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De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)
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De Rerum Natura

Author: Lucretius
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
57
E
tenebris
tantis
tam
clarum
extollere
lumen

qui
primus
potuisti
inlustrans
commoda
vitae
,
te
sequor
,
o
Graiae
gentis
decus
,
inque
tuis
nunc

ficta
pedum
pono
pressis
vestigia
signis
,
non
ita
certandi
cupidus
quam
propter
amorem

quod
te
imitari
aveo
;
quid
enim
contendat
hirundo

cycnis
,
aut
quid
nam
tremulis
facere
artubus
haedi

consimile
in
cursu
possint
et
fortis
equi
vis
?
tu
,
pater
,
es
rerum
inventor
,
tu
patria
nobis

suppeditas
praecepta
,
tuisque
ex
,
inclute
,
chartis
,
floriferis
ut
apes
in
saltibus
omnia
libant
,
omnia
nos
itidem
depascimur
aurea
dicta
,
aurea
,
perpetua
semper
dignissima
vita
.
nam
simul
ac
ratio
tua
coepit
vociferari

naturam
rerum
divina
mente
coorta

diffugiunt
animi
terrores
,
moenia
mundi

discedunt
.
totum
video
per
inane
geri
res
.
apparet
divum
numen
sedesque
quietae
,
quas
neque
concutiunt
venti
nec
nubila
nimbis

aspergunt
neque
nix
acri
concreta
pruina

cana
cadens
violat
semper
innubilus
aether

integit
et
large
diffuso
lumine
ridet
:
omnia
suppeditat
porro
natura
neque
ulla

res
animi
pacem
delibat
tempore
in
ullo
.
at
contra
nusquam
apparent
Acherusia
templa
,
nec
tellus
obstat
quin
omnia
dispiciantur
,
sub
pedibus
quae
cumque
infra
per
inane
geruntur
.
his
ibi
me
rebus
quaedam
divina
voluptas

percipit
atque
horror
,
quod
sic
natura
tua
vi

tam
manifesta
patens
ex
omni
parte
retecta
est
.
Et
quoniam
docui
,
cunctarum
exordia
rerum

qualia
sint
et
quam
variis
distantia
formis

sponte
sua
volitent
aeterno
percita
motu
,
quove
modo
possint
res
ex
his
quaeque
creari
,
hasce
secundum
res
animi
natura
videtur

atque
animae
claranda
meis
iam
versibus
esse

et
metus
ille
foras
praeceps
Acheruntis
agendus
,
funditus
humanam
qui
vitam
turbat
ab
imo

omnia
suffundens
mortis
nigrore
neque
ullam

esse
voluptatem
liquidam
puramque
relinquit
.
PROEM
O thou who first uplifted in such dark
So clear a torch aloft, who first shed light
Upon the profitable ends of man,
O thee I follow, glory of the Greeks,
And set my footsteps squarely planted now
Even in the impress and the marks of thine-
Less like one eager to dispute the palm,
More as one craving out of very love
That I may copy thee!- for how should swallow
Contend with swans or what compare could be
In a race between young kids with tumbling legs
And the strong might of the horse? Our father thou,
And finder-out of truth, and thou to us
Suppliest a father's precepts; and from out
Those scriven leaves of thine, renowned soul
(Like bees that sip of all in flowery wolds),
We feed upon thy golden sayings all-
Golden, and ever worthiest endless life.
For soon as ever thy planning thought that sprang
From god-like mind begins its loud proclaim
Of nature's courses, terrors of the brain
Asunder flee, the ramparts of the world
Dispart away, and through the void entire
I see the movements of the universe.
Rises to vision the majesty of gods,
And their abodes of everlasting calm
Which neither wind may shake nor rain-cloud splash,
Nor snow, congealed by sharp frosts, may harm
With its white downfall: ever, unclouded sky
O'er roofs, and laughs with far-diffused light.
And nature gives to them their all, nor aught
May ever pluck their peace of mind away.
But nowhere to my vision rise no more
The vaults of Acheron, though the broad earth
Bars me no more from gazing down o'er all
Which under our feet is going on below
Along the void. O, here in these affairs
Some new divine delight and trembling awe
Takes hold through me, that thus by power of thine
Nature, so plain and manifest at last,
Hath been on every side laid bare to man!
And 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,
Now, after such matters, should my verse, meseems,
Make clear the nature of the mind and soul,
And drive that dread of Acheron without,
Headlong, which so confounds our human life
Unto its deeps, pouring o'er all that is
The black of death, nor leaves not anything
To prosper- a liquid and unsullied joy.
58
nam
quod
saepe
homines
morbos
magis
esse
timendos

infamemque
ferunt
vitam
quam
Tartara
leti

et
se
scire
animi
naturam
sanguinis
esse
,
aut
etiam
venti
,
si
fert
ita
forte
voluntas
,
nec
prosum
quicquam
nostrae
rationis
egere
,
hinc
licet
advertas
animum
magis
omnia
laudis

