De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)

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	De Rerum Natura Author: Lucretius	Translator: William Ellery Leonard
201	Quod super est , agere incipiam quo foedere fiat naturae , lapis hic ut ferrum ducere possit , quem Magneta vocant patrio de nomine Grai , Magnetum quia sit patriis in finibus ortus . hunc homines lapidem mirantur ; quippe catenam saepe ex anellis reddit pendentibus ex se . quinque etenim licet inter dum pluresque videre ordine demisso levibus iactarier auris , unus ubi ex uno dependet supter adhaerens ex alioque alius lapidis vim vinclaque noscit ; usque adeo permananter vis pervalet eius . Hoc genus in rebus firmandumst multa prius quam ipsius rei rationem reddere possis , et nimium longis ambagibus est adeundum ; quo magis attentas auris animumque reposco . Principio omnibus ab rebus , quas cumque videmus , perpetuo fluere ac mitti spargique necessest corpora quae feriant oculos visumque lacessant . perpetuoque fluunt certis ab rebus odores ; frigus ut fluviis , calor a sole , aestus ab undis aequoris , exesor moerorum , litora propter ; nec varii cessant sonitus manare per auras ; denique in os salsi venit umor saepe saporis , cum mare versamur propter , dilutaque contra cum tuimur misceri absinthia , tangit amaror . usque adeo omnibus ab rebus res quaeque fluenter fertur et in cunctas dimittitur undique partis nec mora nec requies interdatur ulla fluendi , perpetuo quoniam sentimus et omnia semper cernere odorari licet et sentire sonare .	Now to other things! And I'll begin to treat by what decree Of nature it came to pass that iron can be By that stone drawn which Greeks the magnet call After the country's name (its origin Being in country of Magnesian folk). This stone men marvel at; and sure it oft Maketh a chain of rings, depending, lo, From off itself! Nay, thou mayest see at times Five or yet more in order dangling down And swaying in the delicate winds, whilst one Depends from other, cleaving to under-side, And ilk one feels the stone's own power and bonds- So over-masteringly its power flows down. In things of this sort, much must be made sure Ere thou account of the thing itself canst give, And the approaches roundabout must be; Wherefore the more do I exact of thee A mind and ears attent. First, from all things We see soever, evermore must flow, Must be discharged and strewn about, about, Bodies that strike the eyes, awaking sight. From certain things flow odours evermore, As cold from rivers, heat from sun, and spray From waves of ocean, eater-out of walls Along the coasts. Nor ever cease to seep The varied echoings athrough the air. Then, too, there comes into the mouth at times The wet of a salt taste, when by the sea We roam about; and so, whene'er we watch The wormwood being mixed, its bitter stings. To such degree from all things is each thing Borne streamingly along, and sent about To every region round; and nature grants Nor rest nor respite of the onward flow, Since 'tis incessantly we feeling have, And all the time are suffered to descry And smell all things at hand, and hear them sound.
202	Nunc omnis repetam quam raro corpore sint res commemorare ; quod in primo quoque carmine claret . quippe etenim , quamquam multas hoc pertinet ad res noscere , cum primis hanc ad rem protinus ipsam , qua de disserere adgredior , firmare necessest nil esse in promptu nisi mixtum corpus inani . principio fit ut in speluncis saxa superna sudent umore et guttis manantibus stillent . manat item nobis e toto corpore sudor , crescit barba pilique per omnia membra , per artus . diditur in venas cibus omnis , auget alitque corporis extremas quoque partis unguiculosque . frigus item transire per aes calidumque vaporem sentimus , sentimus item transire per aurum atque per argentum , cum pocula plena tenemus . denique per dissaepta domorum saxea voces pervolitant , permanat odor frigusque vaposque ignis , qui ferri quoque vim penetrare sueëvit , denique qua circum caeli lorica coeërcet, morbida visque simul , cum extrinsecus insinuatur ; et tempestate in terra caeloque coorta in caelum terrasque remotae iure facessunt ; quandoquidem nihil est nisi raro corpore nexum .	Now will I seek again to bring to mind How porous a body all things have- a fact Made manifest in my first canto, too. For, truly, though to know this doth import For many things, yet for this very thing On which straightway I'm going to discourse, 'Tis needful most of all to make it sure That naught's at hand but body mixed with void. A first ensample: in grottos, rocks o'erhead Sweat moisture and distil the oozy drops; Likewise, from all our body seeps the sweat; There grows the beard, and along our members all And along our frame the hairs. Through all our veins Disseminates the foods, and gives increase And aliment down to the extreme parts, Even to the tiniest finger-nails. Likewise, Through solid bronze the cold and fiery heat We feel to pass; likewise, we feel them pass Through gold, through silver, when we clasp in hand The brimming goblets. And, again, there flit Voices through houses' hedging walls of stone; Odour seeps through, and cold, and heat of fire That's wont to penetrate even strength of iron. Again, where corselet of the sky girds round . . . . . . And at same time, some Influence of bane, When from Beyond 'thas stolen into [our world]. And tempests, gathering from the earth and sky, Back to the sky and earth absorbed retire- With reason, since there's naught that's fashioned not With body porous.
