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De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)
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De Rerum Natura

Author: Lucretius
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
81
Denique
si
vocem
rerum
natura
repente
.
mittat
et
hoc
alicui
nostrum
sic
increpet
ipsa
:
'
quid
tibi
tanto
operest
,
mortalis
,
quod
nimis
aegris

luctibus
indulges
?
quid
mortem
congemis
ac
fles
?
nam
grata
fuit
tibi
vita
ante
acta
priorque

et
non
omnia
pertusum
congesta
quasi
in
vas

commoda
perfluxere
atque
ingrata
interiere
;
cur
non
ut
plenus
vitae
conviva
recedis

aequo
animoque
capis
securam
,
stulte
,
quietem
?
sin
ea
quae
fructus
cumque
es
periere
profusa

vitaque
in
offensost
,
cur
amplius
addere
quaeris
,
rursum
quod
pereat
male
et
ingratum
occidat
omne
,
non
potius
vitae
finem
facis
atque
laboris
?
nam
tibi
praeterea
quod
machiner
inveniamque
,
quod
placeat
,
nihil
est
;
eadem
sunt
omnia
semper
.
si
tibi
non
annis
corpus
iam
marcet
et
artus

confecti
languent
,
eadem
tamen
omnia
restant
,
omnia
si
perges
vivendo
vincere
saecla
,
atque
etiam
potius
,
si
numquam
sis
moriturus
',
quid
respondemus
,
nisi
iustam
intendere
litem

naturam
et
veram
verbis
exponere
causam
?
grandior
hic
vero
si
iam
seniorque
queratur

atque
obitum
lamentetur
miser
amplius
aequo
,
non
merito
inclamet
magis
et
voce
increpet
acri
:
'
aufer
abhinc
lacrimas
,
baratre
,
et
compesce
querellas
.
omnia
perfunctus
vitai
praemia
marces
;
sed
quia
semper
aves
quod
abest
,
praesentia
temnis
,
inperfecta
tibi
elapsast
ingrataque
vita
,
et
nec
opinanti
mors
ad
caput
adstitit
ante

quam
satur
ac
plenus
possis
discedere
rerum
.
nunc
aliena
tua
tamen
aetate
omnia
mitte

aequo
animoque
,
age
dum
,
magnis
concede
necessis
?'
iure
,
ut
opinor
,
agat
,
iure
increpet
inciletque
;
cedit
enim
rerum
novitate
extrusa
vetustas

semper
,
et
ex
aliis
aliud
reparare
necessest
.
Nec
quisquam
in
barathrum
nec
Tartara
deditur
atra
;
materies
opus
est
,
ut
crescant
postera
saecla
;
quae
tamen
omnia
te
vita
perfuncta
sequentur
;
nec
minus
ergo
ante
haec
quam
tu
cecidere
cadentque
.
sic
alid
ex
alio
numquam
desistet
oriri

vitaque
mancipio
nulli
datur
,
omnibus
usu
.
respice
item
quam
nil
ad
nos
ante
acta
vetustas

temporis
aeterni
fuerit
,
quam
nascimur
ante
.
hoc
igitur
speculum
nobis
natura
futuri

temporis
exponit
post
mortem
denique
nostram
.
numquid
ibi
horribile
apparet
,
num
triste
videtur

quicquam
,
non
omni
somno
securius
exstat
?

