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De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)
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De Rerum Natura

Author: Lucretius
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
105
Nunc
alii
sensus
quo
pacto
quisque
suam
rem

sentiat
,
haud
quaquam
ratio
scruposa
relicta
est
.
Principio
auditur
sonus
et
vox
omnis
,
in
auris

insinuata
suo
pepulere
ubi
corpore
sensum
.
corpoream
quoque
enim
constare
fatendumst

et
sonitum
,
quoniam
possunt
inpellere
sensus
.
Praeterea
radit
vox
fauces
saepe
facitque

asperiora
foras
gradiens
arteria
clamor
,
quippe
per
angustum
turba
maiore
coorta

ire
foras
ubi
coeperunt
primordia
vocum
.
scilicet
expletis
quoque
ianua
raditur
oris
.
haud
igitur
dubiumst
quin
voces
verbaque
constent

corporeis
e
principiis
,
ut
laedere
possint
.
nec
te
fallit
item
quid
corporis
auferat
et
quid

detrahat
ex
hominum
nervis
ac
viribus
ipsis

perpetuus
sermo
nigrai
noctis
ad
umbram

aurorae
perductus
ab
exoriente
nitore
,
praesertim
si
cum
summost
clamore
profusus
.
ergo
corpoream
vocem
constare
necessest
,
multa
loquens
quoniam
amittit
de
corpore
partem
.
Asperitas
autem
vocis
fit
ab
asperitate

principiorum
et
item
levor
levore
creatur
;
nec
simili
penetrant
auris
primordia
forma
,
cum
tuba
depresso
graviter
sub
murmure
mugit

et
reboat
raucum
retro
cita
barbita
bombum
,
et
Dauliades
natae
hortis
ex
Heliconis

cum
liquidam
tollunt
lugubri
voce
querellam
.

And now remains to demonstrate with ease
How other senses each their things perceive.
Firstly, a sound and every voice is heard,
When, getting into ears, they strike the sense
With their own body. For confess we must
Even voice and sound to be corporeal,
Because they're able on the sense to strike.
Besides voice often scrapes against the throat,
And screams in going out do make more rough
The wind-pipe- naturally enough, methinks,
When, through the narrow exit rising up
In larger throng, these primal germs of voice
Have thus begun to issue forth. In sooth,
Also the door of the mouth is scraped against
[By air blown outward] from distended [cheeks].
. . . . . .
And thus no doubt there is, that voice and words
Consist of elements corporeal,
With power to pain. Nor art thou unaware
Likewise how much of body's ta'en away,
How much from very thews and powers of men
May be withdrawn by steady talk, prolonged
Even from the rising splendour of the morn
To shadows of black evening,- above all
If 't be outpoured with most exceeding shouts.
Therefore the voice must be corporeal,
Since the long talker loses from his frame
A part.
Moreover, roughness in the sound
Comes from the roughness in the primal germs,
As a smooth sound from smooth ones is create;
Nor have these elements a form the same
When the trump rumbles with a hollow roar,
As when barbaric Berecynthian pipe
Buzzes with raucous boomings, or when swans
By night from icy shores of Helicon
With wailing voices raise their liquid dirge.
106
Hasce
igitur
penitus
voces
cum
corpore
nostro

exprimimus
rectoque
foras
emittimus
ore
,
mobilis
articulat
nervorum
daedala
lingua
,
formaturaque
labrorum
pro
parte
figurat
.
hoc
ubi
non
longum
spatiumst
unde
illa
profecta

perveniat
vox
quaeque
,
necessest
verba
quoque
ipsa

plane
exaudiri
discernique
articulatim
;
servat
enim
formaturam
servatque
figuram
.
at
si
inter
positum
spatium
sit
longius
aequo
,
aëra

per
multum
confundi
verba
necessest

et
conturbari
vocem
,
dum
transvolat
auras
.
ergo
fit
,
sonitum
ut
possis
sentire
neque
illam

internoscere
,
verborum
sententia
quae
sit
;
usque
adeo
confusa
venit
vox
inque
pedita
.
Praeterea
verbum
saepe
unum
perciet
auris

omnibus
in
populo
missum
praeconis
ab
ore
.
in
multas
igitur
voces
vox
una
repente

diffugit
,
in
privas
quoniam
se
dividit
auris

obsignans
formam
verbis
clarumque
sonorem
.
at
quae
pars
vocum
non
auris
incidit
ipsas
,
praeter
lata
perit
frustra
diffusa
per
auras
.
pars
solidis
adlisa
locis
reiecta
sonorem

reddit
et
inter
dum
frustratur
imagine
verbi
.

