De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)

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	De Rerum Natura Author: Lucretius	Translator: William Ellery Leonard
153	Quare etiam atque etiam maternum nomen adepta terra tenet merito , quoniam genus ipsa creavit humanum atque animal prope certo tempore fudit omne quod in magnis bacchatur montibus passim , aëriasque simul volucres variantibus formis . sed quia finem aliquam pariendi debet habere , destitit , ut mulier spatio defessa vetusto . mutat enim mundi naturam totius aetas ex alioque alius status excipere omnia debet nec manet ulla sui similis res : omnia migrant , omnia commutat natura et vertere cogit . namque aliud putrescit et aevo debile languet , porro aliud crescit et contemptibus exit . sic igitur mundi naturam totius aetas mutat , et ex alio terram status excipit alter , quod potuit nequeat , possit quod non tulit ante . Multaque tum tellus etiam portenta creare conatast mira facie membrisque coorta , androgynem , interutras necutrumque utrimque remotum , orba pedum partim , manuum viduata vicissim , muta sine ore etiam , sine voltu caeca reperta , vinctaque membrorum per totum corpus adhaesu , nec facere ut possent quicquam nec cedere quoquam nec vitare malum nec sumere quod volet usus . cetera de genere hoc monstra ac portenta creabat , ne quiquam , quoniam natura absterruit auctum nec potuere cupitum aetatis tangere florem nec reperire cibum nec iungi per Veneris res . multa videmus enim rebus concurrere debere , ut propagando possint procudere saecla ; pabula primum ut sint , genitalia deinde per artus semina qua possint membris manare remissis , feminaque ut maribus coniungi possit , habere , mutua qui mutent inter se gaudia uterque .	Wherefore, again, again, how merited Is that adopted name of Earth- The Mother!- Since she herself begat the human race, And at one well-nigh fixed time brought forth Each breast that ranges raving round about Upon the mighty mountains and all birds Aerial with many a varied shape. But, lo, because her bearing years must end, She ceased, like to a woman worn by eld. For lapsing aeons change the nature of The whole wide world, and all things needs must take One status after other, nor aught persists Forever like itself. All things depart; Nature she changeth all, compelleth all To transformation. Lo, this moulders down, A-slack with weary eld, and that, again, Prospers in glory, issuing from contempt. In suchwise, then, the lapsing aeons change The nature of the whole wide world, and earth Taketh one status after other. And what She bore of old, she now can bear no longer, And what she never bore, she can to-day. In those days also the telluric world Strove to beget the monsters that upsprung With their astounding visages and limbs- The Man-woman- a thing betwixt the twain, Yet neither, and from either sex remote- Some gruesome Boggles orphaned of the feet, Some widowed of the hands, dumb Horrors too Without a mouth, or blind Ones of no eye, Or Bulks all shackled by their legs and arms Cleaving unto the body fore and aft, Thuswise, that never could they do or go, Nor shun disaster, nor take the good they would. And other prodigies and monsters earth Was then begetting of this sort- in vain, Since Nature banned with horror their increase, And powerless were they to reach unto The coveted flower of fair maturity, Or to find aliment, or to intertwine In works of Venus. For we see there must Concur in life conditions manifold, If life is ever by begetting life To forge the generations one by one: First, foods must be; and, next, a path whereby The seeds of impregnation in the frame May ooze, released from the members all; Last, the possession of those instruments Whereby the male with female can unite, The one with other in mutual ravishments.
