De Rerum Natura |
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
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Si possent homines , proinde ac sentire videntur pondus inesse animo , quod se gravitate fatiget , e quibus id fiat causis quoque noscere et unde tanta mali tam quam moles in pectore constet , haut ita vitam agerent , ut nunc plerumque videmus quid sibi quisque velit nescire et quaerere semper , commutare locum , quasi onus deponere possit . exit saepe foras magnis ex aedibus ille , esse domi quem pertaesumst , subitoque , quippe foris nihilo melius qui sentiat esse . currit agens mannos ad villam praecipitanter auxilium tectis quasi ferre ardentibus instans ; oscitat extemplo , tetigit cum limina villae , aut abit in somnum gravis atque oblivia quaerit , aut etiam properans urbem petit atque revisit . hoc se quisque modo fugit , at quem scilicet , ut fit , effugere haut potis est : ingratius haeret et odit propterea , morbi quia causam non tenet aeger ; quam bene si videat , iam rebus quisque relictis naturam primum studeat cognoscere rerum , temporis aeterni quoniam , non unius horae , ambigitur status , in quo sit mortalibus omnis aetas , post mortem quae restat cumque manendo .
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If men, in that same way as on the mind They feel the load that wearies with its weight, Could also know the causes whence it comes, And why so great the heap of ill on heart, O not in this sort would they live their life, As now so much we see them, knowing not What 'tis they want, and seeking ever and ever A change of place, as if to drop the burden. The man who sickens of his home goes out, Forth from his splendid halls, and straight- returns, Feeling i'faith no better off abroad. He races, driving his Gallic ponies along, Down to his villa, madly,- as in haste To hurry help to a house afire.- At once He yawns, as soon as foot has touched the threshold, Or drowsily goes off in sleep and seeks Forgetfulness, or maybe bustles about And makes for town again. In such a way Each human flees himself- a self in sooth, As happens, he by no means can escape; And willy-nilly he cleaves to it and loathes, Sick, sick, and guessing not the cause of ail. Yet should he see but that, O chiefly then, Leaving all else, he'd study to divine The nature of things, since here is in debate Eternal time and not the single hour, Mortal's estate in whatsoever remains After great death. |
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Denique tanto opere in dubiis trepidare periclis quae mala nos subigit vitai tanta cupido ? certe equidem finis vitae mortalibus adstat nec devitari letum pote , quin obeamus . praeterea versamur ibidem atque insumus usque nec nova vivendo procuditur ulla voluptas ; sed dum abest quod avemus , id exsuperare videtur cetera ; post aliud , cum contigit illud , avemus et sitis aequa tenet vitai semper hiantis . posteraque in dubiost fortunam quam vehat aetas , quidve ferat nobis casus quive exitus instet . nec prorsum vitam ducendo demimus hilum tempore de mortis nec delibare valemus , quo minus esse diu possimus forte perempti . proinde licet quod vis vivendo condere saecla , mors aeterna tamen nihilo minus illa manebit , nec minus ille diu iam non erit , ex hodierno lumine qui finem vitai fecit , et ille , mensibus atque annis qui multis occidit ante .