Thus, when from deep within our frame we force
These voices, and at mouth expel them forth,
The mobile tongue, artificer of words,
Makes them articulate, and too the lips
By their formations share in shaping them.
Hence when the space is short from starting-point
To where that voice arrives, the very words
Must too be plainly heard, distinctly marked.
For then the voice conserves its own formation,
Conserves its shape. But if the space between
Be longer than is fit, the words must be
Through the much air confounded, and the voice
Disordered in its flight across the winds-
And so it haps, that thou canst sound perceive,
Yet not determine what the words may mean;
To such degree confounded and encumbered
The voice approaches us. Again, one word,
Sent from the crier's mouth, may rouse all ears
Among the populace. And thus one voice
Scatters asunder into many voices,
Since it divides itself for separate ears,
Imprinting form of word and a clear tone.
But whatso part of voices fails to hit
The ears themselves perishes, borne beyond,
Idly diffused among the winds. A part,
Beating on solid porticoes, tossed back
Returns a sound; and sometimes mocks the ear
With a mere phantom of a word.
107
Quae
bene
cum
videas
,
rationem
reddere
possis

tute
tibi
atque
aliis
,
quo
pacto
per
loca
sola

saxa
paris
formas
verborum
ex
ordine
reddant
.
palantis
comites
com
montis
inter
opacos

quaerimus
et
magna
dispersos
voce
ciemus
.
sex
etiam
aut
septem
loca
vidi
reddere
vocis
,
unam
cum
iaceres
:
ita
colles
collibus
ipsi

verba
repulsantes
iterabant
dicta
referri
.
haec
loca
capripedes
Satyros
Nymphasque
tenere

finitimi
fingunt
et
Faunos
esse
locuntur
,
quorum
noctivago
strepitu
ludoque
iocanti

adfirmant
volgo
taciturna
silentia
rumpi

chordarumque
sonos
fieri
dulcisque
querellas
,
tibia
quas
fundit
digitis
pulsata
canentum
,
et
genus
agricolum
late
sentiscere
,
quom
Pan

pinea
semiferi
capitis
velamina
quassans

unco
saepe
labro
calamos
percurrit
hiantis
,
fistula
silvestrem
ne
cesset
fundere
musam
.
cetera
de
genere
hoc
monstra
ac
portenta
loquontur
,
ne
loca
deserta
ab
divis
quoque
forte
putentur

sola
tenere
.
ideo
iactant
miracula
dictis

aut
aliqua
ratione
alia
ducuntur
,
ut
omne

humanum
genus
est
avidum
nimis
auricularum
.

When this
Thou well hast noted, thou canst render count
Unto thyself and others why it is
Along the lonely places that the rocks
Give back like shapes of words in order like,
When search we after comrades wandering
Among the shady mountains, and aloud
Call unto them, the scattered. I have seen
Spots that gave back even voices six or seven
For one thrown forth- for so the very hills,
Dashing them back against the hills, kept on
With their reverberations. And these spots
The neighbouring country-side doth feign to be
Haunts of the goat-foot satyrs and the nymphs;
And tells ye there be fauns, by whose night noise
And antic revels yonder they declare
The voiceless silences are broken oft,
And tones of strings are made and wailings sweet
Which the pipe, beat by players' finger-tips,
Pours out; and far and wide the farmer-race
Begins to hear, when, shaking the garmentings
Of pine upon his half-beast head, god-Pan
With puckered lip oft runneth o'er and o'er
The open reeds,- lest flute should cease to pour
The woodland music! Other prodigies
And wonders of this ilk they love to tell,
Lest they be thought to dwell in lonely spots
And even by gods deserted. This is why
They boast of marvels in their story-tellings;
Or by some other reason are led on-
Greedy, as all mankind hath ever been,
To prattle fables into ears.
108
Quod
super
est
,
non
est
mirandum
qua
ratione
,
per
loca
quae
nequeunt
oculi
res
cernere
apertas
,
haec
loca
per
voces
veniant
aurisque
lacessant
,
conloquium
clausis
foribus
quoque
saepe
videmus
;
ni
mirum
quia
vox
per
flexa
foramina
rerum

