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De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)
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De Rerum Natura

Author: Lucretius
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
185
Hac
etiam
fit
uti
de
causa
mobilis
ille

devolet
in
terram
liquidi
color
aureus
ignis
,
semina
quod
nubes
ipsas
permulta
necessust

ignis
habere
;
etenim
cum
sunt
umore
sine
ullo
,
flammeus
plerumque
colos
et
splendidus
ollis
.
quippe
etenim
solis
de
lumine
multa
necessest

concipere
,
ut
merito
rubeant
ignesque
profundant
.
hasce
igitur
cum
ventus
agens
contrusit
in
unum

compressitque
locum
cogens
,
expressa
profundunt

semina
,
quae
faciunt
flammae
fulgere
colores
.
Fulgit
item
,
cum
rarescunt
quoque
nubila
caeli
;
nam
cum
ventus
eas
leviter
diducit
euntis

dissoluitque
,
cadant
ingratius
illa
necessest

semina
quae
faciunt
fulgorem
.
tum
sine
taetro

terrore
atque
sonis
fulgit
nulloque
tumultu
.

Again, from following cause it comes to pass
That yon swift golden hue of liquid fire
Darts downward to the earth: because the clouds
Themselves must hold abundant seeds of fire;
For, when they be without all moisture, then
They be for most part of a flamy hue
And a resplendent. And, indeed, they must
Even from the light of sun unto themselves
Take multitudinous seeds, and so perforce
Redden and pour their bright fires all abroad.
And therefore, when the wind hath driven and thrust,
Hath forced and squeezed into one spot these clouds,
They pour abroad the seeds of fire pressed out,
Which make to flash these colours of the flame.
Likewise, it lightens also when the clouds
Grow rare and thin along the sky; for, when
The wind with gentle touch unravels them
And breaketh asunder as they move, those seeds
Which make the lightnings must by nature fall;
At such an hour the horizon lightens round
Without the hideous terror of dread noise
And skiey uproar.
186
Quod
superest
,
natura
praedita
constent

fulmina
,
declarant
ictus
et
inusta
vaporis

signa
notaeque
gravis
halantis
sulpuris
auras
;
ignis
enim
sunt
haec
non
venti
signa
neque
imbris
.
praeterea
saepe
accendunt
quoque
tecta
domorum

et
celeri
flamma
dominantur
in
aedibus
ipsis
.
hunc
tibi
subtilem
cum
primis
ignibus
ignem

constituit
natura
minutis
mobilibusque

corporibus
,
cui
nil
omnino
obsistere
possit
.
transit
enim
validum
fulmen
per
saepta
domorum

clamor
ut
ac
voces
,
transit
per
saxa
,
per
aera

et
liquidum
puncto
facit
aes
in
tempore
et
aurum
.
curat
item
vasis
integris
vina
repente

diffugiant
,
quia
ni
mirum
facile
omnia
circum

conlaxat
rareque
facit
lateramina
vasis

adveniens
calor
eius
et
insinuatus
in
ipsum

mobiliter
soluens
differt
primordia
vini
.
quod
solis
vapor
aetatem
non
posse
videtur

efficere
usque
adeo
pollens
fervore
corusco
.
tanto
mobilior
vis
et
dominantior
haec
est
.
Nunc
ea
quo
pacto
gignantur
et
impete
tanto

fiant
ut
possint
ictu
discludere
turris
,
disturbare
domos
,
avellere
tigna
trabesque

et
monimenta
virum
commoliri
atque
ciere
,
exanimare
homines
,
pecudes
prosternere
passim
,
cetera
de
genere
hoc
qua
vi
facere
omnia
possint
,
expediam
neque
in
promissis
plura
morabor
.

