De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)

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	De Rerum Natura Author: Lucretius	Translator: William Ellery Leonard
177	Fulgit item , nubes ignis cum semina multa excussere suo concursu , ceu lapidem si percutiat lapis aut ferrum ; nam tum quoque lumen exilit et claras scintillas dissipat ignis . sed tonitrum fit uti post auribus accipiamus , fulgere quam cernant oculi , quia semper ad auris tardius adveniunt quam visum quae moveant res . id licet hinc etiam cognoscere : caedere si quem ancipiti videas ferro procul arboris auctum , ante fit ut cernas ictum quam plaga per auris det sonitum ; sic fulgorem quoque cernimus ante quam tonitrum accipimus , pariter qui mittitur igni e simili causa , concursu natus eodem .	Likewise, it lightens, when the clouds have struck, By their collision, forth the seeds of fire: As if a stone should smite a stone or steel, For light then too leaps forth and fire then scatters The shining sparks. But with our ears we get The thunder after eyes behold the flash, Because forever things arrive the ears More tardily than the eyes- as thou mayst see From this example too: when markest thou Some man far yonder felling a great tree With double-edged ax, it comes to pass Thine eye beholds the swinging stroke before The blow gives forth a sound athrough thine ears: Thus also we behold the flashing ere We hear the thunder, which discharged is At same time with the fire and by same cause, Born of the same collision.
178	Hoc etiam pacto volucri loca lumine tingunt nubes et tremulo tempestas impete fulgit . ventus ubi invasit nubem et versatus ibidem fecit ut ante cavam docui spissescere nubem , mobilitate sua fervescit ; ut omnia motu percalefacta vides ardescere , plumbea vero glans etiam longo cursu volvenda liquescit . ergo fervidus hic nubem cum perscidit atram , dissipat ardoris quasi per vim expressa repente semina , quae faciunt nictantia fulgura flammae ; inde sonus sequitur , qui tardius adlicit auris quam quae perveniunt oculorum ad lumina nostra . scilicet hoc densis fit nubibus et simul alte extructis aliis alias super impete miro . ne tibi sit frudi quod nos inferne videmus quam sint lata magis quam sursum extructa quid extent . contemplator enim , cum montibus adsimulata nubila portabunt venti transversa per auras , aut ubi per magnos montis cumulata videbis insuper esse aliis alia atque urguere superna in statione locata sepultis undique ventis ; tum poteris magnas moles cognoscere eorum speluncasque vel ut saxis pendentibus structas cernere , quas venti cum tempestate coorta conplerunt , magno indignantur murmure clausi nubibus in caveisque ferarum more minantur , nunc hinc nunc illinc fremitus per nubila mittunt , quaerentesque viam circum versantur et ignis semina convolvunt nubibus atque ita cogunt multa rotantque cavis flammam fornacibus intus , donec divolsa fulserunt nube corusci .	In following wise The clouds suffuse with leaping light the lands, And the storm flashes with tremulous elan: When the wind hath invaded a cloud, and, whirling there, Hath wrought (as I have shown above) the cloud Into a hollow with a thickened crust, It becomes hot of own velocity: Just as thou seest how motion will o'erheat And set ablaze all objects,- verily A leaden ball, hurtling through length of space, Even melts. Therefore, when this same wind a-fire Hath split black cloud, it scatters the fire-seeds, Which, so to say, have been pressed out by force Of sudden from the cloud;- and these do make The pulsing flashes of flame; thence followeth The detonation which attacks our ears More tardily than aught which comes along Unto the sight of eyeballs. This takes place- As know thou mayst- at times when clouds are dense And one upon the other piled aloft With wonderful upheavings- nor be thou Deceived because we see how broad their base From underneath, and not how high they tower. For make thine observations at a time When winds shall bear athwart the horizon's blue Clouds like to mountain-ranges moving on, Or when about the sides of mighty peaks Thou seest them one upon the other massed And burdening downward, anchored in high repose, With the winds sepulchred on all sides round: Then canst thou know their mighty masses, then Canst view their caverns, as if builded there Of beetling crags; which, when the hurricanes In gathered storm have filled utterly, Then, prisoned in clouds, they rave around With mighty roarings, and within those dens Bluster like savage beasts, and now from here, And now from there, send growlings through the clouds, And seeking an outlet, whirl themselves about, And roll from 'mid the clouds the seeds of fire, And heap them multitudinously there, And in the hollow furnaces within Wheel flame around, until from bursted cloud In forky flashes they have gleamed forth.
179	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.
180	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.
181	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.
182	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.
183	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.
184	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.