incolumis
transire
potest
,
simulacra
renutant
;
perscinduntur
enim
,
nisi
recta
foramina
tranant
,
qualia
sunt
vitrei
,
species
qua
travolat
omnis
.
praeterea
partis
in
cunctas
dividitur
vox
,
ex
aliis
aliae
quoniam
gignuntur
,
ubi
una

dissuluit
semel
in
multas
exorta
,
quasi
ignis

saepe
solet
scintilla
suos
se
spargere
in
ignis
.
ergo
replentur
loca
vocibus
abdita
retro
,
omnia
quae
circum
fervunt
sonituque
cientur
.
at
simulacra
viis
derectis
omnia
tendunt
,
ut
sunt
missa
semel
;
qua
propter
cernere
nemo

saepe
supra
potis
est
,
at
voces
accipere
extra
.
et
tamen
ipsa
quoque
haec
,
dum
transit
clausa

vox
optunditur
atque
auris
confusa
penetrat

et
sonitum
potius
quam
verba
audire
videmur
.

Again,
One need not wonder how it comes about
That through those places (through which eyes cannot
View objects manifest) sounds yet may pass
And assail the ears. For often we observe
People conversing, though the doors be closed;
No marvel either, since all voice unharmed
Can wind through bended apertures of things,
While idol-films decline to- for they're rent,
Unless along straight apertures they swim,
Like those in glass, through which all images
Do fly across. And yet this voice itself,
In passing through shut chambers of a house,
Is dulled, and in a jumble enters ears,
And sound we seem to hear far more than words.
Moreover, a voice is into all directions
Divided up, since off from one another
New voices are engendered, when one voice
Hath once leapt forth, outstarting into many-
As oft a spark of fire is wont to sprinkle
Itself into its several fires. And so,
Voices do fill those places hid behind,
Which all are in a hubbub round about,
Astir with sound. But idol-films do tend,
As once sent forth, in straight directions all;
Wherefore one can inside a wall see naught,
Yet catch the voices from beyond the same.
109
Hoc
,
qui
sentimus
sucum
,
lingua
atque
palatum

plusculum
habent
in
se
rationis
,
plus
operai
.
principio
sucum
sentimus
in
ore
,
cibum
cum

mandendo
exprimimus
,
ceu
plenam
spongiam
aquai

siquis
forte
manu
premere
ac
siccare
coëpit
.
inde
quod
exprimimus
per
caulas
omne
palati

diditur
et
rarae
per
flexa
foramina
linguae
,
hoc
ubi
levia
sunt
manantis
corpora
suci
,
suaviter
attingunt
et
suaviter
omnia
tractant

umida
linguai
circum
sudantia
templa
;
at
contra
pungunt
sensum
lacerantque
coorta
,
quanto
quaeque
magis
sunt
asperitate
repleta
.
deinde
voluptas
est
e
suco
fine
palati
;
cum
vero
deorsum
per
fauces
praecipitavit
,
nulla
voluptas
est
,
dum
diditur
omnis
in
artus
;
nec
refert
quicquam
quo
victu
corpus
alatur
,
dum
modo
quod
capias
concoctum
didere
possis

artubus
et
stomachi
tumidum
servare
tenorem
.
Nunc
aliis
alius
qui
sit
cibus
ut
videamus
,
expediam
,
quareve
,
aliis
quod
triste
et
amarumst
,
hoc
tamen
esse
aliis
possit
perdulce
videri
,
tantaque
his
rebus
distantia
differitasque
est
,
ut
quod
aliis
cibus
est
aliis
fuat
acre
venenum
;
est
itaque
ut
serpens
,
hominis
quae
tacta
salivis

disperit
ac
sese
mandendo
conficit
ipsa
.
praeterea
nobis
veratrum
est
acre
venenum
,
at
capris
adipes
et
cocturnicibus
auget
.
id
quibus
ut
fiat
rebus
cognoscere
possis
,
principio
meminisse
decet
quae
diximus
ante
,
semina
multimodis
in
rebus
mixta
teneri
.
porro
omnes
quae
cumque
cibum
capiunt
animantes
,
ut
sunt
dissimiles
extrinsecus
et
generatim

extima
membrorum
circumcaesura
coërcet
,
proinde
et
seminibus
constant
variantque
figura
.
semina
cum
porro
distent
,
differre
necessest