To proceed apace,
What sort of nature thunderbolts possess
Is by their strokes made manifest and by
The brand-marks of their searing heat on things,
And by the scorched scars exhaling round
The heavy fumes of sulphur. For all these
Are marks, O not of wind or rain, but fire.
Again, they often enkindle even the roofs
Of houses and inside the very rooms
With swift flame hold a fierce dominion.
Know thou that nature fashioned this fire
Subtler than fires all other, with minute
And dartling bodies,- a fire 'gainst which there's naught
Can in the least hold out: the thunderbolt,
The mighty, passes through the hedging walls
Of houses, like to voices or a shout,-
Through stones, through bronze it passes, and it melts
Upon the instant bronze and gold; and makes,
Likewise, the wines sudden to vanish forth,
The wine-jars intact,- because, ye see,
Its heat arriving renders loose and porous
Readily all the wine- jar's earthen sides,
And winding its way within, it scattereth
The elements primordial of the wine
With speedy dissolution- process which
Even in an age the fiery steam of sun
Could not accomplish, however puissant he
With his hot coruscations: so much more
Agile and overpowering is this force.
. . . . . .
Now in what manner engendered are these things,
How fashioned of such impetuous strength
As to cleave towers asunder, and houses all
To overtopple, and to wrench apart
Timbers and beams, and heroes' monuments
To pile in ruins and upheave amain,
And to take breath forever out of men,
And to o'erthrow the cattle everywhere,-
Yes, by what force the lightnings do all this,
All this and more, I will unfold to thee,
Nor longer keep thee in mere promises.
187
Fulmina
gignier
e
crassis
alteque
putandumst

nubibus
extructis
;
nam
caelo
nulla
sereno

nec
leviter
densis
mittuntur
nubibus
umquam
.
nam
dubio
procul
hoc
fieri
manifesta
docet
res
;
quod
tunc
per
totum
concrescunt
aeëra
nubes
,
undique
uti
tenebras
omnis
Acherunta
reamur

liquisse
et
magnas
caeli
complesse
cavernas
, æusque
adeo
tetra
nimborum
nocte
coorta

inpendent
atrae
formidinis
ora
superne
,
æ

cum
commoliri
tempestas
fulmina
coeptat
.
praeterea
persaepe
niger
quoque
per
mare
nimbus
,
ut
picis
e
caelo
demissum
flumen
,
in
undas

sic
cadit
effertus
tenebris
procul
et
trahit
atram

fulminibus
gravidam
tempestatem
atque
procellis
,
ignibus
ac
ventis
cum
primis
ipse
repletus
,
in
terra
quoque
ut
horrescant
ac
tecta
requirant
.
sic
igitur
supera
nostrum
caput
esse
putandumst

tempestatem
altam
;
neque
enim
caligine
tanta

obruerent
terras
,
nisi
inaedificata
superne

multa
forent
multis
exempto
nubila
sole
;
nec
tanto
possent
venientes
opprimere
imbri
,
flumina
abundare
ut
facerent
camposque
natare
,
si
non
extructis
foret
alte
nubibus
aether
.
hic
igitur
ventis
atque
ignibus
omnia
plena

sunt
;
ideo
passim
fremitus
et
fulgura
fiunt
.
quippe
etenim
supra
docui
permulta
vaporis

semina
habere
cavas
nubes
et
multa
necessest

concipere
ex
solis
radiis
ardoreque
eorum
.
hoc
ubi
ventus
eas
idem
qui
cogit
in
unum

forte
locum
quemvis
,
expressit
multa
vaporis

semina
seque
simul
cum
eo
commiscuit
igni
,
insinuatus
ibi
vortex
versatur
in
arto

et
calidis
acuit
fulmen
fornacibus
intus
;
nam
duplici
ratione
accenditur
:
ipse
sua
cum

mobilitate
calescit
et
e
contagibus
ignis
.
inde
ubi
percaluit
venti
vis
gravis
ignis

impetus
incessit
,
maturum
tum
quasi
fulmen

perscindit
subito
nubem
ferturque
coruscis

omnia
luminibus
lustrans
loca
percitus
ardor
.
quem
gravis
insequitur
sonitus
,
displosa
repente

opprimere
ut
caeli
videantur
templa
superne
.
inde
tremor
terras
graviter
pertemptat
et
altum

murmura
percurrunt
caelum
;
nam
tota
fere
tum

tempestas
concussa
tremit
fremitusque
moventur
.
quo
de
concussu
sequitur
gravis
imber
et
uber
,
omnis
uti
videatur
in
imbrem
vertier
aether

atque
ita
praecipitans
ad
diluviem
revocare
;
tantus
discidio
nubis
ventique
procella

mittitur
,
ardenti
sonitus
cum
provolat
ictu
.