Once more, if Nature
Should of a sudden send a voice abroad,
And her own self inveigh against us so:
"Mortal, what hast thou of such grave concern
That thou indulgest in too sickly plaints?
Why this bemoaning and beweeping death?
For if thy life aforetime and behind
To thee was grateful, and not all thy good
Was heaped as in sieve to flow away
And perish unavailingly, why not,
Even like a banqueter, depart the halls,
Laden with life? why not with mind content
Take now, thou fool, thy unafflicted rest?
But if whatever thou enjoyed hath been
Lavished and lost, and life is now offence,
Why seekest more to add- which in its turn
Will perish foully and fall out in vain?
O why not rather make an end of life,
Of labour? For all I may devise or find
To pleasure thee is nothing: all things are
The same forever. Though not yet thy body
Wrinkles with years, nor yet the frame exhausts
Outworn, still things abide the same, even if
Thou goest on to conquer all of time
With length of days, yea, if thou never diest"-
What were our answer, but that Nature here
Urges just suit and in her words lays down
True cause of action? Yet should one complain,
Riper in years and elder, and lament,
Poor devil, his death more sorely than is fit,
Then would she not, with greater right, on him
Cry out, inveighing with a voice more shrill:
"Off with thy tears, and choke thy whines, buffoon!
Thou wrinklest- after thou hast had the sum
Of the guerdons of life; yet, since thou cravest ever
What's not at hand, contemning present good,
That life has slipped away, unperfected
And unavailing unto thee. And now,
Or ere thou guessed it, death beside thy head
Stands- and before thou canst be going home
Sated and laden with the goodly feast.
But now yield all that's alien to thine age,-
Up, with good grace! make room for sons: thou must."
Justly, I fancy, would she reason thus,
Justly inveigh and gird: since ever the old
Outcrowded by the new gives way, and ever
The one thing from the others is repaired.
Nor no man is consigned to the abyss
Of Tartarus, the black. For stuff must be,
That thus the after-generations grow,-
Though these, their life completed, follow thee;
And thus like thee are generations all-
Already fallen, or some time to fall.
So one thing from another rises ever;
And in fee-simple life is given to none,
But unto all mere usufruct.
Look back:
Nothing to us was all fore-passed eld
Of time the eternal, ere we had a birth.
And Nature holds this like a mirror up
Of time-to-be when we are dead and gone.
And what is there so horrible appears?
Now what is there so sad about it all?
Is't not serener far than any sleep?
82
Atque
ea
ni
mirum
quae
cumque
Acherunte
profundo

prodita
sunt
esse
,
in
vita
sunt
omnia
nobis
.
nec
miser
inpendens
magnum
timet
aëre
saxum

Tantalus
,
ut
famast
,
cassa
formidine
torpens
;
sed
magis
in
vita
divom
metus
urget
inanis

mortalis
casumque
timent
quem
cuique
ferat
fors
.
nec
Tityon
volucres
ineunt
Acherunte
iacentem

nec
quod
sub
magno
scrutentur
pectore
quicquam

perpetuam
aetatem
possunt
reperire
profecto
.
quam
libet
immani
proiectu
corporis
exstet
,
qui
non
sola
novem
dispessis
iugera
membris

optineat
,
sed
qui
terrai
totius
orbem
,
non
tamen
aeternum
poterit
perferre
dolorem

nec
praebere
cibum
proprio
de
corpore
semper
.
sed
Tityos
nobis
hic
est
,
in
amore
iacentem

quem
volucres
lacerant
atque
exest
anxius
angor

aut
alia
quavis
scindunt
cuppedine
curae
.
Sisyphus
in
vita
quoque
nobis
ante
oculos
est
,
qui
petere
a
populo
fasces
saevasque
secures

imbibit
et
semper
victus
tristisque
recedit
.
nam
petere
imperium
,
quod
inanest
nec
datur
umquam
,
atque
in
eo
semper
durum
sufferre
laborem
,
hoc
est
adverso
nixantem
trudere
monte

saxum
,
quod
tamen
summo
iam
vertice
rusum

volvitur
et
plani
raptim
petit
aequora
campi
.
deinde
animi
ingratam
naturam
pascere
semper

atque
explere
bonis
rebus
satiareque
numquam
,
quod
faciunt
nobis
annorum
tempora
,
circum

cum
redeunt
fetusque
ferunt
variosque
lepores
,
nec
tamen
explemur
vitai
fructibus
umquam
,
hoc
,
ut
opinor
,
id
est
,
aevo
florente
puellas

quod
memorant
laticem
pertusum
congerere
in
vas
,
quod
tamen
expleri
nulla
ratione
potestur
.
Cerberus
et
Furiae
iam
vero
et
lucis
egestas
,
Tartarus
horriferos
eructans
faucibus
aestus
!
qui
neque
sunt
usquam
nec
possunt
esse
profecto
;
sed
metus
in
vita
poenarum
pro
male
factis

est
insignibus
insignis
scelerisque
luela
,
carcer
et
horribilis
de
saxo
iactus
deorsum
,
verbera
carnifices
robur
pix
lammina
taedae
;
quae
tamen
etsi
absunt
,
at
mens
sibi
conscia
factis

praemetuens
adhibet
stimulos
torretque
flagellis
,
nec
videt
interea
qui
terminus
esse
malorum

possit
nec
quae
sit
poenarum
denique
finis
,
atque
eadem
metuit
magis
haec
ne
in
morte
gravescant
.
hic
Acherusia
fit
stultorum
denique
vita
.