154	Multaque tum interiisse animantum saecla necessest nec potuisse propagando procudere prolem . nam quae cumque vides vesci vitalibus auris , aut dolus aut virtus aut denique mobilitas est ex ineunte aevo genus id tuta TA reservans . multaque sunt , nobis ex utilitate sua quae commendata manent , tutelae tradita nostrae . principio genus acre leonum saevaque saecla tutatast virtus , volpes dolus et fuga cervos . at levisomna canum fido cum pectore corda , et genus omne quod est veterino semine partum lanigeraeque simul pecudes et bucera saecla omnia sunt hominum tutelae tradita , Memmi ; nam cupide fugere feras pacemque secuta sunt et larga suo sine pabula parta labore , quae damus utilitatis eorum praemia causa . at quis nil horum tribuit natura , nec ipsa sponte sua possent ut vivere nec dare nobis utilitatem aliquam , quare pateremur eorum praesidio nostro pasci genus esseque tutum , scilicet haec aliis praedae lucroque iacebant indupedita suis fatalibus omnia vinclis , donec ad interitum genus id natura redegit .	And in the ages after monsters died, Perforce there perished many a stock, unable By propagation to forge a progeny. For whatsoever creatures thou beholdest Breathing the breath of life, the same have been Even from their earliest age preserved alive By cunning, or by valour, or at least By speed of foot or wing. And many a stock Remaineth yet, because of use to man, And so committed to man's guardianship. Valour hath saved alive fierce lion-breeds And many another terrorizing race, Cunning the foxes, flight the antlered stags. Light-sleeping dogs with faithful heart in breast, However, and every kind begot from seed Of beasts of draft, as, too, the woolly flocks And horned cattle, all, my Memmius, Have been committed to guardianship of men. For anxiously they fled the savage beasts, And peace they sought and their abundant foods, Obtained with never labours of their own, Which we secure to them as fit rewards For their good service. But those beasts to whom Nature has granted naught of these same things- Beasts quite unfit by own free will to thrive And vain for any service unto us In thanks for which we should permit their kind To feed and be in our protection safe- Those, of a truth, were wont to be exposed, Enshackled in the gruesome bonds of doom, As prey and booty for the rest, until Nature reduced that stock to utter death.
155	Sed neque Centauri fuerunt nec tempore in ullo esse queunt duplici natura et corpore bino ex alienigenis membris compacta , potestas hinc illinc partis ut sat par esse potissit . id licet hinc quamvis hebeti cognoscere corde . principio circum tribus actis impiger annis floret equus , puer haut quaquam ; nam saepe etiam nunc ubera mammarum in somnis lactantia quaeret . post ubi equum validae vires aetate senecta membraque deficiunt fugienti languida vita , tum demum puerili aevo florenta iuventas officit et molli vestit lanugine malas ; ne forte ex homine et veterino semine equorum confieri credas Centauros posse neque esse , aut rapidis canibus succinctas semimarinis corporibus Scyllas et cetera de genere horum , inter se quorum discordia membra videmus ; quae neque florescunt pariter nec robora sumunt corporibus neque proiciunt aetate senecta nec simili Venere ardescunt nec moribus unis conveniunt neque sunt eadem iucunda per artus . quippe videre licet pinguescere saepe cicuta barbigeras pecudes , homini quae est acre venenum . flamma quidem cum corpora fulva leonum tam soleat torrere atque urere quam genus omne visceris in terris quod cumque et sanguinis extet , qui fieri potuit , triplici cum corpore ut una , prima leo , postrema draco , media ipsa , Chimaera ore foras acrem flaret de corpore flammam ? quare etiam tellure nova caeloque recenti talia qui fingit potuisse animalia gigni , nixus in hoc uno novitatis nomine inani , multa licet simili ratione effutiat ore , aurea tum dicat per terras flumina vulgo fluxisse et gemmis florere arbusta suësse aut hominem tanto membrorum esse impete natum , trans maria alta pedum nisus ut ponere posset et manibus totum circum se vertere caelum . nam quod multa fuere in terris semina rerum , tempore quo primum tellus animalia fudit , nil tamen est signi mixtas potuisse creari inter se pecudes compactaque membra animantum , propterea quia quae de terris nunc quoque abundant herbarum genera ac fruges arbustaque laeta non tamen inter se possunt complexa creari , sed res quaeque suo ritu procedit et omnes foedere naturae certo discrimina servant .	