203	Huc accedit uti non omnia , quae iaciuntur corpora cumque ab rebus , eodem praedita sensu atque eodem pacto rebus sint omnibus apta . principio terram sol excoquit et facit are , at glaciem dissolvit et altis montibus altas extructas nives radiis tabescere cogit ; denique cera lique fit in eius posta vapore . ignis item liquidum facit aes aurumque resolvit , at coria et carnem trahit et conducit in unum . umor aquae porro ferrum condurat ab igni , at coria et carnem mollit durata calore . barbigeras oleaster eo iuvat usque capellas , effluat ambrosias quasi vero et nectare tinctus ; qua nihil est homini quod amarius fronde ac extet . denique amaracinum fugitat sus et timet omne unguentum ; nam saetigeris subus acre venenumst ; quod nos inter dum tam quam recreare videtur . at contra nobis caenum taeterrima cum sit spurcities , eadem subus haec iucunda videtur , insatiabiliter toti ut volvantur ibidem .	Furthermore, not all The particles which be from things thrown off Are furnished with same qualities for sense, Nor be for all things equally adapt. A first ensample: the sun doth bake and parch The earth; but ice he thaws, and with his beams Compels the lofty snows, up-reared white Upon the lofty hills, to waste away; Then, wax, if set beneath the heat of him, Melts to a liquid. And the fire, likewise, Will melt the copper and will fuse the gold, But hides and flesh it shrivels up and shrinks. The water hardens the iron just off the fire, But hides and flesh (made hard by heat) it softens. The oleaster-tree as much delights The bearded she-goats, verily as though 'Twere nectar-steeped and shed ambrosia; Than which is naught that burgeons into leaf More bitter food for man. A hog draws back For marjoram oil, and every unguent fears Fierce poison these unto the bristled hogs, Yet unto us from time to time they seem, As 'twere, to give new life. But, contrariwise, Though unto us the mire be filth most foul, To hogs that mire doth so delightsome seem That they with wallowing from belly to back Are never cloyed.
204	Hoc etiam super est , ipsa quam dicere de re adgredior , quod dicendum prius esse videtur . multa foramina cum variis sint reddita rebus , dissimili inter se natura praedita debent esse et habere suam naturam quaeque viasque . quippe etenim varii sensus animantibus insunt , quorum quisque suam proprie rem percipit in se ; nam penetrare alio sonitus alioque saporem cernimus e sucis , alio nidoris odores . praeterea manare aliud per saxa videtur , atque aliud lignis , aliud transire per aurum , argentoque foras aliud vitroque meare ; nam fluere hac species , illac calor ire videtur , atque aliis aliud citius transmittere eadem . scilicet id fieri cogit natura viarum multimodis varians , ut paulo ostendimus ante , propter dissimilem naturam textaque rerum . Qua propter , bene ubi haec confirmata atque locata omnia constiterint nobis praeposta parata , quod super est , facile hinc ratio reddetur et omnis causa pate fiet , quae ferri pelliciat vim .	A point remains, besides, Which best it seems to tell of, ere I go To telling of the fact at hand itself. Since to the varied things assigned be The many pores, those pores must be diverse In nature one from other, and each have Its very shape, its own direction fixed. And so, indeed, in breathing creatures be The several senses, of which each takes in Unto itself, in its own fashion ever, Its own peculiar object. For we mark How sounds do into one place penetrate, Into another flavours of all juice, And savour of smell into a third. Moreover, One sort through rocks we see to seep, and, lo, One sort to pass through wood, another still Through gold, and others to go out and off Through silver and through glass. For we do see Through some pores form-and-look of things to flow, Through others heat to go, and some things still To speedier pass than others through same pores. Of verity, the nature of these same paths, Varying in many modes (as aforesaid) Because of unlike nature and warp and woof Of cosmic things, constrains it so to be. Wherefore, since all these matters now have been Established and settled well for us As premises prepared, for what remains 'Twill not be hard to render clear account By means of these, and the whole cause reveal Whereby the magnet lures the strength of iron.