iactari
causa
quam
quod
res
ipsa
probetur
.
extorres
idem
patria
longeque
fugati

conspectu
ex
hominum
,
foedati
crimine
turpi
,
omnibus
aerumnis
adfecti
denique
vivunt
,
et
quo
cumque
tamen
miseri
venere
parentant

et
nigras
mactant
pecudes
et
manibus
divis

inferias
mittunt
multoque
in
rebus
acerbis

acrius
advertunt
animos
ad
religionem
.
quo
magis
in
dubiis
hominem
spectare
periclis

convenit
adversisque
in
rebus
noscere
qui
sit
;
nam
verae
voces
tum
demum
pectore
ab
imo

eliciuntur
eripitur
persona
amanare
.
denique
avarities
et
honorum
caeca
cupido
,
quae
miseros
homines
cogunt
transcendere
fines

iuris
et
inter
dum
socios
scelerum
atque
ministros

noctes
atque
dies
niti
praestante
labore

ad
summas
emergere
opes
,
haec
vulnera
vitae

non
minimam
partem
mortis
formidine
aluntur
.
turpis
enim
ferme
contemptus
et
acris
egestas

semota
ab
dulci
vita
stabilique
videtur

et
quasi
iam
leti
portas
cunctarier
ante
;
unde
homines
dum
se
falso
terrore
coacti

effugisse
volunt
longe
longeque
remosse
,
sanguine
civili
rem
conflant
divitiasque

conduplicant
avidi
,
caedem
caede
accumulantes
,
crudeles
gaudent
in
tristi
funere
fratris

et
consanguineum
mensas
odere
timentque
.
consimili
ratione
ab
eodem
saepe
timore

macerat
invidia
ante
oculos
illum
esse
potentem
,
illum
aspectari
,
claro
qui
incedit
honore
,
ipsi
se
in
tenebris
volvi
caenoque
queruntur
.
intereunt
partim
statuarum
et
nominis
ergo
.
et
saepe
usque
adeo
,
mortis
formidine
,
vitae

percipit
humanos
odium
lucisque
videndae
,
ut
sibi
consciscant
maerenti
pectore
letum

obliti
fontem
curarum
hunc
esse
timorem
:
hunc
vexare
pudorem
,
hunc
vincula
amicitiai

rumpere
et
in
summa
pietate
evertere
suadet
:
nam
iam
saepe
homines
patriam
carosque
parentis

prodiderunt
vitare
Acherusia
templa
petentes
.
nam
vel
uti
pueri
trepidant
atque
omnia
caecis

in
tenebris
metuunt
,
sic
nos
in
luce
timemus

inter
dum
,
nihilo
quae
sunt
metuenda
magis
quam

quae
pueri
in
tenebris
pavitant
finguntque
futura
.
hunc
igitur
terrorem
animi
tenebrasque
necessest

non
radii
solis
neque
lucida
tela
diei

discutiant
,
sed
naturae
species
ratioque
.

For as to what men sometimes will affirm:
That more than Tartarus (the realm of death)
They fear diseases and a life of shame,
And know the substance of the soul is blood,
Or rather wind (if haply thus their whim),
And so need naught of this our science, then
Thou well may'st note from what's to follow now
That more for glory do they braggart forth
Than for belief. For mark these very same:
Exiles from country, fugitives afar
From sight of men, with charges foul attaint,
Abased with every wretchedness, they yet
Live, and where'er the wretches come, they yet
Make the ancestral sacrifices there,
Butcher the black sheep, and to gods below
Offer the honours, and in bitter case
Turn much more keenly to religion.
Wherefore, it's surer testing of a man
In doubtful perils- mark him as he is
Amid adversities; for then alone
Are the true voices conjured from his breast,
The mask off-stripped, reality behind.
And greed, again, and the blind lust of honours
Which force poor wretches past the bounds of law,
And, oft allies and ministers of crime,
To push through nights and days with hugest toil
To rise untrammelled to the peaks of power-
These wounds of life in no mean part are kept
Festering and open by this fright of death.
For ever we see fierce Want and foul Disgrace
Dislodged afar from secure life and sweet,
Like huddling Shapes before the doors of death.
And whilst, from these, men wish to scape afar,
Driven by false terror, and afar remove,
With civic blood a fortune they amass,
They double their riches, greedy, heapers-up
Of corpse on corpse they have a cruel laugh
For the sad burial of a brother-born,
And hatred and fear of tables of their kin.
Likewise, through this same terror, envy oft
Makes them to peak because before their eyes
That man is lordly, that man gazed upon
Who walks begirt with honour glorious,
Whilst they in filth and darkness roll around;
Some perish away for statues and a name,
And oft to that degree, from fright of death,
Will hate of living and beholding light
Take hold on humankind that they inflict
Their own destruction with a gloomy heart-
Forgetful that this fear is font of cares,
This fear the plague upon their sense of shame,
And this that breaks the ties of comradry
And oversets all reverence and faith,
Mid direst slaughter. For long ere to-day
Often were traitors to country and dear parents
Through quest to shun the realms of Acheron.
For just as children tremble and fear all
In the viewless dark, so even we at times
Dread in the light so many things that be
No whit more fearsome than what children feign,
Shuddering, will be upon them in the dark.
This terror, then, this darkness of the mind,
Not sunrise with its flaring spokes of light,
Nor glittering arrows of morning sun disperse,
But only nature's aspect and her law.
59
Primum
animum
dico
,
mentem
quem
saepe
vocamus
,
in
quo
consilium
vitae
regimenque
locatum
est
,
esse
hominis
partem
nihilo
minus
ac
manus
et
pes