But Centaurs ne'er have been, nor can there be Creatures of twofold stock and double frame, Compact of members alien in kind, Yet formed with equal function, equal force In every bodily part- a fact thou mayst, However dull thy wits, well learn from this: The horse, when his three years have rolled away, Flowers in his prime of vigour; but the boy Not so, for oft even then he gropes in sleep After the milky nipples of the breasts, An infant still. And later, when at last The lusty powers of horses and stout limbs, Now weak through lapsing life, do fail with age, Lo, only then doth youth with flowering years Begin for boys, and clothe their ruddy cheeks With the soft down. So never deem, percase, That from a man and from the seed of horse, The beast of draft, can Centaurs be composed Or e'er exist alive, nor Scyllas be- The half-fish bodies girdled with mad dogs- Nor others of this sort, in whom we mark Members discordant each with each; for ne'er At one same time they reach their flower of age Or gain and lose full vigour of their frame, And never burn with one same lust of love, And never in their habits they agree, Nor find the same foods equally delightsome- Sooth, as one oft may see the bearded goats Batten upon the hemlock which to man Is violent poison. Once again, since flame Is wont to scorch and burn the tawny bulks Of the great lions as much as other kinds Of flesh and blood existing in the lands, How could it be that she, Chimaera lone, With triple body- fore, a lion she; And aft, a dragon; and betwixt, a goat- Might at the mouth from out the body belch Infuriate flame? Wherefore, the man who feigns Such beings could have been engendered When earth was new and the young sky was fresh (Basing his empty argument on new) May babble with like reason many whims Into our ears: he'll say, perhaps, that then Rivers of gold through every landscape flowed, That trees were wont with precious stones to flower, Or that in those far aeons man was born With such gigantic length and lift of limbs As to be able, based upon his feet, Deep oceans to bestride or with his hands To whirl the firmament around his head. For though in earth were many seeds of things In the old time when this telluric world First poured the breeds of animals abroad, Still that is nothing of a sign that then Such hybrid creatures could have been begot And limbs of all beasts heterogeneous Have been together knit; because, indeed, The divers kinds of grasses and the grains And the delightsome trees- which even now Spring up abounding from within the earth- Can still ne'er be begotten with their stems Begrafted into one; but each sole thing Proceeds according to its proper wont And all conserve their own distinctions based In nature's fixed decree.
156	Et genus humanum multo fuit illud in arvis durius , ut decuit , tellus quod dura creasset , et maioribus et solidis magis ossibus intus fundatum , validis aptum per viscera nervis , nec facile ex aestu nec frigore quod caperetur nec novitate cibi nec labi corporis ulla . multaque per caelum solis volventia lustra volgivago vitam tractabant more ferarum . nec robustus erat curvi moderator aratri quisquam , nec scibat ferro molirier arva nec nova defodere in terram virgulta neque altis arboribus veteres decidere falcibus ramos . quod sol atque imbres dederant , quod terra crearat sponte sua , satis id placabat pectora donum . glandiferas inter curabant corpora quercus plerumque ; et quae nunc hiberno tempore cernis arbita puniceo fieri matura colore , plurima tum tellus etiam maiora ferebat . multaque praeterea novitas tum florida mundi pabula dura tulit , miseris mortalibus ampla . at sedare sitim fluvii fontesque vocabant , ut nunc montibus e magnis decursus aquai claricitat late sitientia saecla ferarum . denique nota vagis silvestria templa tenebant nympharum , quibus e scibant umore fluenta lubrica proluvie larga lavere umida saxa , umida saxa , super viridi stillantia musco , et partim plano scatere atque erumpere campo . necdum res igni scibant tractare neque uti pellibus et spoliis corpus vestire ferarum , sed nemora atque cavos montis silvasque colebant et frutices inter condebant squalida membra verbera ventorum vitare imbrisque coacti . nec commune bonum poterant spectare neque ullis moribus inter se scibant nec legibus uti . quod cuique obtulerat praedae fortuna , ferebat sponte sua sibi quisque valere et vivere doctus . et Venus in silvis iungebat corpora amantum ; conciliabat enim vel mutua quamque cupido vel violenta viri vis atque inpensa libido vel pretium , glandes atque arbita vel pira lecta . et manuum mira freti