intervalla
viasque
,
foramina
quae
perhibemus
,
omnibus
in
membris
et
in
ore
ipsoque
palato
.
esse
minora
igitur
quaedam
maioraque
debent
,
esse
triquetra
aliis
,
aliis
quadrata
necessest
,
multa
rutunda
,
modis
multis
multangula
quaedam
.
namque
figurarum
ratio
ut
motusque
reposcunt
,
proinde
foraminibus
debent
differe
figurae

et
variare
viae
proinde
ac
textura
coërcet
.
hoc
ubi
quod
suave
est
aliis
aliis
fit
amarum
,
illi
,
cui
suave
est
,
levissima
corpora
debent

contractabiliter
caulas
intrare
palati
,
at
contra
quibus
est
eadem
res
intus
acerba
,
aspera
ni
mirum
penetrant
hamataque
fauces
.
nunc
facile
est
ex
his
rebus
cognoscere
quaeque
.
quippe
ubi
cui
febris
bili
superante
coorta
est

aut
alia
ratione
aliquast
vis
excita
morbi
,
perturbatur
ibi
iam
totum
corpus
et
omnes

commutantur
ibi
positurae
principiorum
;
fit
prius
ad
sensum
quae
corpora
conveniebant

nunc
non
conveniant
,
et
cetera
sint
magis
apta
,
quae
penetrata
queunt
sensum
progignere
acerbum
;
utraque
enim
sunt
in
mellis
commixta
sapore
;
id
quod
iam
supera
tibi
saepe
ostendimus
ante
.

Nor tongue and palate, whereby we flavour feel,
Present more problems for more work of thought.
Firstly, we feel a flavour in the mouth,
When forth we squeeze it, in chewing up our food,-
As any one perchance begins to squeeze
With hand and dry a sponge with water soaked.
Next, all which forth we squeeze is spread about
Along the pores and intertwined paths
Of the loose-textured tongue. And so, when smooth
The bodies of the oozy flavour, then
Delightfully they touch, delightfully
They treat all spots, around the wet and trickling
Enclosures of the tongue. And contrariwise,
They sting and pain the sense with their assault,
According as with roughness they're supplied.
Next, only up to palate is the pleasure
Coming from flavour; for in truth when down
'Thas plunged along the throat, no pleasure is,
Whilst into all the frame it spreads around;
Nor aught it matters with what food is fed
The body, if only what thou take thou canst
Distribute well digested to the frame
And keep the stomach in a moist career.
Now, how it is we see some food for some,
Others for others....
. . . . . .
I will unfold, or wherefore what to some
Is foul and bitter, yet the same to others
Can seem delectable to eat,- why here
So great the distance and the difference is
That what is food to one to some becomes
Fierce poison, as a certain snake there is
Which, touched by spittle of a man, will waste
And end itself by gnawing up its coil.
Again, fierce poison is the hellebore
To us, but puts the fat on goats and quails.
That thou mayst know by what devices this
Is brought about, in chief thou must recall
What we have said before, that seeds are kept
Commixed in things in divers modes. Again,
As all the breathing creatures which take food
Are outwardly unlike, and outer cut
And contour of their members bounds them round,
Each differing kind by kind, they thus consist
Of seeds of varying shape. And furthermore,
Since seeds do differ, divers too must be
The interstices and paths (which we do call
The apertures) in all the members, even
In mouth and palate too. Thus some must be
More small or yet more large, three-cornered some
And others squared, and many others round,
And certain of them many-angled too
In many modes. For, as the combination
And motion of their divers shapes demand,
The shapes of apertures must be diverse
And paths must vary according to their walls
That bound them. Hence when what is sweet to some,
Becomes to others bitter, for him to whom
'Tis sweet, the smoothest particles must needs
Have entered caressingly the palate's pores.
And, contrariwise, with those to whom that sweet
Is sour within the mouth, beyond a doubt
The rough and barbed particles have got
Into the narrows of the apertures.
Now easy it is from these affairs to know
Whatever...
. . . . . .
Indeed, where one from o'er-abundant bile
Is stricken with fever, or in other wise
Feels the roused violence of some malady,
There the whole frame is now upset, and there
All the positions of the seeds are changed,-
So that the bodies which before were fit
To cause the savour, now are fit no more,
And now more apt are others which be able
To get within the pores and gender sour.
Both sorts, in sooth, are intermixed in honey-
What oft we've proved above to thee before.
110
Nunc
age
,
quo
pacto
naris
adiectus
odoris