And, verily, those tortures said to be
In Acheron, the deep, they all are ours
Here in this life. No Tantalus, benumbed
With baseless terror, as the fables tell,
Fears the huge boulder hanging in the air:
But, rather, in life an empty dread of Gods
Urges mortality, and each one fears
Such fall of fortune as may chance to him.
Nor eat the vultures into Tityus
Prostrate in Acheron, nor can they find,
Forsooth, throughout eternal ages, aught
To pry around for in that mighty breast.
However hugely he extend his bulk-
Who hath for outspread limbs not acres nine,
But the whole earth- he shall not able be
To bear eternal pain nor furnish food
From his own frame forever. But for us
A Tityus is he whom vultures rend
Prostrate in love, whom anxious anguish eats,
Whom troubles of any unappeased desires
Asunder rip. We have before our eyes
Here in this life also a Sisyphus
In him who seeketh of the populace
The rods, the axes fell, and evermore
Retires a beaten and a gloomy man.
For to seek after power- an empty name,
Nor given at all- and ever in the search
To endure a world of toil, O this it is
To shove with shoulder up the hill a stone
Which yet comes rolling back from off the top,
And headlong makes for levels of the plain.
Then to be always feeding an ingrate mind,
Filling with good things, satisfying never-
As do the seasons of the year for us,
When they return and bring their progenies
And varied charms, and we are never filled
With the fruits of life- O this, I fancy, 'tis
To pour, like those young virgins in the tale,
Waters into a sieve, unfilled forever.
. . . . . .
Cerberus and Furies, and that Lack of Light
. . . . . .
Tartarus, out-belching from his mouth the surge
Of horrible heat- the which are nowhere, nor
Indeed can be: but in this life is fear
Of retributions just and expiations
For evil acts: the dungeon and the leap
From that dread rock of infamy, the stripes,
The executioners, the oaken rack,
The iron plates, bitumen, and the torch.
And even though these are absent, yet the mind,
With a fore-fearing conscience, plies its goads
And burns beneath the lash, nor sees meanwhile
What terminus of ills, what end of pine
Can ever be, and feareth lest the same
But grow more heavy after death. Of truth,
The life of fools is Acheron on earth.
83
Hoc
etiam
tibi
tute
interdum
dicere
possis
.
'
lumina
sis
oculis
etiam
bonus
Ancus
reliquit
,
qui
melior
multis
quam
tu
fuit
,
improbe
,
rebus
.
inde
alii
multi
reges
rerumque
potentes

occiderunt
,
magnis
qui
gentibus
imperitarunt
.
ille
quoque
ipse
,
viam
qui
quondam
per
mare
magnum

stravit
iterque
dedit
legionibus
ire
per
altum

ac
pedibus
salsas
docuit
super
ire
lucunas

et
contempsit
equis
insultans
murmura
ponti
,
lumine
adempto
animam
moribundo
corpore
fudit
.
Scipiadas
,
belli
fulmen
,
Carthaginis
horror
,
ossa
dedit
terrae
proinde
ac
famul
infimus
esset
.
adde
repertores
doctrinarum
atque
leporum
,
adde
Heliconiadum
comites
;
quorum
unus
Homerus

sceptra
potitus
eadem
aliis
sopitus
quietest
.
denique
Democritum
post
quam
matura
vetustas

admonuit
memores
motus
languescere
mentis
,
sponte
sua
leto
caput
obvius
optulit
ipse
.
ipse
Epicurus
obit
decurso
lumine
vitae
,
qui
genus
humanum
ingenio
superavit
et
omnis

restinxit
stellas
exortus
ut
aetherius
sol
.
tu
vero
dubitabis
et
indignabere
obire
?
mortua
cui
vita
est
prope
iam
vivo
atque
videnti
,
qui
somno
partem
maiorem
conteris
aevi
,
et
viligans
stertis
nec
somnia
cernere
cessas

sollicitamque
geris
cassa
formidine
mentem

nec
reperire
potes
tibi
quid
sit
saepe
mali
,
cum

ebrius
urgeris
multis
miser
undique
curis

atque
animo
incerto
fluitans
errore
vagaris
.'