205	Principio fluere e lapide hoc permulta necessest semina sive aestum , qui discutit aeëra plagis , inter qui lapidem ferrumque est cumque locatus . hoc ubi inanitur spatium multusque vace fit in medio locus , extemplo primordia ferri in vacuum prolapsa cadunt coniuncta , fit utque anulus ipse sequatur eatque ita corpore toto . nec res ulla magis primoribus ex elementis indupedita suis arte conexa cohaeret quam validi ferri natura et frigidus horror . quo minus est mirum , quod dicitur esse alienum , corpora si nequeunt e ferro plura coorta in vacuum ferri , quin anulus ipse sequatur ; quod facit et sequitur , donec pervenit ad ipsum iam lapidem caecisque in eo compagibus haesit . hoc fit idem cunctas in partis ; unde vace fit cumque locus , sive e transverso sive superne , corpora continuo in vacuum vicina feruntur ; quippe agitantur enim plagis aliunde nec ipsa sponte sua sursum possunt consurgere in auras . huc accedit item , quare queat id magis esse , haec quoque res adiumento motuque iuvatur , quod , simul a fronte est anelli rarior aeër factus inanitusque locus magis ac vacuatus , continuo fit uti qui post est cumque locatus aeër a tergo quasi provehat atque propellat . semper enim circum positus res verberat aeër ; sed tali fit uti propellat tempore ferrum , parte quod ex una spatium vacat et capit in se . hic , tibi quem memoro , per crebra foramina ferri parvas ad partis subtiliter insinuatus trudit et inpellit , quasi navem velaque ventus . denique res omnes debent in corpore habere aeëra , quandoquidem raro sunt corpore et aeër omnibus est rebus circum datus adpositusque . hic igitur , penitus qui in ferrost abditus aeër , sollicito motu semper iactatur eoque verberat anellum dubio procul et ciet intus , scilicet illo eodem fertur , quo praecipitavit iam semel et partem in vacuam conamina sumpsit .	First, stream there must from off the lode-stone seeds Innumerable, a very tide, which smites By blows that air asunder lying betwixt The stone and iron. And when is emptied out This space, and a large place between the two Is made a void, forthwith the primal germs Of iron, headlong slipping, fall conjoined Into the vacuum, and the ring itself By reason thereof doth follow after and go Thuswise with all its body. And naught there is That of its own primordial elements More thoroughly knit or tighter linked coheres Than nature and cold roughness of stout iron. Wherefore, 'tis less a marvel what I said, That from such elements no bodies can From out the iron collect in larger throng And be into the vacuum borne along, Without the ring itself do follow after. And this it does, and followeth on until 'Thath reached the stone itself and cleaved to it By links invisible. Moreover, likewise, The motion's assisted by a thing of aid (Whereby the process easier becomes),- Namely, by this: as soon as rarer grows That air in front of the ring, and space between Is emptied more and made a void, forthwith It happens all the air that lies behind Conveys it onward, pushing from the rear. For ever doth the circumambient air Drub things unmoved, but here it pushes forth The iron, because upon one side the space Lies void and thus receives the iron in. This air, whereof I am reminding thee, Winding athrough the iron's abundant pores So subtly into the tiny parts thereof, Shoves it and pushes, as wind the ship and sails. The same doth happen in all directions forth: From whatso side a space is made a void, Whether from crosswise or above, forthwith The neighbour particles are borne along Into the vacuum; for of verity, They're set a-going by poundings from elsewhere, Nor by themselves of own accord can they Rise upwards into the air. Again, all things Must in their framework hold some air, because They are of framework porous, and the air Encompasses and borders on all things. Thus, then, this air in iron so deeply stored Is tossed evermore in vexed motion, And therefore drubs upon the ring sans doubt And shakes it up inside.... . . . . . . In sooth, that ring is thither borne along To where 'thas once plunged headlong- thither, lo, Unto the void whereto it took its start.