tangat
agam
.
primum
res
multas
esse
necessest

unde
fluens
volvat
varius
se
fluctus
odorum
,
et
fluere
et
mitti
volgo
spargique
putandumst
;
verum
aliis
alius
magis
est
animantibus
aptus
,
dissimilis
propter
formas
.
ideoque
per
auras

mellis
apes
quamvis
longe
ducuntur
odore
,
volturiique
cadaveribus
;
tum
fissa
ferarum

ungula
quo
tulerit
gressum
promissa
canum
vis

ducit
,
et
humanum
longe
praesentit
odorem

Romulidarum
arcis
servator
,
candidus
anser
.
sic
aliis
alius
nidor
datus
ad
sua
quemque

pabula
ducit
et
a
taetro
resilire
veneno

cogit
,
eoque
modo
servantur
saecla
ferarum
.
Hic
odor
ipse
igitur
,
naris
qui
cumque
lacessit
,
est
alio
ut
possit
permitti
longius
alter
;
sed
tamen
haud
quisquam
tam
longe
fertur
eorum

quam
sonitus
,
quam
vox
,
mitto
iam
dicere
quam
res

quae
feriunt
oculorum
acies
visumque
lacessunt
.
errabundus
enim
tarde
venit
ac
perit
ante

paulatim
facilis
distractus
in
aëris
auras
;
ex
alto
primum
quia
vix
emittitur
ex
re
;
nam
penitus
fluere
atque
recedere
rebus
odores

significat
quod
fracta
magis
redolere
videntur

omnia
,
quod
contrita
,
quod
igni
conlabefacta
.
deinde
videre
licet
maioribus
esse
creatum

principiis
quam
vox
,
quoniam
per
saxea
saepta

non
penetrat
,
qua
vox
volgo
sonitusque
feruntur
.
quare
etiam
quod
olet
non
tam
facile
esse
videbis

investigare
in
qua
sit
regione
locatum
;
refrigescit
enim
cunctando
plaga
per
auras

nec
calida
ad
sensum
decurrunt
nuntia
rerum
.
errant
saepe
canes
itaque
et
vestigia
quaerunt
.
Nec
tamen
hoc
solis
in
odoribus
atque
saporum

in
generest
,
sed
item
species
rerum
atque
colores

non
ita
conveniunt
ad
sensus
omnibus
omnes
,
ut
non
sint
aliis
quaedam
magis
acria
visu
.
quin
etiam
gallum
noctem
explaudentibus
alis

auroram
clara
consuetum
voce
vocare
,
noenu
queunt
rapidi
contra
constare
leones

inque
tueri
:
ita
continuo
meminere
fugai
.
ni
mirum
quia
sunt
gallorum
in
corpore
quaedam

semina
,
quae
cum
sunt
oculis
inmissa
leonum
,
pupillas
interfodiunt
acremque
dolorem

praebent
,
ut
nequeant
contra
durare
feroces
,
cum
tamen
haec
nostras
acies
nil
laedere
possint
,
aut
quia
non
penetrant
aut
quod
penetrantibus
illis

exitus
ex
oculis
liber
datur
,
in
remorando

laedere
ne
possint
ex
ulla
lumina
parte
.