This also to thy very self sometimes
Repeat thou mayst: "Lo, even good Ancus left
The sunshine with his eyes, in divers things
A better man than thou, O worthless hind;
And many other kings and lords of rule
Thereafter have gone under, once who swayed
O'er mighty peoples. And he also, he-
Who whilom paved a highway down the sea,
And gave his legionaries thoroughfare
Along the deep, and taught them how to cross
The pools of brine afoot, and did contemn,
Trampling upon it with his cavalry,
The bellowings of ocean- poured his soul
From dying body, as his light was ta'en.
And Scipio's son, the thunderbolt of war,
Horror of Carthage, gave his bones to earth,
Like to the lowliest villein in the house.
Add finders-out of sciences and arts;
Add comrades of the Heliconian dames,
Among whom Homer, sceptered o'er them all,
Now lies in slumber sunken with the rest.
Then, too, Democritus, when ripened eld
Admonished him his memory waned away,
Of own accord offered his head to death.
Even Epicurus went, his light of life
Run out, the man in genius who o'er-topped
The human race, extinguishing all others,
As sun, in ether arisen, all the stars.
Wilt thou, then, dally, thou complain to go?-
For whom already life's as good as dead,
Whilst yet thou livest and lookest?- who in sleep
Wastest thy life- time's major part, and snorest
Even when awake, and ceasest not to see
The stuff of dreams, and bearest a mind beset
By baseless terror, nor discoverest oft
What's wrong with thee, when, like a sotted wretch,
Thou'rt jostled along by many crowding cares,
And wanderest reeling round, with mind aswim."
84
Si
possent
homines
,
proinde
ac
sentire
videntur

pondus
inesse
animo
,
quod
se
gravitate
fatiget
,
e
quibus
id
fiat
causis
quoque
noscere
et
unde

tanta
mali
tam
quam
moles
in
pectore
constet
,
haut
ita
vitam
agerent
,
ut
nunc
plerumque
videmus

quid
sibi
quisque
velit
nescire
et
quaerere
semper
,
commutare
locum
,
quasi
onus
deponere
possit
.
exit
saepe
foras
magnis
ex
aedibus
ille
,
esse
domi
quem
pertaesumst
,
subitoque
,
quippe
foris
nihilo
melius
qui
sentiat
esse
.
currit
agens
mannos
ad
villam
praecipitanter

auxilium
tectis
quasi
ferre
ardentibus
instans
;
oscitat
extemplo
,
tetigit
cum
limina
villae
,
aut
abit
in
somnum
gravis
atque
oblivia
quaerit
,
aut
etiam
properans
urbem
petit
atque
revisit
.
hoc
se
quisque
modo
fugit
,
at
quem
scilicet
,
ut
fit
,
effugere
haut
potis
est
:
ingratius
haeret
et
odit

propterea
,
morbi
quia
causam
non
tenet
aeger
;
quam
bene
si
videat
,
iam
rebus
quisque
relictis

naturam
primum
studeat
cognoscere
rerum
,
temporis
aeterni
quoniam
,
non
unius
horae
,
ambigitur
status
,
in
quo
sit
mortalibus
omnis

aetas
,
post
mortem
quae
restat
cumque
manendo
.

If men, in that same way as on the mind
They feel the load that wearies with its weight,
Could also know the causes whence it comes,
And why so great the heap of ill on heart,
O not in this sort would they live their life,
As now so much we see them, knowing not
What 'tis they want, and seeking ever and ever
A change of place, as if to drop the burden.
The man who sickens of his home goes out,
Forth from his splendid halls, and straight- returns,
Feeling i'faith no better off abroad.
He races, driving his Gallic ponies along,
Down to his villa, madly,- as in haste
To hurry help to a house afire.- At once
He yawns, as soon as foot has touched the threshold,
Or drowsily goes off in sleep and seeks
Forgetfulness, or maybe bustles about
And makes for town again. In such a way
Each human flees himself- a self in sooth,
As happens, he by no means can escape;
And willy-nilly he cleaves to it and loathes,
Sick, sick, and guessing not the cause of ail.
Yet should he see but that, O chiefly then,
Leaving all else, he'd study to divine
The nature of things, since here is in debate
Eternal time and not the single hour,
Mortal's estate in whatsoever remains
After great death.
85
Denique
tanto
opere
in
dubiis
trepidare
periclis