The bolts of thunder, then, must be conceived
As all begotten in those crasser clouds
Up-piled aloft; for, from the sky serene
And from the clouds of lighter density,
None are sent forth forever. That 'tis so
Beyond a doubt, fact plain to sense declares:
To wit, at such a time the densed clouds
So mass themselves through all the upper air
That we might think that round about all murk
Had parted forth from Acheron and filled
The mighty vaults of sky- so grievously,
As gathers thus the storm-clouds' gruesome might,
Do faces of black horror hang on high-
When tempest begins its thunderbolts to forge.
Besides, full often also out at sea
A blackest thunderhead, like cataract
Of pitch hurled down from heaven, and far away
Bulging with murkiness, down on the waves
Falls with vast uproar, and draws on amain
The darkling tempests big with thunderbolts
And hurricanes, itself the while so crammed
Tremendously with fires and winds, that even
Back on the lands the people shudder round
And seek for cover. Therefore, as I said,
The storm must be conceived as o'er our head
Towering most high; for never would the clouds
O'erwhelm the lands with such a massy dark,
Unless up-builded heap on lofty heap,
To shut the round sun off. Nor could the clouds,
As on they come, engulf with rain so vast
As thus to make the rivers overflow
And fields to float, if ether were not thus
Furnished with lofty-piled clouds. Lo, then,
Here be all things fulfilled with winds and fires-
Hence the long lightnings and the thunders loud.
For, verily, I've taught thee even now
How cavernous clouds hold seeds innumerable
Of fiery exhalations, and they must
From off the sunbeams and the heat of these
Take many still. And so, when that same wind
(Which, haply, into one region of the sky
Collects those clouds) hath pressed from out the same
The many fiery seeds, and with that fire
Hath at the same time inter-mixed itself,
O then and there that wind, a whirlwind now,
Deep in the belly of the cloud spins round
In narrow confines, and sharpens there inside
In glowing furnaces the thunderbolt.
For in a two-fold manner is that wind
Enkindled all: it trembles into heat
Both by its own velocity and by
Repeated touch of fire. Thereafter, when
The energy of wind is heated through
And the fierce impulse of the fire hath sped
Deeply within, O then the thunderbolt,
Now ripened, so to say, doth suddenly
Splinter the cloud, and the aroused flash
Leaps onward, lumining with forky light
All places round. And followeth anon
A clap so heavy that the skiey vaults,
As if asunder burst, seem from on high
To engulf the earth. Then fearfully a quake
Pervades the lands, and 'long the lofty skies
Run the far rumblings. For at such a time
Nigh the whole tempest quakes, shook through and through,
And roused are the roarings,- from which shock
Comes such resounding and abounding rain,
That all the murky ether seems to turn
Now into rain, and, as it tumbles down,
To summon the fields back to primeval floods:
So big the rains that be sent down on men
By burst of cloud and by the hurricane,
What time the thunder-clap, from burning bolt
That cracks the cloud, flies forth along. At times
The force of wind, excited from without,
Smiteth into a cloud already hot
With a ripe thunderbolt.
188
Est
etiam
cum
vis
extrinsecus
incita
venti

incidit
in
validam
maturo
culmine
nubem
;
quam
cum
perscidit
,
extemplo
cadit
igneus
ille

vertex
,
quem
patrio
vocitamus
nomine
fulmen
.
hoc
fit
idem
in
partis
alias
,
quo
cumque
tulit
vis
.
Fit
quoque
ut
inter
dum
venti
vis
missa
sine
igni

igniscat
tamen
in
spatio
longoque
meatu
,
dum
venit
amittens
in
cursu
corpora
quaedam

grandia
,
quae
nequeunt
pariter
penetrare
per
auras
,
atque
alia
ex
ipso
conradens
aeëre
portat

parvola
,
quae
faciunt
ignem
commixta
volando
;
non
alia
longe
ratione
ac
plumbea
saepe

fervida
fit
glans
in
cursu
,
cum
multa
rigoris

corpora
dimittens
ignem
concepit
in
auris
.
Fit
quoque
ut
ipsius
plagae
vis
excitet
ignem
,
frigida
cum
venti
pepulit
vis
missa
sine
igni
,
ni
mirum
quia
,
cum
vehementi
perculit
ictu
,
confluere
ex
ipso
possunt
elementa
vaporis

et
simul
ex
illa
quae
tum
res
excipit
ictum
;
ut
,
lapidem
ferro
cum
caedimus
,
evolat
ignis
,
nec
,
quod
frigida
vis
ferrist
,
hoc
setius
illi

semina
concurrunt
calidi
fulgoris
ad
ictum
.
sic
igitur
quoque
res
accendi
fulmine
debet
,
opportuna
fuit
si
forte
et
idonea
flammis
.
nec
temere
omnino
plane
vis
frigida
venti

esse
potest
,
ea
quae
tanta
vi
missa
supernest
,
quin
,
prius
in
cursu
si
non
accenditur
igni
,
at
tepefacta
tamen
veniat
commixta
calore
.