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And too, when all is said, What evil lust of life is this so great Subdues us to live, so dreadfully distraught In perils and alarms? one fixed end Of life abideth for mortality; Death's not to shun, and we must go to meet. Besides we're busied with the same devices, Ever and ever, and we are at them ever, And there's no new delight that may be forged By living on. But whilst the thing we long for Is lacking, that seems good above all else; Thereafter, when we've touched it, something else We long for; ever one equal thirst of life Grips us agape. And doubtful 'tis what fortune The future times may carry, or what be That chance may bring, or what the issue next Awaiting us. Nor by prolonging life Take we the least away from death's own time, Nor can we pluck one moment off, whereby To minish the aeons of our state of death. Therefore, O man, by living on, fulfil As many generations as thou may: Eternal death shall there be waiting still; And he who died with light of yesterday Shall be no briefer time in death's No-more Than he who perished months or years before. |
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Liber Quartus Avia Pieridum peragro loca nullius ante trita solo . iuvat integros accedere fontis atque haurire , iuvatque novos decerpere flores insignemque meo capiti petere inde coronam , unde prius nulli velarint tempora musae ; primum quod magnis doceo de rebus et artis religionum animum nodis exsolvere pergo , deinde quod obscura de re tam lucida pango carmina musaeo contingens cuncta lepore . id quoque enim non ab nulla ratione videtur ; nam vel uti pueris absinthia taetra medentes cum dare conantur , prius oras pocula circum contingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore , ut puerorum aetas inprovida ludificetur labrorum tenus , interea perpotet amarum absinthi laticem deceptaque non capiatur , sed potius tali facto recreata valescat , sic ego nunc , quoniam haec ratio plerumque videtur tristior esse quibus non est tractata , retroque volgus abhorret ab hac , volui tibi suaviloquenti carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram et quasi musaeo dulci contingere melle ; si tibi forte animum tali ratione tenere versibus in nostris possem , dum percipis omnem naturam rerum ac persentis utilitatem .
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BOOK IV PROEM I wander afield, thriving in sturdy thought, Through unpathed haunts of the Pierides, Trodden by step of none before. I joy To come on undefiled fountains there, To drain them deep; I joy to pluck new flowers, To seek for this my head a signal crown From regions where the Muses never yet Have garlanded the temples of a man: First, since I teach concerning mighty things, And go right on to loose from round the mind The tightened coils of dread religion; Next, since, concerning themes so dark, I frame Song so pellucid, touching all throughout Even with the Muses' charm- which, as 'twould seem, Is not without a reasonable ground: For as physicians, when they seek to give Young boys the nauseous wormwood, first do touch The brim around the cup with the sweet juice And yellow of the honey, in order that The thoughtless age of boyhood be cajoled As far as the lips, and meanwhile swallow down The wormwood's bitter draught, and, though befooled, Be yet not merely duped, but rather thus Grow strong again with recreated health: So now I too (since this my doctrine seems In general somewhat woeful unto those Who've had it not in hand, and since the crowd Starts back from it in horror) have desired To expound our doctrine unto thee in song Soft-speaking and Pierian, and, as 'twere, To touch it with sweet honey of the Muse- If by such method haply I might hold The mind of thee upon these lines of ours, Till thou dost learn the nature of all things And understandest their utility. |
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Sed quoniam docui cunctarum exordia rerum qualia sint et quam variis distantia formis sponte sua volitent aeterno percita motu quoque modo possit res ex his quaeque creari , atque animi quoniam docui natura quid esset et quibus e rebus cum corpore compta vigeret quove modo distracta rediret in ordia prima , nunc agere incipiam tibi , quod vehementer ad has res attinet esse ea quae rerum simulacra vocamus , quod speciem ac formam similem gerit eius imago , cuius cumque cluet de corpore fusa vagari ; quae quasi membranae summo de corpore rerum dereptae volitant ultroque citroque per auras , atque eadem nobis vigilantibus obvia mentes terrificant atque in somnis , cum saepe figuras contuimur miras simulacraque luce carentum , quae nos horrifice languentis saepe sopore excierunt ne forte animas Acherunte reamur effugere aut umbras inter vivos volitare neve aliquid nostri post mortem posse relinqui , cum corpus simul atque animi natura perempta in sua discessum dederint primordia quaeque . dico igitur rerum effigias tenuisque figuras mittier ab rebus summo de cortice eorum ; id licet hinc quamvis hebeti cognoscere corde .
