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De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)
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De Rerum Natura

Author: Lucretius
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
177
at
vigiles
mundi
magnum
versatile
templum

sol
et
luna
suo
lustrantes
lumine
circum

perdocuere
homines
annorum
tempora
verti

et
certa
ratione
geri
rem
atque
ordine
certo
.
Iam
validis
saepti
degebant
turribus
aevom
,
et
divisa
colebatur
discretaque
tellus
,
tum
mare
velivolis
florebat
navibus
ponti
,
auxilia
ac
socios
iam
pacto
foedere
habebant
,
carminibus
cum
res
gestas
coepere
poëtae

tradere
;
nec
multo
prius
sunt
elementa
reperta
.
propterea
quid
sit
prius
actum
respicere
aetas

nostra
nequit
,
nisi
qua
ratio
vestigia
monstrat
.
Navigia
atque
agri
culturas
moenia
leges

arma
vias
vestes
cetera
de
genere
horum
,
praemia
,
delicias
quoque
vitae
funditus
omnis
,
carmina
,
picturas
et
daedala
signa
polita

usus
et
impigrae
simul
experientia
mentis

paulatim
docuit
pedetemptim
progredientis
.
sic
unum
quicquid
paulatim
protrahit
aetas

in
medium
ratioque
in
luminis
erigit
oras
;
namque
alid
ex
alio
clarescere
corde
videbant
,
artibus
ad
summum
donec
venere
cacumen
.

But sun and moon, those watchmen of the world,
With their own lanterns traversing around
The mighty, the revolving vault, have taught
Unto mankind that seasons of the years
Return again, and that the Thing takes place
After a fixed plan and order fixed.
Already would they pass their life, hedged round
By the strong towers; and cultivate an earth
All portioned out and boundaried; already
Would the sea flower and sail-winged ships;
Already men had, under treaty pacts,
Confederates and allies, when poets began
To hand heroic actions down in verse;
Nor long ere this had letters been devised-
Hence is our age unable to look back
On what has gone before, except where reason
Shows us a footprint.
Sailings on the seas,
Tillings of fields, walls, laws, and arms, and roads,
Dress and the like, all prizes, all delights
Of finer life, poems, pictures, chiselled shapes
Of polished sculptures- all these arts were learned
By practice and the mind's experience,
As men walked forward step by eager step.
Thus time draws forward each and everything
Little by little into the midst of men,
And reason uplifts it to the shores of light.
For one thing after other did men see
Grow clear by intellect, till with their arts
They've now achieved the supreme pinnacle.
178
Liber
Sextus
BOOK VI
179
Primae
frugiparos
fetus
mortalibus
aegris

dididerunt
quondam
praeclaro
nomine
Athenae

et
recreaverunt
vitam
legesque
rogarunt

et
primae
dederunt
solacia
dulcia
vitae
,
cum
genuere
virum
tali
cum
corde
repertum
,
omnia
veridico
qui
quondam
ex
ore
profudit
;
cuius
et
extincti
propter
divina
reperta

divolgata
vetus
iam
ad
caelum
gloria
fertur
.
nam
cum
vidit
hic
ad
victum
quae
flagitat
usus

omnia
iam
ferme
mortalibus
esse
parata

et
,
pro
quam
possent
,
vitam
consistere
tutam
,
divitiis
homines
et
honore
et
laude
potentis

affluere
atque
bona
gnatorum
excellere
fama
,
nec
minus
esse
domi
cuiquam
tamen
anxia
cordi
,
atque
animi
ingratis
vitam
vexare
sine
ulla

pausa
atque
infestis
cogi
saevire
querellis
,
intellegit
ibi
vitium
vas
efficere
ipsum

omniaque
illius
vitio
corrumpier
intus
,
quae
conlata
foris
et
commoda
cumque
venirent
;
partim
quod
fluxum
pertusumque
esse
videbat
,
ut
nulla
posset
ratione
explerier
umquam
,
partim
quod
taetro
quasi
conspurcare
sapore

omnia
cernebat
,
quae
cumque
receperat
,
intus
.
veridicis
igitur
purgavit
pectora
dictis

et
finem
statuit
cuppedinis
atque
timoris

exposuitque
bonum
summum
,
quo
tendimus
omnes
,
quid
foret
,
atque
viam
monstravit
,
tramite
parvo