atque
oculei
partes
animantis
totius
extant
.
sensum
animi
certa
non
esse
in
parte
locatum
,
verum
habitum
quendam
vitalem
corporis
esse
,
harmoniam
Grai
quam
dicunt
,
quod
faciat
nos

vivere
cum
sensu
,
nulla
cum
in
parte
siet
mens
;
ut
bona
saepe
valetudo
cum
dicitur
esse

corporis
,
et
non
est
tamen
haec
pars
ulla
valentis
,
sic
animi
sensum
non
certa
parte
reponunt
;
magno
opere
in
quo
mi
diversi
errare
videntur
.
Saepe
itaque
,
in
promptu
corpus
quod
cernitur
,
aegret
,
cum
tamen
ex
alia
laetamur
parte
latenti
;
et
retro
fit
ubi
contra
sit
saepe
vicissim
,
cum
miser
ex
animo
laetatur
corpore
toto
;
non
alio
pacto
quam
si
,
pes
cum
dolet
aegri
,
in
nullo
caput
interea
sit
forte
dolore
.
Praeterea
molli
cum
somno
dedita
membra

effusumque
iacet
sine
sensu
corpus
honustum
,
est
aliud
tamen
in
nobis
quod
tempore
in
illo

multimodis
agitatur
et
omnis
accipit
in
se

laetitiae
motus
et
curas
cordis
inanis
.
Nunc
animam
quoque
ut
in
membris
cognoscere
possis

esse
neque
harmonia
corpus
sentire
solere
,
principio
fit
uti
detracto
corpore
multo

saepe
tamen
nobis
in
membris
vita
moretur
.
Atque
eadem
rursum
,
cum
corpora
pauca
caloris

diffugere
forasque
per
os
est
editus
aër
,
deserit
extemplo
venas
atque
ossa
relinquit
;
noscere
ut
hinc
possis
non
aequas
omnia
partis

corpora
habere
neque
ex
aequo
fulcire
salutem
,
sed
magis
haec
,
venti
quae
sunt
calidique
vaporis

semina
,
curare
in
membris
ut
vita
moretur
.
est
igitur
calor
ac
ventus
vitalis
in
ipso

corpore
,
qui
nobis
moribundos
deserit
artus
.
quapropter
quoniam
est
animi
natura
reperta

atque
animae
quasi
pars
hominis
,
redde
harmoniai

nomen
,
ad
organicos
alto
delatum
Heliconi
,
sive
aliunde
ipsi
porro
traxere
et
in
illam

transtulerunt
,
proprio
quae
tum
res
nomine
egebat
.
quidquid
est
,
habeant
:
tu
cetera
percipe
dicta
.
NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE MIND
First, then, I say, the mind which oft we call
The intellect, wherein is seated life's
Counsel and regimen, is part no less
Of man than hand and foot and eyes are parts
Of one whole breathing creature. [But some hold]
That sense of mind is in no fixed part seated,
But is of body some one vital state,-
Named "harmony" by Greeks, because thereby
We live with sense, though intellect be not
In any part: as oft the body is said
To have good health (when health, however, 's not
One part of him who has it), so they place
The sense of mind in no fixed part of man.
Mightily, diversly, meseems they err.
Often the body palpable and seen
Sickens, while yet in some invisible part
We feel a pleasure; oft the other way,
A miserable in mind feels pleasure still
Throughout his body- quite the same as when
A foot may pain without a pain in head.
Besides, when these our limbs are given o'er
To gentle sleep and lies the burdened frame
At random void of sense, a something else
Is yet within us, which upon that time
Bestirs itself in many a wise, receiving
All motions of joy and phantom cares of heart.
Now, for to see that in man's members dwells
Also the soul, and body ne'er is wont
To feel sensation by a "harmony"
Take this in chief: the fact that life remains
Oft in our limbs, when much of body's gone;
Yet that same life, when particles of heat,
Though few, have scattered been, and through the mouth
Air has been given forth abroad, forthwith
Forever deserts the veins, and leaves the bones.
Thus mayst thou know that not all particles
Perform like parts, nor in like manner all
Are props of weal and safety: rather those-
The seeds of wind and exhalations warm-
Take care that in our members life remains.
Therefore a vital heat and wind there is
Within the very body, which at death
Deserts our frames. And so, since nature of mind
And even of soul is found to be, as 'twere,
A part of man, give over "harmony"-
Name to musicians brought from Helicon,-
Unless themselves they filched it otherwise,
To serve for what was lacking name till then.
Whate'er it be, they're welcome to it- thou,
Hearken my other maxims.
60
Nunc
animum
atque
animam
dico
coniuncta
teneri

