things There are, yet they, combined among themselves, Can form new wholes to others quite unlike. Thus fairly one may say that humankind, The grains, the gladsome trees, are all made up Of different atoms. Further, since the seeds Are different, difference must there also be In intervening spaces, thoroughfares, Connections, weights, blows, clashings, motions, all Which not alone distinguish living forms, But sunder earth's whole ocean from the lands, And hold all heaven from the lands away. |
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Nunc age dicta meo dulci quaesita labore percipe , ne forte haec albis ex alba rearis principiis esse , ante oculos quae candida cernis , aut ea quae nigrant nigro de semine nata ; nive alium quemvis quae sunt inbuta colorem , propterea gerere hunc credas , quod materiai corpora consimili sint eius tincta colore ; nullus enim color est omnino materiai corporibus , neque par rebus neque denique dispar . in quae corpora si nullus tibi forte videtur posse animi iniectus fieri , procul avius erras . nam cum caecigeni , solis qui lumina numquam dispexere , tamen cognoscant corpora tactu ex ineunte aevo nullo coniuncta colore , scire licet nostrae quoque menti corpora posse vorti in notitiam nullo circum lita fuco . denique nos ipsi caecis quaecumque tenebris tangimus , haud ullo sentimus tincta colore . Quod quoniam vinco fieri , nunc esse docebo . omnis enim color omnino mutatur in omnis ; quod facere haud ullo debent primordia pacto ; immutabile enim quiddam superare necessest , ne res ad nihilum redigantur funditus omnes ; nam quod cumque suis mutatum finibus exit , continuo hoc mors est illius quod fuit ante . proinde colore cave contingas semina rerum , ne tibi res redeant ad nihilum funditus omnes . Praeterea si nulla coloris principiis est reddita natura et variis sunt praedita formis , e quibus omnigenus gignunt variantque colores , propterea magni quod refert , semina quaeque cum quibus et quali positura contineantur et quos inter se dent motus accipiantque , perfacile extemplo rationem reddere possis , cur ea quae nigro fuerint paulo ante colore , marmoreo fieri possint candore repente , ut mare , cum magni commorunt aequora venti , vertitur in canos candenti marmore fluctus ; dicere enim possis , nigrum quod saepe videmus , materies ubi permixta est illius et ordo principiis mutatus et addita demptaque quaedam , continuo id fieri ut candens videatur et album . quod si caeruleis constarent aequora ponti seminibus , nullo possent albescere pacto ; nam quo cumque modo perturbes caerula quae sint , numquam in marmoreum possunt migrare colorem . sin alio atque alio sunt semina tincta colore , quae maris efficiunt unum purumque nitorem , ut saepe ex aliis formis variisque figuris efficitur quiddam quadratum unaque figura , conveniebat , ut in quadrato cernimus esse dissimiles formas , ita cernere in aequore ponti aut alio in quovis uno puroque nitore dissimiles longe inter se variosque colores . praeterea nihil officiunt obstantque figurae dissimiles , quo quadratum minus omne sit extra ; at varii rerum inpediunt prohibentque colores , quo minus esse uno possit res tota nitore . Tum porro quae ducit et inlicit ut tribuamus principiis rerum non numquam causa colores , occidit , ex albis quoniam non alba creantur , nec quae nigra cluent de nigris , sed variis ex . quippe etenim multo proclivius exorientur candida de nullo quam nigro nata colore aut alio quovis , qui contra pugnet et obstet .