qua
possemus
ad
id
recto
contendere
cursu
,
quidve
mali
foret
in
rebus
mortalibus
passim
,
quod
fieret
naturali
varieque
volaret

seu
casu
seu
vi
,
quod
sic
natura
parasset
,
et
quibus
e
portis
occurri
cuique
deceret
,
et
genus
humanum
frustra
plerumque
probavit

volvere
curarum
tristis
in
pectore
fluctus
.
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
nec
lucida
tela
diei

discutiant
,
sed
naturae
species
ratioque
.
quo
magis
inceptum
pergam
pertexere
dictis
.
PROEM
'Twas Athens first, the glorious in name,
That whilom gave to hapless sons of men
The sheaves of harvest, and re-ordered life,
And decreed laws; and she the first that gave
Life its sweet solaces, when she begat
A man of heart so wise, who whilom poured
All wisdom forth from his truth-speaking mouth;
The glory of whom, though dead, is yet to-day,
Because of those discoveries divine
Renowned of old, exalted to the sky.
For when saw he that well-nigh everything
Which needs of man most urgently require
Was ready to hand for mortals, and that life,
As far as might be, was established safe,
That men were lords in riches, honour, praise,
And eminent in goodly fame of sons,
And that they yet, O yet, within the home,
Still had the anxious heart which vexed life
Unpausingly with torments of the mind,
And raved perforce with angry plaints, then he,
Then he, the master, did perceive that 'twas
The vessel itself which worked the bane, and all,
However wholesome, which from here or there
Was gathered into it, was by that bane
Spoilt from within,- in part, because he saw
The vessel so cracked and leaky that nowise
'T could ever be filled to brim; in part because
He marked how it polluted with foul taste
Whate'er it got within itself. So he,
The master, then by his truth-speaking words,
Purged the breasts of men, and set the bounds
Of lust and terror, and exhibited
The supreme good whither we all endeavour,
And showed the path whereby we might arrive
Thereunto by a little cross-cut straight,
And what of ills in all affairs of mortals
Upsprang and flitted deviously about
(Whether by chance or force), since nature thus
Had destined; and from out what gates a man
Should sally to each combat. And he proved
That mostly vainly doth the human race
Roll in its bosom the grim waves of care.
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 can disperse,
But only nature's aspect and her law.
Wherefore the more will I go on to weave
In verses this my undertaken task.
180
Et
quoniam
docui
mundi
mortalia
templa

esse
nativo
consistere
corpore
caelum
,
et
quae
cumque
in
eo
fiunt
fierique
necessest

pleraque
dissolui
,
qui
restant
percipe
porro
,
quandoquidem
semel
insignem
conscendere
currum

tu
mihi
supremae
praescripta
ad
candida
callis

currenti
spatium
praemonstra
,
callida
musa

Calliope
,
requies
hominum
divomque
voluptas
,
te
duce
ut
insigni
capiam
cum
laude
coronam
.
ventorum
existant
,
placentur
omnia
rursum

quae
fuerint
,
sint
placato
conversa
furore
.
cetera
quae
fieri
in
terris
caeloque
tuentur

mortales
,
pavidis
cum
pendent
mentibus
saepe

et
faciunt
animos
humilis
formidine
divom

depressosque
premunt
ad
terram
propterea
quod

ignorantia
causarum
conferre
deorum

cogit
ad
imperium
res
et
concedere
regnum
.
nam
bene
qui
didicere
deos
securum
agere
aevom
,
si
tamen
interea
mirantur
qua
ratione

quaeque
geri
possint
,
praesertim
rebus
in
illis

quae
supera
caput
aetheriis
cernuntur
in
oris
,
rursus
in
antiquas
referuntur
religionis

et
dominos
acris
adsciscunt
,
omnia
posse

quos
miseri
credunt
,
ignari
quid
queat
esse
,
quid
nequeat
,
finita
potestas
denique
cuique

qua
nam
sit
ratione
atque
alte
terminus
haerens
;
quo
magis
errantes
caeca
ratione
feruntur
.
quae
nisi
respuis
ex
animo
longeque
remittis

dis
indigna
putare
alienaque
pacis
eorum
,
delibata
deum
per
te
tibi
numina
sancta

saepe
oberunt
;
non
quo
violari
summa
deum
vis

possit
,
ut
ex
ira
poenas
petere
inbibat
acris
,
sed
quia
tute
tibi
placida
cum
pace
quietos