inter
se
atque
unam
naturam
conficere
ex
se
,
sed
caput
esse
quasi
et
dominari
in
corpore
toto

consilium
,
quod
nos
animum
mentemque
vocamus
.
idque
situm
media
regione
in
pectoris
haeret
.
hic
exultat
enim
pavor
ac
metus
,
haec
loca
circum

laetitiae
mulcent
:
hic
ergo
mens
animusquest
.
cetera
pars
animae
per
totum
dissita
corpus

paret
et
ad
numen
mentis
momenque
movetur
.
idque
sibi
solum
per
se
sapit
et
sibi
gaudet
,
cum
neque
res
animam
neque
corpus
commovet
una
.
et
quasi
,
cum
caput
aut
oculus
temptante
dolore

laeditur
in
nobis
,
non
omni
concruciamur

corpore
,
sic
animus
nonnumquam
laeditur
ipse

laetitiaque
viget
,
cum
cetera
pars
animai

per
membra
atque
artus
nulla
novitate
cietur
;
verum
ubi
vementi
magis
est
commota
metu
mens
,
consentire
animam
totam
per
membra
videmus

sudoresque
ita
palloremque
existere
toto

corpore
et
infringi
linguam
vocemque
aboriri
,
caligare
oculos
,
sonere
auris
,
succidere
artus
,
denique
concidere
ex
animi
terrore
videmus

saepe
homines
;
facile
ut
quivis
hinc
noscere
possit

esse
animam
cum
animo
coniunctam
,
quae
cum
animi

percussa
est
,
exim
corpus
propellit
et
icit
.
Haec
eadem
ratio
naturam
animi
atque
animai

corpoream
docet
esse
;
ubi
enim
propellere
membra
,
corripere
ex
somno
corpus
mutareque
vultum

atque
hominem
totum
regere
ac
versare
videtur
,
quorum
nil
fieri
sine
tactu
posse
videmus

nec
tactum
porro
sine
corpore
,
nonne
fatendumst

corporea
natura
animum
constare
animamque
?
praeterea
pariter
fungi
cum
corpore
et
una

consentire
animum
nobis
in
corpore
cernis
.
si
minus
offendit
vitam
vis
horrida
teli

ossibus
ac
nervis
disclusis
intus
adacta
,
at
tamen
insequitur
languor
terraeque
petitus

suavis
et
in
terra
mentis
qui
gignitur
aestus

inter
dumque
quasi
exsurgendi
incerta
voluntas
.
ergo
corpoream
naturam
animi
esse
necessest
,
corporeis
quoniam
telis
ictuque
laborat
.
Is
tibi
nunc
animus
quali
sit
corpore
et
unde

constiterit
pergam
rationem
reddere
dictis
.
principio
esse
aio
persuptilem
atque
minutis

perquam
corporibus
factum
constare
.
id
ita
esse

hinc
licet
advertas
animum
,
ut
pernoscere
possis
.