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EXISTENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE IMAGES But since I've taught already of what sort The seeds of all things are, and how distinct In divers forms they flit of own accord, Stirred with a motion everlasting on, And in what mode things be from them create, And since I've taught what the mind's nature is, And of what things 'tis with the body knit And thrives in strength, and by what mode uptorn That mind returns to its primordials, Now will I undertake an argument- One for these matters of supreme concern- That there exist those somewhats which we call The images of things: these, like to films Scaled off the utmost outside of the things, Flit hither and thither through the atmosphere, And the same terrify our intellects, Coming upon us waking or in sleep, When oft we peer at wonderful strange shapes And images of people lorn of light, Which oft have horribly roused us when we lay In slumber- that haply nevermore may we Suppose that souls get loose from Acheron, Or shades go floating in among the living, Or aught of us is left behind at death, When body and mind, destroyed together, each Back to its own primordials goes away. And thus I say that effigies of things, And tenuous shapes from off the things are sent, From off the utmost outside of the things, Which are like films or may be named a rind, Because the image bears like look and form With whatso body has shed it fluttering forth- A fact thou mayst, however dull thy wits, |
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Principio quoniam mittunt in rebus apertis corpora res multae , partim diffusa solute , robora ceu fumum mittunt ignesque vaporem , et partim contexta magis condensaque , ut olim cum teretis ponunt tunicas aestate cicadae , et vituli cum membranas de corpore summo nascentes mittunt , et item cum lubrica serpens exuit in spinis vestem ; nam saepe videmus illorum spoliis vepres volitantibus auctas . quae quoniam fiunt , tenuis quoque debet imago ab rebus mitti summo de corpore rerum . nam cur illa cadant magis ab rebusque recedant quam quae tenvia sunt , hiscendist nulla potestas ; praesertim cum sint in summis corpora rebus multa minuta , iaci quae possint ordine eodem quo fuerint et formai servare figuram , et multo citius , quanto minus indupediri pauca queunt et sunt prima fronte locata . nam certe iacere ac largiri multa videmus , non solum ex alto penitusque , ut diximus ante , verum de summis ipsum quoque saepe colorem . et volgo faciunt id lutea russaque vela et ferrugina , cum magnis intenta theatris per malos volgata trabesque trementia flutant ; namque ibi consessum caveai supter et omnem scaenai speciem patrum matrumque deorsum inficiunt coguntque suo fluitare colore . et quanto circum mage sunt inclusa theatri moenia , tam magis haec intus perfusa lepore omnia conrident correpta luce diei . ergo lintea de summo cum corpore fucum mittunt , effigias quoque debent mittere tenvis res quaeque , ex summo quoniam iaculantur utraque . sunt igitur iam formarum vestigia certa , quae volgo volitant subtili praedita filo nec singillatim possunt secreta videri .
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Well learn from this: mainly, because we see Even 'mongst visible objects many be That send forth bodies, loosely some diffused- Like smoke from oaken logs and heat from fires- And some more interwoven and condensed- As when the locusts in the summertime Put off their glossy tunics, or when calves At birth drop membranes from their body's surface, Or when, again, the slippery serpent doffs Its vestments 'mongst the thorns- for oft we see The breres augmented with their flying spoils: Since such takes place, 'tis likewise certain too That tenuous images from things are sent, From off the utmost outside of the things. For why those kinds should drop and part from things, Rather than others tenuous and thin, No power has man to open mouth to tell; Especially, since on outsides of things Are bodies many and minute which could, In the same order which they had before, And with the figure of their form preserved, Be thrown abroad, and much more swiftly too, Being less subject to impediments, As few in number and placed along the front. For truly many things we see discharge Their stuff at large, not only from their cores Deep-set within, as we have said above, But from their surfaces at times no less- Their very colours too. And commonly The awnings, saffron, red and dusky blue, Stretched overhead in mighty theatres, Upon their poles and cross-beams fluttering, Have such an action quite; for there they dye And make to undulate with their every hue The circled throng below, and all the stage, And rich attire in the patrician seats. And ever the more the theatre's dark walls Around them shut, the more all things within Laugh in the bright suffusion of strange glints, The daylight being withdrawn. And therefore, since The canvas hangings thus discharge their dye From off their surface, things in general must Likewise their tenuous effigies discharge, Because in either case they are off-thrown From off the surface. So there are indeed Such certain prints and vestiges of forms Which flit around, of subtlest texture made, Invisible, when separate, each and one. |
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Praeterea omnis odor fumus vapor atque aliae res consimiles ideo diffusae rebus abundant , ex alto quia dum veniunt extrinsecus ortae scinduntur per iter flexum , nec recta viarum ostia sunt , qua contendant exire coortae . at contra tenuis summi membrana coloris cum iacitur , nihil est quod eam discerpere possit , in promptu quoniam est in prima fronte locata . Postremo speculis in aqua splendoreque in omni quae cumque apparent nobis simulacra , necessest , quandoquidem simili specie sunt praedita rerum , exin imaginibus missis consistere eorum . sunt igitur tenues formarum illis similesque effigiae , singillatim quas cernere nemo cum possit , tamen adsiduo crebroque repulsu reiectae reddunt speculorum ex aequore visum , nec ratione alia servari posse videntur , tanto opere ut similes reddantur cuique figurae .