constitues
magnos
irarum
volvere
fluctus
,
nec
delubra
deum
placido
cum
pectore
adibis
,
nec
de
corpore
quae
sancto
simulacra
feruntur

in
mentes
hominum
divinae
nuntia
formae
,
suscipere
haec
animi
tranquilla
pace
valebis
.
inde
videre
licet
qualis
iam
vita
sequatur
.
quam
quidem
ut
a
nobis
ratio
verissima
longe

reiciat
,
quamquam
sunt
a
me
multa
profecta
,
multa
tamen
restant
et
sunt
ornanda
politis

versibus
;
est
ratio
caeli
QUE
ignisque
tenenda
,
sunt
tempestates
et
fulmina
clara
canenda
,
quid
faciant
et
qua
de
causa
cumque
ferantur
;
ne
trepides
caeli
divisis
partibus
amens
,
unde
volans
ignis
pervenerit
aut
in
utram
se

verterit
hinc
partim
,
quo
pacto
per
loca
saepta

insinuarit
,
et
hinc
dominatus
ut
extulerit
se
.

And since I've taught thee that the world's great vaults
Are mortal and that sky is fashioned
Of frame e'en born in time, and whatsoe'er
Therein go on and must perforce go on
. . . . . .
The most I have unravelled; what remains
Do thou take in, besides; since once for all
To climb into that chariot' renowned
. . . . . .
Of winds arise; and they appeased are
So that all things again...
. . . . . .
Which were, are changed now, with fury stilled;
All other movements through the earth and sky
Which mortals gaze upon (O anxious oft
In quaking thoughts!), and which abase their minds
With dread of deities and press them crushed
Down to the earth, because their ignorance
Of cosmic causes forces them to yield
All things unto the empery of gods
And to concede the kingly rule to them.
For even those men who have learned full well
That godheads lead a long life free of care,
If yet meanwhile they wonder by what plan
Things can go on (and chiefly yon high things
Observed o'erhead on the ethereal coasts),
Again are hurried back unto the fears
Of old religion and adopt again
Harsh masters, deemed almighty,- wretched men,
Unwitting what can be and what cannot,
And by what law to each its scope prescribed,
Its boundary stone that clings so deep in Time.
Wherefore the more are they borne wandering on
By blindfold reason. And, Memmius, unless
From out thy mind thou spuest all of this
And casteth far from thee all thoughts which be
Unworthy gods and alien to their peace,
Then often will the holy majesties
Of the high gods be harmful unto thee,
As by thy thought degraded,- not, indeed,
That essence supreme of gods could be by this
So outraged as in wrath to thirst to seek
Revenges keen; but even because thyself
Thou plaguest with the notion that the gods,
Even they, the Calm Ones in serene repose,
Do roll the mighty waves of wrath on wrath;
Nor wilt thou enter with a serene breast
Shrines of the gods; nor wilt thou able be
In tranquil peace of mind to take and know
Those images which from their holy bodies
Are carried into intellects of men,
As the announcers of their form divine.
What sort of life will follow after this
'Tis thine to see. But that afar from us
Veriest reason may drive such life away,
Much yet remains to be embellished yet
In polished verses, albeit hath issued forth
So much from me already; lo, there is
The law and aspect of the sky to be
By reason grasped; there are the tempest times
And the bright lightnings to be hymned now-
Even what they do and from what cause soe'er
They're borne along- that thou mayst tremble not,
Marking off regions of prophetic skies
For auguries, O foolishly distraught
Even as to whence the flying flame hath come,
Or to which half of heaven it turns, or how
Through walled places it hath wound its way,
Or, after proving its dominion there,
How it hath speeded forth from thence amain-
Whereof nowise the causes do men know,
And think divinities are working there.
Do thou, Calliope, ingenious Muse,
Solace of mortals and delight of gods,
Point out the course before me, as I race
On to the white line of the utmost goal,
That I may get with signal praise the crown,
With thee my guide!
181
Principio
tonitru
quatiuntur
caerula
caeli

propterea
quia
concurrunt
sublime
volantes

aetheriae
nubes
contra
pugnantibus
ventis
.
nec
fit
enim
sonitus
caeli
de
parte
serena
,
verum
ubi
cumque
magis
denso
sunt
agmine
nubes
,
tam
magis
hinc
magno
fremitus
fit
murmure
saepe
.
praeterea
neque
tam
condenso
corpore
nubes