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ABSENCE OF SECONDARY QUALITIES Now come, this wisdom by my sweet toil sought Look thou perceive, lest haply thou shouldst guess That the white objects shining to thine eyes Are gendered of white atoms, or the black Of a black seed; or yet believe that aught That's steeped in any hue should take its dye From bits of matter tinct with hue the same. For matter's bodies own no hue the least- Or like to objects or, again, unlike. But, if percase it seem to thee that mind Itself can dart no influence of its own Into these bodies, wide thou wand'rest off. For since the blind-born, who have ne'er surveyed The light of sun, yet recognise by touch Things that from birth had ne'er a hue for them, 'Tis thine to know that bodies can be brought No less unto the ken of our minds too, Though yet those bodies with no dye be smeared. Again, ourselves whatever in the dark We touch, the same we do not find to be Tinctured with any colour. Now that here I win the argument, I next will teach . . . . . . Now, every colour changes, none except, And every... Which the primordials ought nowise to do. Since an immutable somewhat must remain, Lest all things utterly be brought to naught. For change of anything from out its bounds Means instant death of that which was before. Wherefore be mindful not to stain with colour The seeds of things, lest things return for thee All utterly to naught. But now, if seeds Receive no property of colour, and yet Be still endowed with variable forms From which all kinds of colours they beget And vary (by reason that ever it matters much With what seeds, and in what positions joined, And what the motions that they give and get), Forthwith most easily thou mayst devise Why what was black of hue an hour ago Can of a sudden like the marble gleam,- As ocean, when the high winds have upheaved Its level plains, is changed to hoary waves Of marble whiteness: for, thou mayst declare, That, when the thing we often see as black Is in its matter then commixed anew, Some atoms rearranged, and some withdrawn, And added some, 'tis seen forthwith to turn Glowing and white. But if of azure seeds Consist the level waters of the deep, They could in nowise whiten: for however Thou shakest azure seeds, the same can never Pass into marble hue. But, if the seeds- Which thus produce the ocean's one pure sheen- Be now with one hue, now another dyed, As oft from alien forms and divers shapes A cube's produced all uniform in shape, 'Twould be but natural, even as in the cube We see the forms to be dissimilar, That thus we'd see in brightness of the deep (Or in whatever one pure sheen thou wilt) Colours diverse and all dissimilar. Besides, the unlike shapes don't thwart the least The whole in being externally a cube; But differing hues of things do block and keep The whole from being of one resultant hue. Then, too, the reason which entices us At times to attribute colours to the seeds Falls quite to pieces, since white things are not Create from white things, nor are black from black, But evermore they are create from things Of divers colours. Verily, the white Will rise more readily, is sooner born Out of no colour, than of black or aught Which stands in hostile opposition thus. |
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Praeterea quoniam nequeunt sine luce colores esse neque in lucem existunt primordia rerum , scire licet quam sint nullo velata colore ; qualis enim caecis poterit color esse tenebris ? lumine quin ipso mutatur propterea quod recta aut obliqua percussus luce refulget ; pluma columbarum quo pacto in sole videtur , quae sita cervices circum collumque coronat ; namque alias fit uti claro sit rubra pyropo , inter dum quodam sensu fit uti videatur inter caeruleum viridis miscere zmaragdos . caudaque pavonis , larga cum luce repleta est , consimili mutat ratione obversa colores ; qui quoniam quodam gignuntur luminis ictu , scire licet , sine eo fieri non posse putandum est . Et quoniam plagae quoddam genus excipit in se pupula , cum sentire colorem dicitur album , atque aliud porro , nigrum cum et cetera sentit , nec refert ea quae tangas quo forte colore praedita sint , verum quali magis apta figura , scire licet nihil principiis opus esse colore , sed variis formis variantes edere tactus .
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Besides, since colours cannot be, sans light, And the primordials come not forth to light, 'Tis thine to know they are not clothed with colour- Truly, what kind of colour could there be In the viewless dark? Nay, in the light itself A colour changes, gleaming variedly, When smote by vertical or slanting ray. Thus in the sunlight shows the down of doves That circles, garlanding, the nape and throat: Now it is ruddy with a bright gold-bronze, Now, by a strange sensation it becomes Green-emerald blended with the coral-red. The peacock's tail, filled with the copious light, Changes its colours likewise, when it turns. Wherefore, since by some blow of light begot, Without such blow these colours can't become. And since the pupil of the eye receives Within itself one kind of blow, when said To feel a white hue, then another kind, When feeling a black or any other hue, And since it matters nothing with what hue The things thou touchest be perchance endowed, But rather with what sort of shape equipped, 'Tis thine to know the atoms need not colour, But render forth sensations, as of touch, That vary with their varied forms. |
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Praeterea quoniam non certis certa figuris est natura coloris et omnia principiorum formamenta queunt in quovis esse nitore , cur ea quae constant ex illis non pariter sunt omnigenus perfusa coloribus in genere omni ? conveniebat enim corvos quoque saepe volantis ex albis album pinnis iactare colorem et nigros fieri nigro de semine cycnos aut alio quovis uno varioque colore . Quin etiam quanto in partes res quaeque minutas distrahitur magis , hoc magis est ut cernere possis evanescere paulatim stinguique colorem ; ut fit ubi in parvas partis discerpitur austrum : purpura poeniceusque color clarissimus multo , filatim cum distractum est , disperditur omnis ; noscere ut hinc possis prius omnem efflare colorem particulas , quam discedant ad semina rerum . Postremo quoniam non omnia corpora vocem mittere concedis neque odorem , propterea fit ut non omnibus adtribuas sonitus et odores : sic oculis quoniam non omnia cernere quimus , scire licet quaedam tam constare orba colore quam sine odore ullo quaedam sonituque remota , nec minus haec animum cognoscere posse sagacem quam quae sunt aliis rebus privata notare .