And when that wind
Hath splintered that cloud, then down there cleaves forthwith
Yon fiery coil of flame which still we call,
Even with our fathers' word, a thunderbolt.
The same thing haps toward every other side
Whither that force hath swept. It happens, too,
That sometimes force of wind, though hurtled forth
Without all fire, yet in its voyage through space
Igniteth, whilst it comes along, along,-
Losing some larger bodies which cannot
Pass, like the others, through the bulks of air,-
And, scraping together out of air itself
Some smaller bodies, carries them along,
And these, commingling, by their flight make fire:
Much in the manner as oft a leaden ball
Grows hot upon its aery course, the while
It loseth many bodies of stark cold
And taketh into itself along the air
New particles of fire. It happens, too,
That force of blow itself arouses fire,
When force of wind, a-cold and hurtled forth
Without all fire, hath strook somewhere amain-
No marvel, because, when with terrific stroke
'Thas smitten, the elements of fiery-stuff
Can stream together from out the very wind
And, simultaneously, from out that thing
Which then and there receives the stroke: as flies
The fire when with the steel we hack the stone;
Nor yet, because the force of steel's a-cold,
Rush the less speedily together there
Under the stroke its seeds of radiance hot.
And therefore, thuswise must an object too
Be kindled by a thunderbolt, if haply
'Thas been adapt and suited to the flames.
Yet force of wind must not be rashly deemed
As altogether and entirely cold-
That force which is discharged from on high
With such stupendous power; but if 'tis not
Upon its course already kindled with fire,
It yet arriveth warmed and mixed with heat.
189
Mobilitas
autem
fit
fulminis
et
gravis
ictus

et
celeri
ferme
percurrunt
fulmina
lapsu
,
nubibus
ipsa
quod
omnino
prius
incita
se
vis

colligit
et
magnum
conamen
sumit
eundi
,
inde
ubi
non
potuit
nubes
capere
inpetis
auctum
,
exprimitur
vis
atque
ideo
volat
impete
miro
,
ut
validis
quae
de
tormentis
missa
feruntur
.
Adde
quod
e
parvis
et
levibus
est
elementis
,
nec
facilest
tali
naturae
obsistere
quicquam
;
inter
enim
fugit
ac
penetrat
per
rara
viarum
,
non
igitur
multis
offensibus
in
remorando

haesitat
,
hanc
ob
rem
celeri
volat
impete
labens
.
Deinde
,
quod
omnino
natura
pondera
deorsum

omnia
nituntur
,
cum
plagast
addita
vero
,
mobilitas
duplicatur
et
impetus
ille
gravescit
,
ut
vehementius
et
citius
quae
cumque
morantur

obvia
discutiat
plagis
itinerque
sequatur
.
Denique
quod
longo
venit
impete
,
sumere
debet

mobilitatem
etiam
atque
etiam
,
quae
crescit
eundo

et
validas
auget
viris
et
roborat
ictum
;
nam
facit
ut
quae
sint
illius
semina
cumque

e
regione
locum
quasi
in
unum
cuncta
ferantur
,
omnia
coniciens
in
eum
volventia
cursum
.
Forsitan
ex
ipso
veniens
trahat
aeëre
quaedam

corpora
,
quae
plagis
incendunt
mobilitatem
.
incolumisque
venit
per
res
atque
integra
transit

multa
,
foraminibus
liquidus
quia
transviat
ignis
.
multaque
perfringit
,
cum
corpora
fulminis
ipsa

corporibus
rerum
inciderunt
,
qua
texta
tenentur
.
dissoluit
porro
facile
aes
aurumque
repente

conferve
facit
,
e
parvis
quia
facta
minute

corporibus
vis
est
et
levibus
ex
elementis
,
quae
facile
insinuantur
et
insinuata
repente

dissoluont
nodos
omnis
et
vincla
relaxant
.