esse
queunt
quam
sunt
lapides
ac
ligna
,
neque
autem

tam
tenues
quam
sunt
nebulae
fumique
volantes
;
nam
cadere
aut
bruto
deberent
pondere
pressae

ut
lapides
,
aut
ut
fumus
constare
nequirent

nec
cohibere
nives
gelidas
et
grandinis
imbris
.
Dant
etiam
sonitum
patuli
super
aequora
mundi
,
carbasus
ut
quondam
magnis
intenta
theatris

dat
crepitum
malos
inter
iactata
trabesque
,
inter
dum
perscissa
furit
petulantibus
auris

et
fragilis
chartarum
commeditatur
;
id
quoque
enim
genus
in
tonitru
cognoscere
possis
,
aut
ubi
suspensam
vestem
chartasque
volantis

verberibus
venti
versant
planguntque
per
auras
.
fit
quoque
enim
inter
dum
non
tam
concurrere
nubes

frontibus
adversis
possint
quam
de
latere
ire

diverso
motu
radentes
corpora
tractim
,
aridus
unde
auris
terget
sonus
ille
diuque

ducitur
,
exierunt
donec
regionibus
artis
.
GREAT METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA, ETC.
And so in first place, then,
With thunder are shaken the blue deeps of heaven,
Because the ethereal clouds, scudding aloft,
Together clash, what time 'gainst one another
The winds are battling. For never a sound there comes
From out the serene regions of the sky;
But wheresoever in a host more dense
The clouds foregather, thence more often comes
A crash with mighty rumbling. And, again,
Clouds cannot be of so condensed a frame
As stones and timbers, nor again so fine
As mists and flying smoke; for then perforce
They'd either fall, borne down by their brute weight,
Like stones, or, like the smoke, they'd powerless be
To keep their mass, or to retain within
Frore snows and storms of hail. And they give forth
O'er skiey levels of the spreading world
A sound on high, as linen-awning, stretched
O'er mighty theatres, gives forth at times
A cracking roar, when much 'tis beaten about
Betwixt the poles and cross-beams. Sometimes, too,
Asunder rent by wanton gusts, it raves
And imitates the tearing sound of sheets
Of paper- even this kind of noise thou mayst
In thunder hear- or sound as when winds whirl
With lashings and do buffet about in air
A hanging cloth and flying paper-sheets.
For sometimes, too, it chances that the clouds
Cannot together crash head-on, but rather
Move side-wise and with motions contrary
Graze each the other's body without speed,
From whence that dry sound grateth on our ears,
So long drawn-out, until the clouds have passed
From out their close positions.
182
Hoc
etiam
pacto
tonitru
concussa
videntur

omnia
saepe
gravi
tremere
et
divolsa
repente

maxima
dissiluisse
capacis
moenia
mundi
,
cum
subito
validi
venti
conlecta
procella

nubibus
intorsit
sese
conclusaque
ibidem

turbine
versanti
magis
ac
magis
undique
nubem

cogit
uti
fiat
spisso
cava
corpore
circum
,
post
ubi
conminuit
vis
eius
et
impetus
acer
,
tum
perterricrepo
sonitu
dat
scissa
fragorem
.
nec
mirum
,
cum
plena
animae
vensicula
parva

saepe
haud
dat
parvum
sonitum
displosa
repente
.
Est
etiam
ratio
,
cum
venti
nubila
perflant
,
ut
sonitus
faciant
;
etenim
ramosa
videmus

nubila
saepe
modis
multis
atque
aspera
ferri
;
scilicet
ut
,
crebram
silvam
cum
flamina
cauri

perflant
,
dant
sonitum
frondes
ramique
fragorem
.
Fit
quoque
ut
inter
dum
validi
vis
incita
venti

perscindat
nubem
perfringens
impete
recto
;
nam
quid
possit
ibi
flatus
manifesta
docet
res
,
hic
,
ubi
lenior
est
,
in
terra
cum
tamen
alta

arbusta
evolvens
radicibus
haurit
ab
imis
.
sunt
etiam
fluctus
per
nubila
,
qui
quasi
murmur

dant
in
frangendo
graviter
;
quod
item
fit
in
altis

fluminibus
magnoque
mari
,
cum
frangitur
aestus
.
Fit
quoque
,
ubi
e
nubi
in
nubem
vis
incidit
ardens