Mind and soul,
I say, are held conjoined one with other,
And form one single nature of themselves;
But chief and regnant through the frame entire
Is still that counsel which we call the mind,
And that cleaves seated in the midmost breast.
Here leap dismay and terror; round these haunts
Be blandishments of joys; and therefore here
The intellect, the mind. The rest of soul,
Throughout the body scattered, but obeys-
Moved by the nod and motion of the mind.
This, for itself, sole through itself, hath thought;
This for itself hath mirth, even when the thing
That moves it, moves nor soul nor body at all.
And as, when head or eye in us is smit
By assailing pain, we are not tortured then
Through all the body, so the mind alone
Is sometimes smitten, or livens with a joy,
Whilst yet the soul's remainder through the limbs
And through the frame is stirred by nothing new.
But when the mind is moved by shock more fierce,
We mark the whole soul suffering all at once
Along man's members: sweats and pallors spread
Over the body, and the tongue is broken,
And fails the voice away, and ring the ears,
Mists blind the eyeballs, and the joints collapse,-
Aye, men drop dead from terror of the mind.
Hence, whoso will can readily remark
That soul conjoined is with mind, and, when
'Tis strook by influence of the mind, forthwith
In turn it hits and drives the body too.
And this same argument establisheth
That nature of mind and soul corporeal is:
For when 'tis seen to drive the members on,
To snatch from sleep the body, and to change
The countenance, and the whole state of man
To rule and turn,- what yet could never be
Sans contact, and sans body contact fails-
Must we not grant that mind and soul consist
Of a corporeal nature?- And besides
Thou markst that likewise with this body of ours
Suffers the mind and with our body feels.
If the dire speed of spear that cleaves the bones
And bares the inner thews hits not the life,
Yet follows a fainting and a foul collapse,
And, on the ground, dazed tumult in the mind,
And whiles a wavering will to rise afoot.
So nature of mind must be corporeal, since
From stroke and spear corporeal 'tis in throes.
Now, of what body, what components formed
Is this same mind I will go on to tell.
First, I aver, 'tis superfine, composed
Of tiniest particles- that such the fact
Thou canst perceive, if thou attend, from this:
61
Nil
adeo
fieri
celeri
ratione
videtur
,
quam
si
mens
fieri
proponit
et
inchoat
ipsa
;
ocius
ergo
animus
quam
res
se
perciet
ulla
,
ante
oculos
quorum
in
promptu
natura
videtur
.
at
quod
mobile
tanto
operest
,
constare
rutundis

perquam
seminibus
debet
perquamque
minutis
,
momine
uti
parvo
possint
inpulsa
moveri
.
namque
movetur
aqua
et
tantillo
momine
flutat
,
quippe
volubilibus
parvisque
creata
figuris
.
at
contra
mellis
constantior
est
natura

et
pigri
latices
magis
et
cunctantior
actus
:
haeret
enim
inter
se
magis
omnis
materiai

copia
,
ni
mirum
quia
non
tam
levibus
extat

corporibus
neque
tam
suptilibus
atque
rutundis
.
namque
papaveris
aura
potest
suspensa
levisque

cogere
ut
ab
summo
tibi
diffluat
altus
acervus
,
at
contra
lapidum
coniectum
spicarumque

noenu
potest
.
igitur
parvissima
corpora
pro
quam

et
levissima
sunt
,
ita
mobilitate
fruuntur
;
at
contra
quae
cumque
magis
cum
pondere
magno

asperaque
inveniuntur
,
eo
stabilita
magis
sunt
.
nunc
igitur
quoniamst
animi
natura
reperta

mobilis
egregie
,
perquam
constare
necessest

corporibus
parvis
et
levibus
atque
rutundis
.
quae
tibi
cognita
res
in
multis
,
o
bone
,
rebus

utilis
invenietur
et
opportuna
cluebit
.
Haec
quoque
res
etiam
naturam
dedicat
eius
,
quam
tenui
constet
textura
quamque
loco
se

contineat
parvo
,
si
possit
conglomerari
,
quod
simul
atque
hominem
leti
secura
quies
est

indepta
atque
animi
natura
animaeque
recessit
,
nil
ibi
libatum
de
toto
corpore
cernas

ad
speciem
,
nihil
ad
pondus
:
mors
omnia
praestat
,
vitalem
praeter
sensum
calidumque
vaporem
.
ergo
animam
totam
perparvis
esse
necessest

seminibus
nexam
per
venas
viscera
nervos
,
qua
tenus
,
omnis
ubi
e
toto
iam
corpore
cessit
,
extima
membrorum
circumcaesura
tamen
se

incolumem
praestat
nec
defit
ponderis
hilum
.
quod
genus
est
,
Bacchi
cum
flos
evanuit
aut
cum

spiritus
unguenti
suavis
diffugit
in
auras

aut
aliquo
cum
iam
sucus
de
corpore
cessit
;
nil
oculis
tamen
esse
minor
res
ipsa
videtur

propterea
neque
detractum
de
pondere
quicquam
,
ni
mirum
quia
multa
minutaque
semina
sucos

efficiunt
et
odorem
in
toto
corpore
rerum
.