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Again, all odour, smoke, and heat, and such Streams out of things diffusedly, because, Whilst coming from the deeps of body forth And rising out, along their bending path They're torn asunder, nor have gateways straight Wherethrough to mass themselves and struggle abroad. But contrariwise, when such a tenuous film Of outside colour is thrown off, there's naught Can rend it, since 'tis placed along the front Ready to hand. Lastly those images Which to our eyes in mirrors do appear, In water, or in any shining surface, Must be, since furnished with like look of things, Fashioned from images of things sent out. There are, then, tenuous effigies of forms, Like unto them, which no one can divine When taken singly, which do yet give back, When by continued and recurrent discharge Expelled, a picture from the mirrors' plane. Nor otherwise, it seems, can they be kept So well conserved that thus be given back Figures so like each object. |
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Nunc age , quam tenui natura constet imago percipe . et in primis , quoniam primordia tantum sunt infra nostros sensus tantoque minora quam quae primum oculi coeptant non posse tueri , nunc tamen id quoque uti confirmem , exordia rerum cunctarum quam sint subtilia percipe paucis . primum animalia sunt iam partim tantula , corum tertia pars nulla possit ratione videri . horum intestinum quodvis quale esse putandumst ! quid cordis globus aut oculi ? quid membra ? quid artus ? quantula sunt ! quid praeterea primordia quaeque , unde anima atque animi constet natura necessumst , nonne vides quam sint subtilia quamque minuta ? praeterea quaecumque suo de corpore odorem expirant acrem , panaces absinthia taetra habrotonique graves et tristia centaurea , quorum unum quidvis leviter si forte duobus ( ... lost text ... ) quin potius noscas rerum simulacra vagari multa modis multis , nulla vi cassaque sensu ? Sed ne forte putes ea demum sola vagari , quae cumque ab rebus rerum simulacra recedunt , sunt etiam quae sponte sua gignuntur et ipsa constituuntur in hoc caelo , qui dicitur aer , quae multis formata modis sublime feruntur , ut nubes facile inter dum concrescere in alto cernimus et mundi speciem violare serenam aëra mulcentes motu ; nam saepe Gigantum ora volare videntur et umbram ducere late , inter dum magni montes avolsaque saxa montibus ante ire et solem succedere praeter , inde alios trahere atque inducere belua nimbos . nec speciem mutare suam liquentia cessant et cuiusque modi formarum vertere in oras .