fulminis
;
haec
multo
si
forte
umore
recepit

ignem
,
continuo
magno
clamore
trucidat
;
ut
calidis
candens
ferrum
e
fornacibus
olim

stridit
,
ubi
in
gelidum
propter
demersimus
imbrem
.
Aridior
porro
si
nubes
accipit
ignem
,
uritur
ingenti
sonitu
succensa
repente
,
lauricomos
ut
si
per
montis
flamma
vagetur

turbine
ventorum
comburens
impete
magno
;
nec
res
ulla
magis
quam
Phoebi
Delphica
laurus

terribili
sonitu
flamma
crepitante
crematur
.
Denique
saepe
geli
multus
fragor
atque
ruina

grandinis
in
magnis
sonitum
dat
nubibus
alte
;
ventus
enim
cum
confercit
,
franguntur
in
artum

concreti
montes
nimborum
et
grandine
mixti
.

And, again,
In following wise all things seem oft to quake
At shock of heavy thunder, and mightiest walls
Of the wide reaches of the upper world
There on the instant to have sprung apart,
Riven asunder, what time a gathered blast
Of the fierce hurricane hath all at once
Twisted its way into a mass of clouds,
And, there enclosed, ever more and more
Compelleth by its spinning whirl the cloud
To grow all hollow with a thickened crust
Surrounding; for thereafter, when the force
And the keen onset of the wind have weakened
That crust, lo, then the cloud, to-split in twain,
Gives forth a hideous crash with bang and boom.
No marvel this; since oft a bladder small,
Filled up with air, will, when of sudden burst,
Give forth a like large sound.
There's reason, too,
Why clouds make sounds, as through them blow the winds:
We see, borne down the sky, oft shapes of clouds
Rough-edged or branched many forky ways;
And 'tis the same, as when the sudden flaws
Of north-west wind through the dense forest blow,
Making the leaves to sough and limbs to crash.
It happens too at times that roused force
Of the fierce hurricane to-rends the cloud,
Breaking right through it by a front assault;
For what a blast of wind may do up there
Is manifest from facts when here on earth
A blast more gentle yet uptwists tall trees
And sucks them madly from their deepest roots.
Besides, among the clouds are waves, and these
Give, as they roughly break, a rumbling roar;
As when along deep streams or the great sea
Breaks the loud surf. It happens, too, whenever
Out from one cloud into another falls
The fiery energy of thunderbolt,
That straightaway the cloud, if full of wet,
Extinguishes the fire with mighty noise;
As iron, white from the hot furnaces,
Sizzles, when speedily we've plunged its glow
Down the cold water. Further, if a cloud
More dry receive the fire, 'twill suddenly
Kindle to flame and burn with monstrous sound,
As if a flame with whirl of winds should range
Along the laurel-tressed mountains far,
Upburning with its vast assault those trees;
Nor is there aught that in the crackling flame
Consumes with sound more terrible to man
Than Delphic laurel of Apollo lord.
Oft, too, the multitudinous crash of ice
And down-pour of swift hail gives forth a sound
Among the mighty clouds on high; for when
The wind hath packed them close, each mountain mass
Of rain-cloud, there congealed utterly
And mixed with hail-stones, breaks and booms...
. . . . . .
183
Fulgit
item
,
nubes
ignis
cum
semina
multa

excussere
suo
concursu
,
ceu
lapidem
si

percutiat
lapis
aut
ferrum
;
nam
tum
quoque
lumen

exilit
et
claras
scintillas
dissipat
ignis
.
sed
tonitrum
fit
uti
post
auribus
accipiamus
,
fulgere
quam
cernant
oculi
,
quia
semper
ad
auris

tardius
adveniunt
quam
visum
quae
moveant
res
.
id
licet
hinc
etiam
cognoscere
:
caedere
si
quem

ancipiti
videas
ferro
procul
arboris
auctum
,
ante
fit
ut
cernas
ictum
quam
plaga
per
auris

det
sonitum
;
sic
fulgorem
quoque
cernimus
ante

quam
tonitrum
accipimus
,
pariter
qui
mittitur
igni

e
simili
causa
,
concursu
natus
eodem
.