Now come, and I will indicate what wise
Impact of odour on the nostrils touches.
And first, 'tis needful there be many things
From whence the streaming flow of varied odours
May roll along, and we're constrained to think
They stream and dart and sprinkle themselves about
Impartially. But for some breathing creatures
One odour is more apt, to others another-
Because of differing forms of seeds and pores.
Thus on and on along the zephyrs bees
Are led by odour of honey, vultures too
By carcasses. Again, the forward power
Of scent in dogs doth lead the hunter on
Whithersoever the splay-foot of wild beast
Hath hastened its career; and the white goose,
The saviour of the Roman citadel,
Forescents afar the odour of mankind.
Thus, diversly to divers ones is given
Peculiar smell that leadeth each along
To his own food or makes him start aback
From loathsome poison, and in this wise are
The generations of the wild preserved.
Yet is this pungence not alone in odours
Or in the class of flavours; but, likewise,
The look of things and hues agree not all
So well with senses unto all, but that
Some unto some will be, to gaze upon,
More keen and painful. Lo, the raving lions,
They dare not face and gaze upon the cock
Who's wont with wings to flap away the night
From off the stage, and call the beaming morn
With clarion voice- and lions straightway thus
Bethink themselves of flight, because, ye see,
Within the body of the cocks there be
Some certain seeds, which, into lions' eyes
Injected, bore into the pupils deep
And yield such piercing pain they can't hold out
Against the cocks, however fierce they be-
Whilst yet these seeds can't hurt our gaze the least,
Either because they do not penetrate,
Or since they have free exit from the eyes
As soon as penetrating, so that thus
They cannot hurt our eyes in any part
By there remaining.
To speak once more of odour;
Whatever assail the nostrils, some can travel
A longer way than others. None of them,
However, 's borne so far as sound or voice-
While I omit all mention of such things
As hit the eyesight and assail the vision.
For slowly on a wandering course it comes
And perishes sooner, by degrees absorbed
Easily into all the winds of air;-
And first, because from deep inside the thing
It is discharged with labour (for the fact
That every object, when 'tis shivered, ground,
Or crumbled by the fire, will smell the stronger
Is sign that odours flow and part away
From inner regions of the things). And next,
Thou mayest see that odour is create
Of larger primal germs than voice, because
It enters not through stony walls, wherethrough
Unfailingly the voice and sound are borne;
Wherefore, besides, thou wilt observe 'tis not
So easy to trace out in whatso place
The smelling object is. For, dallying on
Along the winds, the particles cool off,
And then the scurrying messengers of things
Arrive our senses, when no longer hot.
So dogs oft wander astray, and hunt the scent.
111
Nunc
age
,
quae
moveant
animum
res
accipe
,
et
unde

quae
veniunt
veniant
in
mentem
percipe
paucis
.
principio
hoc
dico
,
rerum
simulacra
vagari

multa
modis
multis
in
cunctas
undique
partis

tenvia
,
quae
facile
inter
se
iunguntur
in
auris
,
obvia
cum
veniunt
,
ut
aranea
bratteaque
auri
.
quippe
etenim
multo
magis
haec
sunt
tenvia
textu

quam
quae
percipiunt
oculos
visumque
lacessunt
,
corporis
haec
quoniam
penetrant
per
rara
cientque

tenvem
animi
naturam
intus
sensumque
lacessunt
.
Centauros
itaque
et
Scyllarum
membra
videmus

Cerbereasque
canum
facies
simulacraque
eorum

quorum
morte
obita
tellus
amplectitur
ossa
;
omnigenus
quoniam
passim
simulacra
feruntur
,
partim
sponte
sua
quae
fiunt
aëre
in
ipso
,
partim
quae
variis
ab
rebus
cumque
recedunt

et
quae
confiunt
ex
horum
facta
figuris
.
nam
certe
ex
vivo
Centauri
non
fit
imago
,
nulla
fuit
quoniam
talis
natura
animata
;
verum
ubi
equi
atque
hominis
casu
convenit
imago
,
haerescit
facile
extemplo
,
quod
diximus
ante
,
propter
subtilem
naturam
et
tenvia
texta
.
cetera
de
genere
hoc
eadem
ratione
creantur
.
quae
cum
mobiliter
summa
levitate
feruntur
,
ut
prius
ostendi
,
facile
uno
commovet
ictu

quae
libet
una
animum
nobis
subtilis
imago
;
tenvis
enim
mens
est
et
mire
mobilis
ipsa
.
haec
fieri
ut
memoro
,
facile
hinc
cognoscere
possis
.
quatinus
hoc
simile
est
illi
,
quod
mente
videmus

atque
oculis
,
simili
fieri
ratione
necessest
.
Nunc
igitur
docui
quoniam
me
forte
leonum

cernere
per
simulacra
,
oculos
quae
cumque
lacessunt
,
scire
licet
mentem
simili
ratione
moveri

per
simulacra
leonum
cetera
quae
videt
aeque

nec
minus
atque
oculi
,
nisi
quod
mage
tenvia
cernit
.
nec
ratione
alia
,
cum
somnus
membra
profudit
,
mens
animi
vigilat
,
nisi
quod
simulacra
lacessunt

haec
eadem
nostros
animos
quae
cum
vigilamus
,
usque
adeo
,
certe
ut
videamur
cernere
eum
quem

rellicta
vita
iam
mors
et
terra
potitast
.
hoc
ideo
fieri
cogit
natura
,
quod
omnes

corporis
offecti
sensus
per
membra
quiescunt

nec
possunt
falsum
veris
convincere
rebus
.
praeterea
meminisse
iacet
languetque
sopore
,
nec
dissentit
eum
mortis
letique
potitum