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Now then, learn How tenuous is the nature of an image. And in the first place, since primordials be So far beneath our senses, and much less E'en than those objects which begin to grow Too small for eyes to note, learn now in few How nice are the beginnings of all things- That this, too, I may yet confirm in proof: First, living creatures are sometimes so small That even their third part can nowise be seen; Judge, then, the size of any inward organ- What of their sphered heart, their eyes, their limbs, The skeleton?- How tiny thus they are! And what besides of those first particles Whence soul and mind must fashioned be?- Seest not How nice and how minute? Besides, whatever Exhales from out its body a sharp smell- The nauseous absinth, or the panacea, Strong southernwood, or bitter centaury- If never so lightly with thy [fingers] twain Perchance [thou touch] a one of them . . . . . . Then why not rather know that images Flit hither and thither, many, in many modes, Bodiless and invisible? But lest Haply thou holdest that those images Which come from objects are the sole that flit, Others indeed there be of own accord Begot, self-formed in earth's aery skies, Which, moulded to innumerable shapes, Are borne aloft, and, fluid as they are, Cease not to change appearance and to turn Into new outlines of all sorts of forms; As we behold the clouds grow thick on high And smirch the serene vision of the world, Stroking the air with motions. For oft are seen The giants' faces flying far along And trailing a spread of shadow; and at times The mighty mountains and mountain-sundered rocks Going before and crossing on the sun, Whereafter a monstrous beast dragging amain And leading in the other thunderheads. |
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Nunc ea quam facili et celeri ratione genantur perpetuoque fluant ab rebus lapsaque cedant ( ... lost text ... ) semper enim summum quicquid de rebus abundat , quod iaculentur . et hoc alias cum pervenit in res , transit , ut in primis vestem ; sed ubi aspera saxa aut in materiam ligni pervenit , ibi iam scinditur , ut nullum simulacrum reddere possit . at cum splendida quae constant opposta fuerunt densaque , ut in primis speculum est , nihil accidit horum ; nam neque , uti vestem , possunt transire , neque autem scindi ; quam meminit levor praestare salutem . qua propter fit ut hinc nobis simulacra redundent . et quamvis subito quovis in tempore quamque rem contra speculum ponas , apparet imago ; perpetuo fluere ut noscas e corpore summo texturas rerum tenuis tenuisque figuras . ergo multa brevi spatio simulacra genuntur , ut merito celer his rebus dicatur origo . et quasi multa brevi spatio summittere debet lumina sol , ut perpetuo sint omnia plena , sic ab rebus item simili ratione necessest temporis in puncto rerum simulacra ferantur multa modis multis in cunctas undique partis ; quandoquidem speculum quo cumque obvertimus oris , res ibi respondent simili forma atque colore . Praeterea modo cum fuerit liquidissima caeli tempestas , perquam subito fit turbida foede , undique uti tenebras omnis Acherunta rearis liquisse et magnas caeli complesse cavernas . usque adeo taetra nimborum nocte coorta inpendent atrae Formidinis ora superne ; quorum quantula pars sit imago dicere nemost qui possit neque eam rationem reddere dictis .
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Now [hear] how easy and how swift they be Engendered, and perpetually flow off From things and gliding pass away.... . . . . . . For ever every outside streams away From off all objects, since discharge they may; And when this outside reaches other things, As chiefly glass, it passes through; but where It reaches the rough rocks or stuff of wood, There 'tis so rent that it cannot give back An image. But when gleaming objects dense, As chiefly mirrors, have been set before it, Nothing of this sort happens. For it can't Go, as through glass, nor yet be rent- its safety, By virtue of that smoothness, being sure. 'Tis therefore that from them the images Stream back to us; and howso suddenly Thou place, at any instant, anything Before a mirror, there an image shows; Proving that ever from a body's surface Flow off thin textures and thin shapes of things. Thus many images in little time Are gendered; so their origin is named Rightly a speedy. And even as the sun Must send below, in little time, to earth So many beams to keep all things so full Of light incessant; thus, on grounds the same, From things there must be borne, in many modes, To every quarter round, upon the moment, The many images of things; because Unto whatever face of things we turn The mirror, things of form and hue the same Respond. Besides, though but a moment since Serenest was the weather of the sky, So fiercely sudden is it foully thick That ye 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 night, Do faces of black horror hang on high- Of which how small a part an image is There's none to tell or reckon out in words. |