Nothing is seen to happen with such speed
As what the mind proposes and begins;
Therefore the same bestirs itself more swiftly
Than aught whose nature's palpable to eyes.
But what's so agile must of seeds consist
Most round, most tiny, that they may be moved,
When hit by impulse slight. So water moves,
In waves along, at impulse just the least-
Being create of little shapes that roll;
But, contrariwise, the quality of honey
More stable is, its liquids more inert,
More tardy its flow; for all its stock of matter
Cleaves more together, since, indeed, 'tis made
Of atoms not so smooth, so fine, and round.
For the light breeze that hovers yet can blow
High heaps of poppy-seed away for thee
Downward from off the top; but, contrariwise,
A pile of stones or spiny ears of wheat
It can't at all. Thus, in so far as bodies
Are small and smooth, is their mobility;
But, contrariwise, the heavier and more rough,
The more immovable they prove. Now, then,
Since nature of mind is movable so much,
Consist it must of seeds exceeding small
And smooth and round. Which fact once known to thee,
Good friend, will serve thee opportune in else.
This also shows the nature of the same,
How nice its texture, in how small a space
'Twould go, if once compacted as a pellet:
When death's unvexed repose gets hold on man
And mind and soul retire, thou markest there
From the whole body nothing ta'en in form,
Nothing in weight. Death grants ye everything,
But vital sense and exhalation hot.
Thus soul entire must be of smallmost seeds,
Twined through the veins, the vitals, and the thews,
Seeing that, when 'tis from whole body gone,
The outward figuration of the limbs
Is unimpaired and weight fails not a whit.
Just so, when vanished the bouquet of wine,
Or when an unguent's perfume delicate
Into the winds away departs, or when
From any body savour's gone, yet still
The thing itself seems minished naught to eyes,
Thereby, nor aught abstracted from its weight-
No marvel, because seeds many and minute
Produce the savours and the redolence
In the whole body of the things.
62
quare
etiam
atque
etiam
mentis
naturam
animaeque

scire
licet
perquam
pauxillis
esse
creatam

seminibus
,
quoniam
fugiens
nil
ponderis
aufert
.
Nec
tamen
haec
simplex
nobis
natura
putanda
est
.
tenvis
enim
quaedam
moribundos
deserit
aura

mixta
vapore
,
vapor
porro
trahit
aëra
secum
;
nec
calor
est
quisquam
,
cui
non
sit
mixtus
et
aër
;
rara
quod
eius
enim
constat
natura
,
necessest
aëris

inter
eum
primordia
multa
moveri
.
iam
triplex
animi
est
igitur
natura
reperta
;
nec
tamen
haec
sat
sunt
ad
sensum
cuncta
creandum
,
nil
horum
quoniam
recipit
mens
posse
creare

sensiferos
motus
,
quae
denique
mente
volutat
.
quarta
quoque
his
igitur
quaedam
natura
necessest

adtribuatur
;
east
omnino
nominis
expers
;
qua
neque
mobilius
quicquam
neque
tenvius
extat

nec
magis
e
parvis
et
levibus
ex
elementis
;
sensiferos
motus
quae
didit
prima
per
artus
.
prima
cietur
enim
,
parvis
perfecta
figuris
,
inde
calor
motus
et
venti
caeca
potestas

accipit
,
inde
aër
,
inde
omnia
mobilitantur
:
concutitur
sanguis
,
tum
viscera
persentiscunt

omnia
,
postremis
datur
ossibus
atque
medullis

sive
voluptas
est
sive
est
contrarius
ardor
.
nec
temere
huc
dolor
usque
potest
penetrare
neque
acre

permanare
malum
,
quin
omnia
perturbentur

usque
adeo
vitae
desit
locus
atque
animai

diffugiant
partes
per
caulas
corporis
omnis
.
sed
plerumque
fit
in
summo
quasi
corpore
finis

motibus
:
hanc
ob
rem
vitam
retinere
valemus
.
Nunc
ea
quo
pacto
inter
sese
mixta
quibusque

compta
modis
vigeant
rationem
reddere
aventem

abstrahit
invitum
patrii
sermonis
egestas
;
sed
tamen
,
ut
potero
summatim
attingere
,
tangam
.

And so,
Again, again, nature of mind and soul
'Tis thine to know created is of seeds
The tiniest ever, since at flying-forth
It beareth nothing of the weight away.
Yet fancy not its nature simple so.
For an impalpable aura, mixed with heat,
Deserts the dying, and heat draws off the air;
And heat there's none, unless commixed with air:
For, since the nature of all heat is rare,
Athrough it many seeds of air must move.
Thus nature of mind is triple; yet those all
Suffice not for creating sense- since mind
Accepteth not that aught of these can cause
Sense-bearing motions, and much less the thoughts
A man revolves in mind. So unto these
Must added be a somewhat, and a fourth;
That somewhat's altogether void of name;
Than which existeth naught more mobile, naught
More an impalpable, of elements
More small and smooth and round. That first transmits
Sense-bearing motions through the frame, for that
Is roused the first, composed of little shapes;
Thence heat and viewless force of wind take up
The motions, and thence air, and thence all things
Are put in motion; the blood is strook, and then
The vitals all begin to feel, and last
To bones and marrow the sensation comes-
Pleasure or torment. Nor will pain for naught
Enter so far, nor a sharp ill seep through,
But all things be perturbed to that degree
That room for life will fail, and parts of soul
Will scatter through the body's every pore.
Yet as a rule, almost upon the skin
These motion aIl are stopped, and this is why
We have the power to retain our life.
Now in my eagerness to tell thee how
They are commixed, through what unions fit
They function so, my country's pauper-speech
Constrains me sadly. As I can, however,
I'll touch some points and pass.
63
inter
enim
cursant
primordia
principiorum