virtute pedumque consectabantur silvestria saecla ferarum missilibus saxis et magno pondere clavae . multaque vincebant , vitabant pauca latebris ; saetigerisque pares subus silvestria membra nuda dabant terrae nocturno tempore capti , circum se foliis ac frondibus involventes . nec plangore diem magno solemque per agros quaerebant pavidi palantes noctis in umbris , sed taciti respectabant somnoque sepulti , dum rosea face sol inferret lumina caelo . a parvis quod enim consuerant cernere semper alterno tenebras et lucem tempore gigni , non erat ut fieri posset mirarier umquam nec diffidere , ne terras aeterna teneret nox in perpetuum detracto lumine solis . sed magis illud erat curae , quod saecla ferarum infestam miseris faciebant saepe quietem . eiectique domo fugiebant saxea tecta spumigeri suis adventu validique leonis atque intempesta cedebant nocte paventes hospitibus saevis instrata cubilia fronde .	ORIGINS AND SAVAGE PERIOD OF MANKIND But mortal man Was then far hardier in the old champaign, As well he should be, since a hardier earth Had him begotten; builded too was he Of bigger and more solid bones within, And knit with stalwart sinews through the flesh, Nor easily seized by either heat or cold, Or alien food or any ail or irk. And whilst so many lustrums of the sun Rolled on across the sky, men led a life After the roving habit of wild beasts. Not then were sturdy guiders of curved ploughs, And none knew then to work the fields with iron, Or plant young shoots in holes of delved loam, Or lop with hooked knives from off high trees The boughs of yester-year. What sun and rains To them had given, what earth of own accord Created then, was boon enough to glad Their simple hearts. Mid acorn-laden oaks Would they refresh their bodies for the nonce; And the wild berries of the arbute-tree, Which now thou seest to ripen purple-red In winter time, the old telluric soil Would bear then more abundant and more big. And many coarse foods, too, in long ago The blooming freshness of the rank young world Produced, enough for those poor wretches there. And rivers and springs would summon them of old To slake the thirst, as now from the great hills The water's down-rush calls aloud and far The thirsty generations of the wild. So, too, they sought the grottos of the Nymphs- The woodland haunts discovered as they ranged- From forth of which they knew that gliding rills With gush and splash abounding laved the rocks, The dripping rocks, and trickled from above Over the verdant moss; and here and there Welled up and burst across the open flats. As yet they knew not to enkindle fire Against the cold, nor hairy pelts to use And clothe their bodies with the spoils of beasts; But huddled in groves, and mountain-caves, and woods, And 'mongst the thickets hid their squalid backs, When driven to flee the lashings of the winds And the big rains. Nor could they then regard The general good, nor did they know to use In common any customs, any laws: Whatever of booty fortune unto each Had proffered, each alone would bear away, By instinct trained for self to thrive and live. And Venus in the forests then would link The lovers' bodies; for the woman yielded Either from mutual flame, or from the man's Impetuous fury and insatiate lust, Or from a bribe- as acorn-nuts, choice pears, Or the wild berries of the arbute-tree. And trusting wondrous strength of hands and legs, They'd chase the forest-wanderers, the beasts; And many they'd conquer, but some few they fled, A-skulk into their hiding-places... . . . . . . With the flung stones and with the ponderous heft Of gnarled branch. And by the time of night O'ertaken, they would throw, like bristly boars, Their wildman's limbs naked upon the earth, Rolling themselves in leaves and fronded boughs. Nor would they call with lamentations loud Around the fields for daylight and the sun, Quaking and wand'ring in shadows of the night; But, silent and buried in a sleep, they'd wait Until the sun with rosy flambeau brought The glory to the sky. From childhood wont Ever to see the dark and day begot In times alternate, never might they be Wildered by wild misgiving, lest a night Eternal should possess the lands, with light Of sun withdrawn forever. But their care Was rather that the clans of savage beasts Would often make their sleep-time horrible For those poor wretches; and, from home y-driven, They'd flee their rocky shelters at approach Of boar, the spumy-lipped, or lion strong, And in the midnight yield with terror up To those fierce guests their beds of out-spread leaves.