quae
mala
nos
subigit
vitai
tanta
cupido
?
certe
equidem
finis
vitae
mortalibus
adstat

nec
devitari
letum
pote
,
quin
obeamus
.
praeterea
versamur
ibidem
atque
insumus
usque

nec
nova
vivendo
procuditur
ulla
voluptas
;
sed
dum
abest
quod
avemus
,
id
exsuperare
videtur

cetera
;
post
aliud
,
cum
contigit
illud
,
avemus

et
sitis
aequa
tenet
vitai
semper
hiantis
.
posteraque
in
dubiost
fortunam
quam
vehat
aetas
,
quidve
ferat
nobis
casus
quive
exitus
instet
.
nec
prorsum
vitam
ducendo
demimus
hilum

tempore
de
mortis
nec
delibare
valemus
,
quo
minus
esse
diu
possimus
forte
perempti
.
proinde
licet
quod
vis
vivendo
condere
saecla
,
mors
aeterna
tamen
nihilo
minus
illa
manebit
,
nec
minus
ille
diu
iam
non
erit
,
ex
hodierno

lumine
qui
finem
vitai
fecit
,
et
ille
,
mensibus
atque
annis
qui
multis
occidit
ante
.

And too, when all is said,
What evil lust of life is this so great
Subdues us to live, so dreadfully distraught
In perils and alarms? one fixed end
Of life abideth for mortality;
Death's not to shun, and we must go to meet.
Besides we're busied with the same devices,
Ever and ever, and we are at them ever,
And there's no new delight that may be forged
By living on. But whilst the thing we long for
Is lacking, that seems good above all else;
Thereafter, when we've touched it, something else
We long for; ever one equal thirst of life
Grips us agape. And doubtful 'tis what fortune
The future times may carry, or what be
That chance may bring, or what the issue next
Awaiting us. Nor by prolonging life
Take we the least away from death's own time,
Nor can we pluck one moment off, whereby
To minish the aeons of our state of death.
Therefore, O man, by living on, fulfil
As many generations as thou may:
Eternal death shall there be waiting still;
And he who died with light of yesterday
Shall be no briefer time in death's No-more
Than he who perished months or years before.
86
Liber
Quartus
BOOK IV
87
Avia
Pieridum
peragro
loca
nullius
ante

trita
solo
.
iuvat
integros
accedere
fontis

atque
haurire
,
iuvatque
novos
decerpere
flores

insignemque
meo
capiti
petere
inde
coronam
,
unde
prius
nulli
velarint
tempora
musae
;
primum
quod
magnis
doceo
de
rebus
et
artis

religionum
animum
nodis
exsolvere
pergo
,
deinde
quod
obscura
de
re
tam
lucida
pango

carmina
musaeo
contingens
cuncta
lepore
.
id
quoque
enim
non
ab
nulla
ratione
videtur
;
nam
vel
uti
pueris
absinthia
taetra
medentes

cum
dare
conantur
,
prius
oras
pocula
circum

contingunt
mellis
dulci
flavoque
liquore
,
ut
puerorum
aetas
inprovida
ludificetur

labrorum
tenus
,
interea
perpotet
amarum

absinthi
laticem
deceptaque
non
capiatur
,
sed
potius
tali
facto
recreata
valescat
,
sic
ego
nunc
,
quoniam
haec
ratio
plerumque
videtur

tristior
esse
quibus
non
est
tractata
,
retroque

volgus
abhorret
ab
hac
,
volui
tibi
suaviloquenti

carmine
Pierio
rationem
exponere
nostram

et
quasi
musaeo
dulci
contingere
melle
;
si
tibi
forte
animum
tali
ratione
tenere