motibus
inter
se
,
nihil
ut
secernier
unum

possit
nec
spatio
fieri
divisa
potestas
,
sed
quasi
multae
vis
unius
corporis
extant
.
quod
genus
in
quovis
animantum
viscere
volgo

est
odor
et
quidam
color
et
sapor
,
et
tamen
ex
his

omnibus
est
unum
perfectum
corporis
augmen
,
sic
calor
atque
aër
et
venti
caeca
potestas

mixta
creant
unam
naturam
et
mobilis
illa

vis
,
initum
motus
ab
se
quae
dividit
ollis
,
sensifer
unde
oritur
primum
per
viscera
motus
.
nam
penitus
prorsum
latet
haec
natura
subestque

nec
magis
hac
infra
quicquam
est
in
corpore
nostro

atque
anima
est
animae
proporro
totius
ipsa
.
quod
genus
in
nostris
membris
et
corpore
toto

mixta
latens
animi
vis
est
animaeque
potestas
,
corporibus
quia
de
parvis
paucisque
creatast
,
sic
tibi
nominis
haec
expers
vis
,
facta
minutis

corporibus
,
latet
atque
animae
quasi
totius
ipsa

proporrost
anima
et
dominatur
corpore
toto
.
consimili
ratione
necessest
ventus
et
aër

et
calor
inter
se
vigeant
commixta
per
artus

atque
aliis
aliud
subsit
magis
emineatque
,
ut
quiddam
fieri
videatur
ab
omnibus
unum
,
ni
calor
ac
ventus
seorsum
seorsumque
potestas
aëris

interemant
sensum
diductaque
solvant
.

In such a wise
Course these primordials 'mongst one another
With inter-motions that no one can be
From other sundered, nor its agency
Perform, if once divided by a space;
Like many powers in one body they work.
As in the flesh of any creature still
Is odour and savour and a certain warmth,
And yet from all of these one bulk of body
Is made complete, so, viewless force of wind
And warmth and air, commingled, do create
One nature, by that mobile energy
Assisted which from out itself to them
Imparts initial motion, whereby first
Sense-bearing motion along the vitals springs.
For lurks this essence far and deep and under,
Nor in our body is aught more shut from view,
And 'tis the very soul of all the soul.
And as within our members and whole frame
The energy of mind and power of soul
Is mixed and latent, since create it is
Of bodies small and few, so lurks this fourth,
This essence void of name, composed of small,
And seems the very soul of all the soul,
And holds dominion o'er the body all.
And by like reason wind and air and heat
Must function so, commingled through the frame,
And now the one subside and now another
In interchange of dominance, that thus
From all of them one nature be produced,
Lest heat and wind apart, and air apart,
Make sense to perish, by disseverment.
64
est
etiam
calor
ille
animo
,
quem
sumit
,
in
ira

cum
fervescit
et
ex
oculis
micat
acrius
ardor
;
est
et
frigida
multa
,
comes
formidinis
,
aura
,
quae
ciet
horrorem
membris
et
concitat
artus
;
est
etiam
quoque
pacati
status
aëris
ille
,
pectore
tranquillo
fit
qui
voltuque
sereno
.
sed
calidi
plus
est
illis
quibus
acria
corda

iracundaque
mens
facile
effervescit
in
ira
,
quo
genere
in
primis
vis
est
violenta
leonum
,
pectora
qui
fremitu
rumpunt
plerumque
gementes

nec
capere
irarum
fluctus
in
pectore
possunt
.
at
ventosa
magis
cervorum
frigida
mens
est

et
gelidas
citius
per
viscera
concitat
auras
,
quae
tremulum
faciunt
membris
existere
motum
.
at
natura
boum
placido
magis
aëre
vivit

nec
nimis
irai
fax
umquam
subdita
percit

fumida
,
suffundens
caecae
caliginis
umbra
,
nec
gelidis
torpet
telis
perfixa
pavoris
;
interutrasque
sitast
cervos
saevosque
leones
.
sic
hominum
genus
est
:
quamvis
doctrina
politos

constituat
pariter
quosdam
,
tamen
illa
relinquit

naturae
cuiusque
animi
vestigia
prima
.
nec
radicitus
evelli
mala
posse
putandumst
,
quin
proclivius
hic
iras
decurrat
ad
acris
,
ille
metu
citius
paulo
temptetur
,
at
ille

tertius
accipiat
quaedam
clementius
aequo
.
inque
aliis
rebus
multis
differre
necessest

naturas
hominum
varias
moresque
sequacis
;
quorum
ego
nunc
nequeo
caecas
exponere
causas