157	Nec nimio tum plus quam nunc mortalia saecla dulcia linquebant lamentis lumina vitae . unus enim tum quisque magis deprensus eorum pabula viva feris praebebat , dentibus haustus , et nemora ac montis gemitu silvasque replebat viva videns vivo sepeliri viscera busto . at quos effugium servarat corpore adeso , posterius tremulas super ulcera tetra tenentes palmas horriferis accibant vocibus Orcum , donique eos vita privarant vermina saeva expertis opis , ignaros quid volnera vellent . at non multa virum sub signis milia ducta una dies dabat exitio nec turbida ponti aequora lidebant navis ad saxa virosque . nam temere in cassum frustra mare saepe coortum saevibat leviterque minas ponebat inanis , nec poterat quemquam placidi pellacia ponti subdola pellicere in fraudem ridentibus undis . improba navigii ratio tum caeca iacebat . tum penuria deinde cibi languentia leto membra dabat , contra nunc rerum copia mersat . illi inprudentes ipsi sibi saepe venenum vergebant , nunc dant sollertius ipsi .	And yet in those days not much more than now Would generations of mortality Leave the sweet light of fading life behind. Indeed, in those days here and there a man, More oftener snatched upon, and gulped by fangs, Afforded the beasts a food that roared alive, Echoing through groves and hills and forest-trees, Even as he viewed his living flesh entombed Within a living grave; whilst those whom flight Had saved, with bone and body bitten, shrieked, Pressing their quivering palms to loathsome sores, With horrible voices for eternal death- Until, forlorn of help, and witless what Might medicine their wounds, the writhing pangs Took them from life. But not in those far times Would one lone day give over unto doom A soldiery in thousands marching on Beneath the battle-banners, nor would then The ramping breakers of the main seas dash Whole argosies and crews upon the rocks. But ocean uprisen would often rave in vain, Without all end or outcome, and give up Its empty menacings as lightly too; Nor soft seductions of a serene sea Could lure by laughing billows any man Out to disaster: for the science bold Of ship-sailing lay dark in those far times. Again, 'twas then that lack of food gave o'er Men's fainting limbs to dissolution: now 'Tis plenty overwhelms. Unwary, they Oft for themselves themselves would then outpour The poison; now, with nicer art, themselves They give the drafts to others.
158	Inde casas postquam ac pellis ignemque pararunt et mulier coniuncta viro concessit in unum ( ... lost text ... ) cognita sunt , prolemque ex se videre creatam , tum genus humanum primum mollescere coepit . ignis enim curavit , ut alsia corpora frigus non ita iam possent caeli sub tegmine ferre , et Venus inminuit viris puerique parentum blanditiis facile ingenium fregere superbum . tunc et amicitiem coeperunt iungere aventes finitimi inter se nec laedere nec violari , et pueros commendarunt muliebreque saeclum , vocibus et gestu cum balbe significarent imbecillorum esse aequum misererier omnis . nec tamen omnimodis poterat concordia gigni , sed bona magnaque pars servabat foedera caste ; aut genus humanum iam tum foret omne peremptum nec potuisset adhuc perducere saecla propago .	BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION Afterwards, When huts they had procured and pelts and fire, And when the woman, joined unto the man, Withdrew with him into one dwelling place, . . . . . . Were known; and when they saw an offspring born From out themselves, then first the human race Began to soften. For 'twas now that fire Rendered their shivering frames less staunch to bear, Under the canopy of the sky, the cold; And Love reduced their shaggy hardiness; And children, with the prattle and the kiss, Soon broke the parents' haughty temper down. Then, too, did neighbours 'gin to league as friends, Eager to wrong no more or suffer wrong, And urged for children and the womankind Mercy, of fathers, whilst with cries and gestures They stammered hints how meet it was that all Should have compassion on the weak. And still, Though concord not in every wise could then Begotten be, a good, a goodly part Kept faith inviolate- or else mankind Long since had been unutterably cut off, And propagation never could have brought The species down the ages.