And, now, the speed and stroke of thunderbolt
Is so tremendous, and with glide so swift
Those thunderbolts rush on and down, because
Their roused force itself collects itself
First always in the clouds, and then prepares
For the huge effort of their going-forth;
Next, when the cloud no longer can retain
The increment of their fierce impetus,
Their force is pressed out, and therefore flies
With impetus so wondrous, like to shots
Hurled from the powerful Roman catapults.
Note, too, this force consists of elements
Both small and smooth, nor is there aught that can
With ease resist such nature. For it darts
Between and enters through the pores of things;
And so it never falters in delay
Despite innumerable collisions, but
Flies shooting onward with a swift elan.
Next, since by nature always every weight
Bears downward, doubled is the swiftness then
And that elan is still more wild and dread,
When, verily, to weight are added blows,
So that more madly and more fiercely then
The thunderbolt shakes into shivers all
That blocks its path, following on its way.
Then, too, because it comes along, along
With one continuing elan, it must
Take on velocity anew, anew,
Which still increases as it goes, and ever
Augments the bolt's vast powers and to the blow
Gives larger vigour; for it forces all,
All of the thunder's seeds of fire, to sweep
In a straight line unto one place, as 'twere,-
Casting them one by other, as they roll,
Into that onward course. Again, perchance,
In coming along, it pulls from out the air
Some certain bodies, which by their own blows
Enkindle its velocity. And, lo,
It comes through objects leaving them unharmed,
It goes through many things and leaves them whole,
Because the liquid fire flieth along
Athrough their pores. And much it does transfix,
When these primordial atoms of the bolt
Have fallen upon the atoms of these things
Precisely where the intertwined atoms
Are held together. And, further, easily
Brass it unbinds and quickly fuseth gold,
Because its force is so minutely made
Of tiny parts and elements so smooth
That easily they wind their way within,
And, when once in, quickly unbind all knots
And loosen all the bonds of union there.
190
Autumnoque
magis
stellis
fulgentibus
alta

concutitur
caeli
domus
undique
totaque
tellus
,
et
cum
tempora
se
veris
florentia
pandunt
.
frigore
enim
desunt
ignes
ventique
calore

deficiunt
neque
sunt
tam
denso
corpore
nubes
.
interutrasque
igitur
cum
caeli
tempora
constant
,
tum
variae
causae
concurrunt
fulminis
omnes
.
nam
fretus
ipse
anni
permiscet
frigus
aestum
.
quorum
utrumque
opus
est
fabricanda
ad
fulmina
nubi
,
ut
discordia
rerum
magnoque
tumultu

ignibus
et
ventis
furibundus
fluctuet
aeër
.
prima
caloris
enim
pars
est
postrema
rigoris
;
tempus
id
est
vernum
;
quare
pugnare
necessest

dissimilis
inter
se
turbareque
mixtas
.
et
calor
extremus
primo
cum
frigore
mixtus

volvitur
,
autumni
quod
fertur
nomine
tempus
,
hic
quoque
confligunt
hiemes
aestatibus
acres
.
propterea
sunt
haec
anni
nominitanda
,
nec
mirumst
,
in
eo
si
tempore
plurima
fiunt

fulmina
tempestasque
cietur
turbida
caelo
,
ancipiti
quoniam
bello
turbatur
utrimque
,
hinc
flammis
,
illinc
ventis
umoreque
mixto
.

And most in autumn is shaken the house of heaven,
The house so studded with the glittering stars,
And the whole earth around- most too in spring
When flowery times unfold themselves: for, lo,
In the cold season is there lack of fire,
And winds are scanty in the hot, and clouds
Have not so dense a bulk. But when, indeed,
The seasons of heaven are betwixt these twain,
The divers causes of the thunderbolt
Then all concur; for then both cold and heat
Are mixed in the cross-seas of the year,
So that a discord rises among things
And air in vast tumultuosity
Billows, infuriate with the fires and winds-
Of which the both are needed by the cloud
For fabrication of the thunderbolt.
For the first part of heat and last of cold
Is the time of spring; wherefore must things unlike
Do battle one with other, and, when mixed,
Tumultuously rage. And when rolls round
The latest heat mixed with the earliest chill-
The time which bears the name of autumn- then
Likewise fierce cold-spells wrestle with fierce heats.
On this account these seasons of the year
Are nominated "cross-seas."- And no marvel
If in those times the thunderbolts prevail
And storms are roused turbulent in heaven,
Since then both sides in dubious warfare rage
Tumultuously, the one with flames, the other
With winds and with waters mixed with winds.
191
Hoc
est
igniferi
naturam
fulminis
ipsam