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Besides, Since special shapes have not a special colour, And all formations of the primal germs Can be of any sheen thou wilt, why, then, Are not those objects which are of them made Suffused, each kind with colours of every kind? For then 'twere meet that ravens, as they fly, Should dartle from white pinions a white sheen, Or swans turn black from seed of black, or be Of any single varied dye thou wilt. Again, the more an object's rent to bits, The more thou see its colour fade away Little by little till 'tis quite extinct; As happens when the gaudy linen's picked Shred after shred away: the purple there, Phoenician red, most brilliant of all dyes, Is lost asunder, ravelled thread by thread; Hence canst perceive the fragments die away From out their colour, long ere they depart Back to the old primordials of things. And, last, since thou concedest not all bodies Send out a voice or smell, it happens thus That not to all thou givest sounds and smells. So, too, since we behold not all with eyes, 'Tis thine to know some things there are as much Orphaned of colour, as others without smell, And reft of sound; and those the mind alert No less can apprehend than it can mark The things that lack some other qualities. |
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Sed ne forte putes solo spoliata colore corpora prima manere , etiam secreta teporis sunt ac frigoris omnino calidique vaporis , et sonitu sterila et suco ieiuna feruntur , nec iaciunt ullum proprium de corpore odorem . sicut amaracini blandum stactaeque liquorem et nardi florem , nectar qui naribus halat , cum facere instituas , cum primis quaerere par est , quod licet ac possis reperire , inolentis olivi naturam , nullam quae mittat naribus auram , quam minime ut possit mixtos in corpore odores concoctosque suo contractans perdere viro , propter eandem rem debent primordia rerum non adhibere suum gignundis rebus odorem nec sonitum , quoniam nihil ab se mittere possunt , nec simili ratione saporem denique quemquam nec frigus neque item calidum tepidumque vaporem , cetera , quae cum ita sunt tamen ut mortalia constent , molli lenta , fragosa putri , cava corpore raro , omnia sint a principiis seiuncta necessest , inmortalia si volumus subiungere rebus fundamenta , quibus nitatur summa salutis ; ne tibi res redeant ad nihilum funditus omnes . Nunc ea quae sentire videmus cumque necessest ex insensilibus tamen omnia confiteare principiis constare . neque id manufesta refutant nec contra pugnant , in promptu cognita quae sunt , sed magis ipsa manu ducunt et credere cogunt ex insensilibus , quod dico , animalia gigni . quippe videre licet vivos existere vermes stercore de taetro , putorem cum sibi nacta est intempestivis ex imbribus umida tellus . Praeterea cunctas itidem res vertere sese . vertunt se fluvii in frondes et pabula laeta in pecudes , vertunt pecudes in corpora nostra naturam , et nostro de corpore saepe ferarum augescunt vires et corpora pennipotentum . ergo omnes natura cibos in corpora viva vertit et hinc sensus animantum procreat omnes , non alia longe ratione atque arida ligna explicat in flammas et in ignis omnia versat . iamne vides igitur magni primordia rerum referre in quali sint ordine quaeque locata et commixta quibus dent motus accipiantque ?
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But think not haply that the primal bodies Remain despoiled alone of colour: so, Are they from warmth dissevered and from cold And from hot exhalations; and they move, Both sterile of sound and dry of juice; and throw Not any odour from their proper bodies. Just as, when undertaking to prepare A liquid balm of myrrh and marjoram, And flower of nard, which to our nostrils breathes Odour of nectar, first of all behooves Thou seek, as far as find thou may and can, The inodorous olive-oil (which never sends One whiff of scent to nostrils), that it may The least debauch and ruin with sharp tang The odorous essence with its body mixed And in it seethed. And on the same account The primal germs of things must not be thought To furnish colour in begetting things, Nor sound, since pow'rless they to send forth aught From out themselves, nor any flavour, too, Nor cold, nor exhalation hot or warm. . . . . . . The rest; yet since these things are mortal all- The pliant mortal, with a body soft; The brittle mortal, with a crumbling frame; The hollow with a porous-all must be Disjoined from the primal elements, If still we wish under the world to lay Immortal ground-works, whereupon may rest The sum of weal and safety, lest for thee All things return to nothing utterly. Now, too: whate'er we see possessing sense Must yet confessedly be stablished all From elements insensate. And those signs, So clear to all and witnessed out of hand, Do not refute this dictum nor oppose; But rather themselves do lead us by the hand, Compelling belief that living things are born Of elements insensate, as I say. Sooth, we may see from out the stinking dung Live worms spring up, when, after soaking rains, The drenched earth rots; and all things change the same: Lo, change the rivers, the fronds, the gladsome pastures Into the cattle, the cattle their nature change Into our bodies, and from our body, oft Grow strong the powers and bodies of wild beasts And mighty-winged birds. Thus nature changes All foods to living frames, and procreates From them the senses of live creatures all, In manner about as she uncoils in flames Dry logs of wood and turns them all to fire. And seest not, therefore, how it matters much After what order are set the primal germs, And with what other germs they all are mixed, And what the motions that they give and get? |