iam
pridem
,
quem
mens
vivom
se
cernere
credit
.
quod
super
est
,
non
est
mirum
simulacra
moveri

bracchiaque
in
numerum
iactare
et
cetera
membra
;
nam
fit
ut
in
somnis
facere
hoc
videatur
imago
.
quippe
,
ubi
prima
perit
alioque
est
altera
nata

inde
statu
,
prior
hic
gestum
mutasse
videtur
.
scilicet
id
fieri
celeri
ratione
putandumst
:
tanta
est
mobilitas
et
rerum
copia
tanta

tantaque
sensibili
quovis
est
tempore
in
uno

copia
particularum
,
ut
possit
suppeditare
.

Now mark, and hear what objects move the mind,
And learn, in few, whence unto intellect
Do come what come. And first I tell thee this:
That many images of objects rove
In many modes to every region round-
So thin that easily the one with other,
When once they meet, uniteth in mid-air,
Like gossamer or gold-leaf. For, indeed,
Far thinner are they in their fabric than
Those images which take a hold on eyes
And smite the vision, since through body's pores
They penetrate, and inwardly stir up
The subtle nature of mind and smite the sense.
Thus, Centaurs and the limbs of Scyllas, thus
The Cerberus-visages of dogs we see,
And images of people gone before-
Dead men whose bones earth bosomed long ago;
Because the images of every kind
Are everywhere about us borne- in part
Those which are gendered in the very air
Of own accord, in part those others which
From divers things do part away, and those
Which are compounded, made from out their shapes.
For soothly from no living Centaur is
That phantom gendered, since no breed of beast
Like him was ever; but, when images
Of horse and man by chance have come together,
They easily cohere, as aforesaid,
At once, through subtle nature and fabric thin.
In the same fashion others of this ilk
Created are. And when they're quickly borne
In their exceeding lightness, easily
(As earlier I showed) one subtle image,
Compounded, moves by its one blow the mind,
Itself so subtle and so strangely quick.
That these things come to pass as I record,
From this thou easily canst understand:
So far as one is unto other like,
Seeing with mind as well as with the eyes
Must come to pass in fashion not unlike.
Well, now, since I have shown that I perceive
Haply a lion through those idol-films
Such as assail my eyes, 'tis thine to know
Also the mind is in like manner moved,
And sees, nor more nor less than eyes do see
(Except that it perceives more subtle films)
The lion and aught else through idol-films.
And when the sleep has overset our frame,
The mind's intelligence is now awake,
Still for no other reason, save that these-
The self-same films as when we are awake-
Assail our minds, to such degree indeed
That we do seem to see for sure the man
Whom, void of life, now death and earth have gained
Dominion over. And nature forces this
To come to pass because the body's senses
Are resting, thwarted through the members all,
Unable now to conquer false with true;
And memory lies prone and languishes
In slumber, nor protests that he, the man
Whom the mind feigns to see alive, long since
Hath been the gain of death and dissolution.
And further, 'tis no marvel idols move
And toss their arms and other members round
In rhythmic time- and often in men's sleeps
It haps an image this is seen to do;
In sooth, when perishes the former image,
And other is gendered of another pose,
That former seemeth to have changed its gestures.
Of course the change must be conceived as speedy;
So great the swiftness and so great the store
Of idol-things, and (in an instant brief
As mind can mark) so great, again, the store
Of separate idol-parts to bring supplies.
It happens also that there is supplied
Sometimes an image not of kind the same;
But what before was woman, now at hand
Is seen to stand there, altered into male;
Or other visage, other age succeeds;
But slumber and oblivion take care
That we shall feel no wonder at the thing.
112
Multaque
in
his
rebus
quaeruntur
multaque
nobis

clarandumst
,
plane
si
res
exponere
avemus
.
quaeritur
in
primis
quare
,
quod
cuique
libido

venerit
,
extemplo
mens
cogitet
eius
id
ipsum
.
anne
voluntatem
nostram
simulacra
tuentur

et
simul
ac
volumus
nobis
occurrit
imago
,
si
mare
,
si
terram
cordist
,
si
denique
caelum
?
conventus
hominum
,
pompam
,
convivia
,
pugnas
,
omnia
sub
verbone
creat
natura
paratque
?
cum
praesertim
aliis
eadem
in
regione
locoque