perspicere
et
qua
vi
faciat
rem
quamque
videre
,
non
Tyrrhena
retro
volventem
carmina
frustra

indicia
occultae
divum
perquirere
mentis
,
unde
volans
ignis
pervenerit
aut
in
utram
se

verterit
hinc
partim
,
quo
pacto
per
loca
saepta

insinuarit
,
et
hinc
dominatus
ut
extulerit
se
,
quidve
nocere
queat
de
caelo
fulminis
ictus
.
quod
si
Iuppiter
atque
alii
fulgentia
divi

terrifico
quatiunt
sonitu
caelestia
templa

et
iaciunt
ignem
quo
cuiquest
cumque
voluntas
,
cur
quibus
incautum
scelus
aversabile
cumquest

non
faciunt
icti
flammas
ut
fulguris
halent

pectore
perfixo
,
documen
mortalibus
acre
,
et
potius
nulla
sibi
turpi
conscius
in
re

volvitur
in
flammis
innoxius
inque
peditur

turbine
caelesti
subito
correptus
et
igni
?
cur
etiam
loca
sola
petunt
frustraque
laborant
?
an
tum
bracchia
consuescunt
firmantque
lacertos
?
in
terraque
patris
cur
telum
perpetiuntur

optundi
?
cur
ipse
sinit
neque
parcit
in
hostis
?
denique
cur
numquam
caelo
iacit
undique
puro

Iuppiter
in
terras
fulmen
sonitusque
profundit
?
an
simul
ac
nubes
successere
,
ipse
in
eas
tum

descendit
,
prope
ut
hinc
teli
determinet
ictus
?
in
mare
qua
porro
mittit
ratione
?
quid
undas

arguit
et
liquidam
molem
camposque
natantis
?
praeterea
si
vult
caveamus
fulminis
ictum
,
cur
dubitat
facere
ut
possimus
cernere
missum
?
si
nec
opinantis
autem
volt
opprimere
igni
,
cur
tonat
ex
illa
parte
,
ut
vitare
queamus
,
cur
tenebras
ante
et
fremitus
et
murmura
concit
?
et
simul
in
multas
partis
qui
credere
possis

mittere
?
an
hoc
ausis
numquam
contendere
factum
,
ut
fierent
ictus
uno
sub
tempore
plures
?
at
saepest
numero
factum
fierique
necessest
,
ut
pluere
in
multis
regionibus
et
cadere
imbris
,
fulmina
sic
uno
fieri
sub
tempore
multa
.
postremo
cur
sancta
deum
delubra
suasque

discutit
infesto
praeclaras
fulmine
sedes

et
bene
facta
deum
frangit
simulacra
suisque

demit
imaginibus
violento
volnere
honorem
?
altaque
cur
plerumque
petit
loca
plurimaque
eius

montibus
in
summis
vestigia
cernimus
ignis
?