159	At varios linguae sonitus natura subegit mittere et utilitas expressit nomina rerum , non alia longe ratione atque ipsa videtur protrahere ad gestum pueros infantia linguae , cum facit ut digito quae sint praesentia monstrent . sentit enim vim quisque suam quod possit abuti . cornua nata prius vitulo quam frontibus extent , illis iratus petit atque infestus inurget . at catuli pantherarum scymnique leonum unguibus ac pedibus iam tum morsuque repugnant , vix etiam cum sunt dentes unguesque creati . alituum porro genus alis omne videmus fidere et a pennis tremulum petere auxiliatum . proinde putare aliquem tum nomina distribuisse rebus et inde homines didicisse vocabula prima , desiperest . nam cur hic posset cuncta notare vocibus et varios sonitus emittere linguae , tempore eodem alii facere id non quisse putentur ? praeterea si non alii quoque vocibus usi inter se fuerant , unde insita notities est utilitatis et unde data est huic prima potestas , quid vellet facere ut sciret animoque videret ? cogere item pluris unus victosque domare non poterat , rerum ut perdiscere nomina vellent . nec ratione docere ulla suadereque surdis , quid sit opus facto , facilest ; neque enim paterentur nec ratione ulla sibi ferrent amplius auris vocis inauditos sonitus obtundere frustra . postremo quid in hac mirabile tantoperest re , si genus humanum , cui vox et lingua vigeret , pro vario sensu varia res voce notaret ? cum pecudes mutae , cum denique saecla ferarum dissimilis soleant voces variasque ciere , cum metus aut dolor est et cum iam gaudia gliscunt . quippe enim licet id rebus cognoscere apertis . inritata canum cum primum magna Molossum mollia ricta fremunt duros nudantia dentes , longe alio sonitu rabies stricta minatur , et cum iam latrant et vocibus omnia complent ; at catulos blande cum lingua lambere temptant aut ubi eos lactant , pedibus morsuque potentes suspensis teneros imitantur dentibus haustus , longe alio pacto gannitu vocis adulant , et cum deserti baubantur in aedibus , aut cum plorantis fugiunt summisso corpore plagas . denique non hinnitus item differre videtur , inter equas ubi equus florenti aetate iuvencus pinnigeri saevit calcaribus ictus Amoris et fremitum patulis sub naribus edit ad arma , et cum sic alias concussis artibus hinnit ? postremo genus alituum variaeque volucres , accipitres atque ossifragae mergique marinis fluctibus in salso victum vitamque petentes , longe alias alio iaciunt in tempore voces , et quom de victu certant praedaque repugnant . et partim mutant cum tempestatibus una raucisonos cantus , cornicum ut saecla vetusta corvorumque gregis ubi aquam dicuntur et imbris poscere et inter dum ventos aurasque vocare . ergo si varii sensus animalia cogunt , muta tamen cum sint , varias emittere voces , quanto mortalis magis aequumst tum potuisse dissimilis alia atque alia res voce notare !	But nature 'twas Urged men to utter various sounds of tongue And need and use did mould the names of things, About in same wise as the lack-speech years Compel young children unto gesturings, Making them point with finger here and there At what's before them. For each creature feels By instinct to what use to put his powers. Ere yet the bull-calf's scarce begotten horns Project above his brows, with them he 'gins Enraged to butt and savagely to thrust. But whelps of panthers and the lion's cubs With claws and paws and bites are at the fray Already, when their teeth and claws be scarce As yet engendered. So again, we see All breeds of winged creatures trust to wings And from their fledgling pinions seek to get A fluttering assistance. Thus, to think That in those days some man apportioned round To things their names, and that from him men learned Their first nomenclature, is foolery. For why could he mark everything by words And utter the various sounds of tongue, what time The rest may be supposed powerless To do the same? And, if the rest had not Already one with other used words, Whence was implanted in the