longe
dissimilis
animus
res
cogitet
omnis
.
quid
porro
,
in
numerum
procedere
cum
simulacra

cernimus
in
somnis
et
mollia
membra
movere
,
mollia
mobiliter
cum
alternis
bracchia
mittunt

et
repetunt
oculis
gestum
pede
convenienti
?
scilicet
arte
madent
simulacra
et
docta
vagantur
,
nocturno
facere
ut
possint
in
tempore
ludos
.
an
magis
illud
erit
verum
?
quia
tempore
in
uno
,
cum
sentimus
,
id
est
cum
vox
emittitur
una
,
tempora
multa
latent
,
ratio
quae
comperit
esse
,
propterea
fit
uti
quovis
in
tempore
quaeque

praesto
sint
simulacra
locis
in
quisque
parata
.
tanta
est
mobilitas
et
rerum
copia
tanta
.
hoc
ubi
prima
perit
alioque
est
altera
nata

inde
statu
,
prior
hic
gestum
mutasse
videtur
.
et
quia
tenvia
sunt
,
nisi
quae
contendit
,
acute

cernere
non
potis
est
animus
;
proinde
omnia
quae
sunt

praeterea
pereunt
,
nisi
quae
ex
se
ipse
paravit
.
ipse
parat
sese
porro
speratque
futurum

ut
videat
quod
consequitur
rem
quamque
:
fit
ergo
.
nonne
vides
oculos
etiam
,
cum
tenvia
quae
sunt

cernere
coeperunt
,
contendere
se
atque
parare
,
nec
sine
eo
fieri
posse
ut
cernamus
acute
?
et
tamen
in
rebus
quoque
apertis
noscere
possis
,
si
non
advertas
animum
,
proinde
esse
quasi
omni

tempore
semotum
fuerit
longeque
remotum
.
cur
igitur
mirumst
,
animus
si
cetera
perdit

praeter
quam
quibus
est
in
rebus
deditus
ipse
?
deinde
adopinamur
de
signis
maxima
parvis

ac
nos
in
fraudem
induimus
frustraminis
ipsi
.
Fit
quoque
ut
inter
dum
non
suppeditetur
imago

eiusdem
generis
,
sed
femina
quae
fuit
ante
,
in
manibus
vir
uti
factus
videatur
adesse
,
aut
alia
ex
alia
facies
aetasque
sequatur
.
quod
ne
miremur
sopor
atque
oblivia
curant
.

And much in these affairs demands inquiry,
And much, illumination- if we crave
With plainness to exhibit facts. And first,
Why doth the mind of one to whom the whim
To think has come behold forthwith that thing?
Or do the idols watch upon our will,
And doth an image unto us occur,
Directly we desire- if heart prefer
The sea, the land, or after all the sky?
Assemblies of the citizens, parades,
Banquets, and battles, these and all doth she,
Nature, create and furnish at our word?-
Maugre the fact that in same place and spot
Another's mind is meditating things
All far unlike. And what, again, of this:
When we in sleep behold the idols step,
In measure, forward, moving supple limbs,
Whilst forth they put each supple arm in turn
With speedy motion, and with eyeing heads
Repeat the movement, as the foot keeps time?
Forsooth, the idols they are steeped in art,
And wander to and fro well taught indeed,-
Thus to be able in the time of night
To make such games! Or will the truth be this:
Because in one least moment that we mark-
That is, the uttering of a single sound-
There lurk yet many moments, which the reason
Discovers to exist, therefore it comes
That, in a moment how so brief ye will,
The divers idols are hard by, and ready
Each in its place diverse? So great the swiftness,
So great, again, the store of idol-things,
And so, when perishes the former image,
And other is gendered of another pose,
The former seemeth to have changed its gestures.
And since they be so tenuous, mind can mark
Sharply alone the ones it strains to see;
And thus the rest do perish one and all,
Save those for which the mind prepares itself.
Further, it doth prepare itself indeed,
And hopes to see what follows after each-
Hence this result. For hast thou not observed
How eyes, essaying to perceive the fine,
Will strain in preparation, otherwise
Unable sharply to perceive at all?
Yet know thou canst that, even in objects plain,
If thou attendest not, 'tis just the same
As if 'twere all the time removed and far.
What marvel, then, that mind doth lose the rest,
Save those to which 'thas given up itself?
So 'tis that we conjecture from small signs
Things wide and weighty, and involve ourselves
In snarls of self-deceit.