versibus
in
nostris
possem
,
dum
percipis
omnem

naturam
rerum
ac
persentis
utilitatem
.
PROEM
I wander afield, thriving in sturdy thought,
Through unpathed haunts of the Pierides,
Trodden by step of none before. I joy
To come on undefiled fountains there,
To drain them deep; I joy to pluck new flowers,
To seek for this my head a signal crown
From regions where the Muses never yet
Have garlanded the temples of a man:
First, since I teach concerning mighty things,
And go right on to loose from round the mind
The tightened coils of dread religion;
Next, since, concerning themes so dark, I frame
Song so pellucid, touching all throughout
Even with the Muses' charm- which, as 'twould seem,
Is not without a reasonable ground:
For as physicians, when they seek to give
Young boys the nauseous wormwood, first do touch
The brim around the cup with the sweet juice
And yellow of the honey, in order that
The thoughtless age of boyhood be cajoled
As far as the lips, and meanwhile swallow down
The wormwood's bitter draught, and, though befooled,
Be yet not merely duped, but rather thus
Grow strong again with recreated health:
So now I too (since this my doctrine seems
In general somewhat woeful unto those
Who've had it not in hand, and since the crowd
Starts back from it in horror) have desired
To expound our doctrine unto thee in song
Soft-speaking and Pierian, and, as 'twere,
To touch it with sweet honey of the Muse-
If by such method haply I might hold
The mind of thee upon these lines of ours,
Till thou dost learn the nature of all things
And understandest their utility.
88
Sed
quoniam
docui
cunctarum
exordia
rerum

qualia
sint
et
quam
variis
distantia
formis

sponte
sua
volitent
aeterno
percita
motu

quoque
modo
possit
res
ex
his
quaeque
creari
,
atque
animi
quoniam
docui
natura
quid
esset

et
quibus
e
rebus
cum
corpore
compta
vigeret

quove
modo
distracta
rediret
in
ordia
prima
,
nunc
agere
incipiam
tibi
,
quod
vehementer
ad
has
res

attinet
esse
ea
quae
rerum
simulacra
vocamus
,
quod
speciem
ac
formam
similem
gerit
eius
imago
,
cuius
cumque
cluet
de
corpore
fusa
vagari
;
quae
quasi
membranae
summo
de
corpore
rerum

dereptae
volitant
ultroque
citroque
per
auras
,
atque
eadem
nobis
vigilantibus
obvia
mentes

terrificant
atque
in
somnis
,
cum
saepe
figuras

contuimur
miras
simulacraque
luce
carentum
,
quae
nos
horrifice
languentis
saepe
sopore

excierunt
ne
forte
animas
Acherunte
reamur

effugere
aut
umbras
inter
vivos
volitare

neve
aliquid
nostri
post
mortem
posse
relinqui
,
cum
corpus
simul
atque
animi
natura
perempta

in
sua
discessum
dederint
primordia
quaeque
.
dico
igitur
rerum
effigias
tenuisque
figuras

mittier
ab
rebus
summo
de
cortice
eorum
;
id
licet
hinc
quamvis
hebeti
cognoscere
corde
.
EXISTENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE IMAGES
But since I've taught already of what sort
The seeds of all things are, and how distinct
In divers forms they flit of own accord,
Stirred with a motion everlasting on,
And in what mode things be from them create,
And since I've taught what the mind's nature is,
And of what things 'tis with the body knit
And thrives in strength, and by what mode uptorn
That mind returns to its primordials,
Now will I undertake an argument-
One for these matters of supreme concern-
That there exist those somewhats which we call
The images of things: these, like to films
Scaled off the utmost outside of the things,
Flit hither and thither through the atmosphere,
And the same terrify our intellects,
Coming upon us waking or in sleep,
When oft we peer at wonderful strange shapes
And images of people lorn of light,
Which oft have horribly roused us when we lay
In slumber- that haply nevermore may we
Suppose that souls get loose from Acheron,
Or shades go floating in among the living,
Or aught of us is left behind at death,
When body and mind, destroyed together, each
Back to its own primordials goes away.
And thus I say that effigies of things,
And tenuous shapes from off the things are sent,
From off the utmost outside of the things,
Which are like films or may be named a rind,
Because the image bears like look and form
With whatso body has shed it fluttering forth-
A fact thou mayst, however dull thy wits,