teacher, then, Fore-knowledge of their use, and whence was given To him alone primordial faculty To know and see in mind what 'twas he willed? Besides, one only man could scarce subdue An overmastered multitude to choose To get by heart his names of things. A task Not easy 'tis in any wise to teach And to persuade the deaf concerning what 'Tis needful for to do. For ne'er would they Allow, nor ne'er in anywise endure Perpetual vain dingdong in their ears Of spoken sounds unheard before. And what, At last, in this affair so wondrous is, That human race (in whom a voice and tongue Were now in vigour) should by divers words Denote its objects, as each divers sense Might prompt?- since even the speechless herds, aye, since The very generations of wild beasts Are wont dissimilar and divers sounds To rouse from in them, when there's fear or pain, And when they burst with joys. And this, forsooth, 'Tis thine to know from plainest facts: when first Huge flabby jowls of mad Molossian hounds, Baring their hard white teeth, begin to snarl, They threaten, with infuriate lips peeled back, In sounds far other than with which they bark And fill with voices all the regions round. And when with fondling tongue they start to lick Their puppies, or do toss them round with paws, Feigning with gentle bites to gape and snap, They fawn with yelps of voice far other then Than when, alone within the house, they bay, Or whimpering slink with cringing sides from blows. Again the neighing of the horse, is that Not seen to differ likewise, when the stud In buoyant flower of his young years raves, Goaded by winged Love, amongst the mares, And when with widening nostrils out he snorts The call to battle, and when haply he Whinnies at times with terror-quaking limbs? Lastly, the flying race, the dappled birds, Hawks, ospreys, sea-gulls, searching food and life Amid the ocean billows in the brine, Utter at other times far other cries Than when they fight for food, or with their prey Struggle and strain. And birds there are which change With changing weather their own raucous songs- As long-lived generations of the crows Or flocks of rooks, when they be said to cry For rain and water and to call at times For winds and gales. Ergo, if divers moods Compel the brutes, though speechless evermore, To send forth divers sounds, O truly then How much more likely 'twere that mortal men In those days could with many a different sound Denote each separate thing.
160	Illud in his rebus tacitus ne forte requiras , fulmen detulit in terram mortalibus ignem primitus , inde omnis flammarum diditur ardor ; multa videmus enim caelestibus insita flammis fulgere , cum caeli donavit plaga vaporis . et ramosa tamen cum ventis pulsa vacillans aestuat in ramos incumbens arboris arbor , exprimitur validis extritus viribus ignis , emicat inter dum flammai fervidus ardor , mutua dum inter se rami stirpesque teruntur . quorum utrumque dedisse potest mortalibus ignem . inde cibum quoquere ac flammae mollire vapore sol docuit , quoniam mitescere multa videbant verberibus radiorum atque aestu victa per agros .	Lest, perchance, Concerning these affairs thou ponderest In silent meditation, let me say 'Twas lightning brought primevally to earth The fire for mortals, and from thence hath spread O'er all the lands the flames of heat. For thus Even now we see so many objects, touched By the celestial flames, to flash aglow, When thunderbolt has dowered them with heat. Yet also when a many-branched tree, Beaten by winds, writhes swaying to and fro, Pressing 'gainst branches of a neighbour tree, There by the power of mighty rub and rub Is fire engendered; and at times out-flares The scorching heat of flame, when boughs do chafe Against the trunks. And of these causes, either May well have given to mortal men the fire. Next, food to cook and soften in the flame The sun instructed, since so oft they saw How objects mellowed, when subdued by warmth And by the raining blows of fiery beams, Through all the fields.