This, this it is, O Memmius, to see through
The very nature of fire-fraught thunderbolt;
O this it is to mark by what blind force
It maketh each effect, and not, O not
To unwind Etrurian scrolls oracular,
Inquiring tokens of occult will of gods,
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,
Or what the thunderstroke portends of ill
From out high heaven. But if Jupiter
And other gods shake those refulgent vaults
With dread reverberations and hurl fire
Whither it pleases each, why smite they not
Mortals of reckless and revolting crimes,
That such may pant from a transpierced breast
Forth flames of the red levin- unto men
A drastic lesson?- why is rather he-
O he self-conscious of no foul offence-
Involved in flames, though innocent, and clasped
Up-caught in skiey whirlwind and in fire?
Nay, why, then, aim they at eternal wastes,
And spend themselves in vain?- perchance, even so
To exercise their arms and strengthen shoulders?
Why suffer they the Father's javelin
To be so blunted on the earth? And why
Doth he himself allow it, nor spare the same
Even for his enemies? O why most oft
Aims he at lofty places? Why behold we
Marks of his lightnings most on mountain tops?
Then for what reason shoots he at the sea?-
What sacrilege have waves and bulk of brine
And floating fields of foam been guilty of?
Besides, if 'tis his will that we beware
Against the lightning-stroke, why feareth he
To grant us power for to behold the shot?
And, contrariwise, if wills he to o'erwhelm us,
Quite off our guard, with fire, why thunders he
Off in yon quarter, so that we may shun?
Why rouseth he beforehand darkling air
And the far din and rumblings? And O how
Canst thou believe he shoots at one same time
Into diverse directions? Or darest thou
Contend that never hath it come to pass
That divers strokes have happened at one time?
But oft and often hath it come to pass,
And often still it must, that, even as showers
And rains o'er many regions fall, so too
Dart many thunderbolts at one same time.
Again, why never hurtles Jupiter
A bolt upon the lands nor pours abroad
Clap upon clap, when skies are cloudless all?
Or, say, doth he, so soon as ever the clouds
Have come thereunder, then into the same
Descend in person, that from thence he may
Near-by decide upon the stroke of shaft?
And, lastly, why, with devastating bolt
Shakes he asunder holy shrines of gods
And his own thrones of splendour, and to-breaks
The well-wrought idols of divinities,
And robs of glory his own images
By wound of violence?
192
Quod
super
est
,
facilest
ex
his
cognoscere
rebus
,
presteras
Graii
quos
ab
re
nominitarunt
,
in
mare
qua
missi
veniant
ratione
superne
.
nam
fit
ut
inter
dum
tam
quam
demissa
columna

in
mare
de
caelo
descendat
,
quam
freta
circum

fervescunt
graviter
spirantibus
incita
flabris
,
et
quae
cumque
in
eo
tum
sint
deprensa
tumultu

navigia
in
summum
veniant
vexata
periclum
.
hoc
fit
ubi
inter
dum
non
quit
vis
incita
venti

rumpere
quam
coepit
nubem
,
sed
deprimit
,
ut
sit

in
mare
de
caelo
tam
quam
demissa
columna
,
paulatim
,
quasi
quid
pugno
bracchique
superne

coniectu
trudatur
et
extendatur
in
undas
;
quam
cum
discidit
,
hinc
prorumpitur
in
mare
venti

vis
et
fervorem
mirum
concinnat
in
undis
;
versabundus
enim
turbo
descendit
et
illam

deducit
pariter
lento
cum
corpore
nubem
;
quam
simul
ac
gravidam
detrusit
ad
aequora
ponti
,
ille
in
aquam
subito
totum
se
inmittit
et
omne

excitat
ingenti
sonitu
mare
fervere
cogens
.

But to return apace,
Easy it is from these same facts to know
In just what wise those things (which from their sort
The Greeks have named "bellows") do come down,
Discharged from on high, upon the seas.
For it haps that sometimes from the sky descends
Upon the seas a column, as if pushed,
Round which the surges seethe, tremendously
Aroused by puffing gusts; and whatso'er
Of ships are caught within that tumult then
Come into extreme peril, dashed along.
This haps when sometimes wind's aroused force
Can't burst the cloud it tries to, but down-weighs
That cloud, until 'tis like a column from sky
Upon the seas pushed downward- gradually,
As if a Somewhat from on high were shoved
By fist and nether thrust of arm, and lengthened
Far to the waves. And when the force of wind
Hath rived this cloud, from out the cloud it rushes
Down on the seas, and starts among the waves
A wondrous seething, for the eddying whirl
Descends and downward draws along with it
That cloud of ductile body. And soon as ever
'Thas shoved unto the levels of the main
That laden cloud, the whirl suddenly then
Plunges its whole self into the waters there
And rouses all the sea with monstrous roar,
Constraining it to seethe. It happens too
That very vortex of the wind involves
Itself in clouds, scraping from out the air
The seeds of cloud, and counterfeits, as 'twere,
The "bellows" pushed from heaven. And when this shape
Hath dropped upon the lands and burst apart,
It belches forth immeasurable might
Of whirlwind and of blast. Yet since 'tis formed
At most but rarely, and on land the hills
Must block its way, 'tis seen more oft out there
On the broad prospect of the level main
Along the free horizons.