nec
reperire
figurarum
tot
nomina
quot
sunt

principiis
,
unde
haec
oritur
variantia
rerum
.
illud
in
his
rebus
video
firmare
potesse
,
usque
adeo
naturarum
vestigia
linqui

parvola
,
quae
nequeat
ratio
depellere
nobis
,
ut
nihil
inpediat
dignam
dis
degere
vitam
.
Haec
igitur
natura
tenetur
corpore
ab
omni

ipsaque
corporis
est
custos
et
causa
salutis
;
nam
communibus
inter
se
radicibus
haerent

nec
sine
pernicie
divelli
posse
videntur
.
quod
genus
e
thuris
glaebis
evellere
odorem

haud
facile
est
,
quin
intereat
natura
quoque
eius
,
sic
animi
atque
animae
naturam
corpore
toto

extrahere
haut
facile
est
,
quin
omnia
dissoluantur
.
inplexis
ita
principiis
ab
origine
prima

inter
se
fiunt
consorti
praedita
vita
,
nec
sibi
quaeque
sine
alterius
vi
posse
videtur

corporis
atque
animi
seorsum
sentire
potestas
,
sed
communibus
inter
eas
conflatur
utrimque

motibus
accensus
nobis
per
viscera
sensus
.
Praeterea
corpus
per
se
nec
gignitur
umquam

nec
crescit
neque
post
mortem
durare
videtur
.
non
enim
,
ut
umor
aquae
dimittit
saepe
vaporem
,
qui
datus
est
,
neque
ea
causa
convellitur
ipse
,
sed
manet
incolumis
,
non
,
inquam
,
sic
animai

discidium
possunt
artus
perferre
relicti
,
sed
penitus
pereunt
convulsi
conque
putrescunt
.
ex
ineunte
aevo
sic
corporis
atque
animai

mutua
vitalis
discunt
contagia
motus
,
maternis
etiam
membris
alvoque
reposta
,
discidium
nequeat
fieri
sine
peste
maloque
;
ut
videas
,
quoniam
coniunctast
causa
salutis
,
coniunctam
quoque
naturam
consistere
eorum
.

There is indeed in mind that heat it gets
When seething in rage, and flashes from the eyes
More swiftly fire; there is, again, that wind,
Much, and so cold, companion of all dread,
Which rouses the shudder in the shaken frame;
There is no less that state of air composed,
Making the tranquil breast, the serene face.
But more of hot have they whose restive hearts,
Whose minds of passion quickly seethe in rage-
Of which kind chief are fierce abounding lions,
Who often with roaring burst the breast o'erwrought,
Unable to hold the surging wrath within;
But the cold mind of stags has more of wind,
And speedier through their inwards rouses up
The icy currents which make their members quake.
But more the oxen live by tranquil air,
Nor e'er doth smoky torch of wrath applied,
O'erspreading with shadows of a darkling murk,
Rouse them too far; nor will they stiffen stark,
Pierced through by icy javelins of fear;
But have their place half-way between the two-
Stags and fierce lions. Thus the race of men:
Though training make them equally refined,
It leaves those pristine vestiges behind
Of each mind's nature. Nor may we suppose
Evil can e'er be rooted up so far
That one man's not more given to fits of wrath,
Another's not more quickly touched by fear,
A third not more long-suffering than he should.
And needs must differ in many things besides
The varied natures and resulting habits
Of humankind- of which not now can I
Expound the hidden causes, nor find names
Enough for all the divers shapes of those
Primordials whence this variation springs.
But this meseems I'm able to declare:
Those vestiges of natures left behind
Which reason cannot quite expel from us
Are still so slight that naught prevents a man
From living a life even worthy of the gods.
So then this soul is kept by all the body,
Itself the body's guard, and source of weal:
For they with common roots cleave each to each,
Nor can be torn asunder without death.
Not easy 'tis from lumps of frankincense
To tear their fragrance forth, without its nature
Perishing likewise: so, not easy 'tis
From all the body nature of mind and soul
To draw away, without the whole dissolved.
With seeds so intertwined even from birth,
They're dowered conjointly with a partner-life;
No energy of body or mind, apart,
Each of itself without the other's power,
Can have sensation; but our sense, enkindled
Along the vitals, to flame is blown by both
With mutual motions. Besides the body alone
Is nor begot nor grows, nor after death
Seen to endure. For not as water at times
Gives off the alien heat, nor is thereby
Itself destroyed, but unimpaired remains-
Not thus, I say, can the deserted frame
Bear the dissevering of its joined soul,
But, rent and ruined, moulders all away.
Thus the joint contact of the body and soul
Learns from their earliest age the vital motions,
Even when still buried in the mother's womb;
So no dissevering can hap to them,
Without their bane and ill. And thence mayst see
That, as conjoined is their source of weal,
Conjoined also must their nature be.