Likewise, it lightens, when the clouds have struck,
By their collision, forth the seeds of fire:
As if a stone should smite a stone or steel,
For light then too leaps forth and fire then scatters
The shining sparks. But with our ears we get
The thunder after eyes behold the flash,
Because forever things arrive the ears
More tardily than the eyes- as thou mayst see
From this example too: when markest thou
Some man far yonder felling a great tree
With double-edged ax, it comes to pass
Thine eye beholds the swinging stroke before
The blow gives forth a sound athrough thine ears:
Thus also we behold the flashing ere
We hear the thunder, which discharged is
At same time with the fire and by same cause,
Born of the same collision.
184
Hoc
etiam
pacto
volucri
loca
lumine
tingunt

nubes
et
tremulo
tempestas
impete
fulgit
.
ventus
ubi
invasit
nubem
et
versatus
ibidem

fecit
ut
ante
cavam
docui
spissescere
nubem
,
mobilitate
sua
fervescit
;
ut
omnia
motu

percalefacta
vides
ardescere
,
plumbea
vero

glans
etiam
longo
cursu
volvenda
liquescit
.
ergo
fervidus
hic
nubem
cum
perscidit
atram
,
dissipat
ardoris
quasi
per
vim
expressa
repente

semina
,
quae
faciunt
nictantia
fulgura
flammae
;
inde
sonus
sequitur
,
qui
tardius
adlicit
auris

quam
quae
perveniunt
oculorum
ad
lumina
nostra
.
scilicet
hoc
densis
fit
nubibus
et
simul
alte

extructis
aliis
alias
super
impete
miro
.
ne
tibi
sit
frudi
quod
nos
inferne
videmus

quam
sint
lata
magis
quam
sursum
extructa
quid
extent
.
contemplator
enim
,
cum
montibus
adsimulata

nubila
portabunt
venti
transversa
per
auras
,
aut
ubi
per
magnos
montis
cumulata
videbis

insuper
esse
aliis
alia
atque
urguere
superna

in
statione
locata
sepultis
undique
ventis
;
tum
poteris
magnas
moles
cognoscere
eorum

speluncasque
vel
ut
saxis
pendentibus
structas

cernere
,
quas
venti
cum
tempestate
coorta

conplerunt
,
magno
indignantur
murmure
clausi

nubibus
in
caveisque
ferarum
more
minantur
,
nunc
hinc
nunc
illinc
fremitus
per
nubila
mittunt
,
quaerentesque
viam
circum
versantur
et
ignis

semina
convolvunt
nubibus
atque
ita
cogunt

multa
rotantque
cavis
flammam
fornacibus
intus
,
donec
divolsa
fulserunt
nube
corusci
.

In following wise
The clouds suffuse with leaping light the lands,
And the storm flashes with tremulous elan:
When the wind hath invaded a cloud, and, whirling there,
Hath wrought (as I have shown above) the cloud
Into a hollow with a thickened crust,
It becomes hot of own velocity:
Just as thou seest how motion will o'erheat
And set ablaze all objects,- verily
A leaden ball, hurtling through length of space,
Even melts. Therefore, when this same wind a-fire
Hath split black cloud, it scatters the fire-seeds,
Which, so to say, have been pressed out by force
Of sudden from the cloud;- and these do make
The pulsing flashes of flame; thence followeth
The detonation which attacks our ears
More tardily than aught which comes along
Unto the sight of eyeballs. This takes place-
As know thou mayst- at times when clouds are dense
And one upon the other piled aloft
With wonderful upheavings- nor be thou
Deceived because we see how broad their base
From underneath, and not how high they tower.
For make thine observations at a time
When winds shall bear athwart the horizon's blue
Clouds like to mountain-ranges moving on,
Or when about the sides of mighty peaks
Thou seest them one upon the other massed
And burdening downward, anchored in high repose,
With the winds sepulchred on all sides round:
Then canst thou know their mighty masses, then
Canst view their caverns, as if builded there
Of beetling crags; which, when the hurricanes
In gathered storm have filled utterly,
Then, prisoned in clouds, they rave around
With mighty roarings, and within those dens
Bluster like savage beasts, and now from here,
And now from there, send growlings through the clouds,
And seeking an outlet, whirl themselves about,
And roll from 'mid the clouds the seeds of fire,
And heap them multitudinously there,
And in the hollow furnaces within
Wheel flame around, until from bursted cloud
In forky flashes they have gleamed forth.