206	Fit quoque ut a lapide hoc ferri natura recedat inter dum , fugere atque sequi consueta vicissim . exultare etiam Samothracia ferrea vidi et ramenta simul ferri furere intus ahenis in scaphiis , lapis hic Magnes cum subditus esset ; usque adeo fugere a saxo gestire videtur . aere interposito discordia tanta creatur propterea quia ni mirum prius aestus ubi aeris praecepit ferrique vias possedit apertas , posterior lapidis venit aestus et omnia plena invenit in ferro neque habet qua tranet ut ante ; cogitur offensare igitur pulsareque fluctu ferrea texta suo ; quo pacto respuit ab se atque per aes agitat , sine eo quod saepe resorbet . Illud in his rebus mirari mitte , quod aestus non valet e lapide hoc alias impellere item res . pondere enim fretae partim stant , quod genus aurum ; at partim raro quia sunt cum corpore , ut aestus pervolet intactus , nequeunt inpellier usquam , lignea materies in quo genere esse videtur . interutrasque igitur ferri natura locata aeris ubi accepit quaedam corpuscula , tum fit , inpellant ut eo Magnesia flumine saxa .	It happens, too, at times that nature of iron Shrinks from this stone away, accustomed By turns to flee and follow. Yea, I've seen Those Samothracian iron rings leap up, And iron filings in the brazen bowls Seethe furiously, when underneath was set The magnet stone. So strongly iron seems To crave to flee that rock. Such discord great Is gendered by the interposed brass, Because, forsooth, when first the tide of brass Hath seized upon and held possession of The iron's open passage-ways, thereafter Cometh the tide of the stone, and in that iron Findeth all spaces full, nor now hath holes To swim through, as before. 'Tis thus constrained With its own current 'gainst the iron's fabric To dash and beat; by means whereof it spues Forth from itself- and through the brass stirs up- The things which otherwise without the brass It sucks into itself. In these affairs Marvel thou not that from this stone the tide Prevails not likewise other things to move With its own blows: for some stand firm by weight, As gold; and some cannot be moved forever, Because so porous in their framework they That there the tide streams through without a break, Of which sort stuff of wood is seen to be. Therefore, when iron (which lies between the two) Hath taken in some atoms of the brass, Then do the streams of that Magnesian rock Move iron by their smitings.
207	nec tamen haec ita sunt aliarum rerum aliena , ut mihi multa parum genere ex hoc suppeditentur , quae memorare queam inter se singlariter apta . saxa vides primum sola colescere calce . glutine materies taurino iungitur una , ut vitio venae tabularum saepius hiscant quam laxare queant compages taurea vincla . vitigeni latices aquai fontibus audent misceri , cum pix nequeat gravis et leve olivom . purpureusque colos conchyli iungitur uno corpore cum lanae , dirimi qui non queat usquam , non si Neptuni fluctu renovare operam des , non mare si totum velit eluere omnibus undis . denique res auro non aurum copulat una , aerique plumbo fit uti iungatur ab albo ? cetera iam quam multa licet reperire ! quid ergo ? nec tibi tam longis opus est ambagibus usquam nec me tam multam hic operam consumere par est , sed breviter paucis praestat comprendere multa . quorum ita texturae ceciderunt mutua contra , ut cava conveniant plenis haec illius illa huiusque inter se , iunctura haec optima constat . est etiam , quasi ut anellis hamisque plicata inter se quaedam possint coplata teneri ; quod magis in lapide hoc fieri ferroque videtur .	Yet these things Are not so alien from others, that I Of this same sort am ill prepared to name Ensamples still of things exclusively To one another adapt. Thou seest, first, How lime alone cementeth stones: how wood Only by glue-of-bull with wood is joined- So firmly too that oftener the boards Crack open along the weakness of the grain Ere ever those taurine bonds will lax their hold. The vine-born juices with the water-springs Are bold to mix, though not the heavy pitch With the light oil-of-olive. And purple dye Of shell-fish so uniteth with the wool's Body alone that it cannot be ta'en Away forever- nay, though thou gavest toil To restore the same with the Neptunian flood, Nay, though all ocean willed to wash it out With all its waves. Again, gold unto gold Doth not one substance bind, and only one? And is not brass by tin joined unto brass? And other ensamples how many might one find! What then? Nor is there unto thee a need Of such long ways and roundabout, nor boots it For me much toil on this to spend. More fit It is in few words briefly to embrace Things many: things whose textures fall together So mutually adapt, that cavities To solids correspond, these cavities Of this thing to the solid parts of that, And those of that to solid parts of this- Such joinings are the best. Again, some things Can be the one with other coupled and held, Linked by hooks and eyes, as 'twere; and this Seems more the fact with iron and this stone.
208	Nunc ratio quae sit morbis aut unde repente mortiferam possit cladem conflare coorta morbida vis hominum generi pecudumque catervis , expediam , primum multarum semina rerum esse supra docui quae sint vitalia nobis , et contra quae sint morbo mortique necessest multa volare ; ea cum casu sunt forte coorta et perturbarunt caelum , fit morbidus aeër . atque ea vis omnis morborum pestilitasque aut extrinsecus ut nubes nebulaeque superne per caelum veniunt aut ipsa saepe coorta de terra surgunt , ubi putorem umida nactast intempestivis pluviisque et solibus icta . nonne vides etiam caeli novitate et aquarum temptari procul a patria qui cumque domoque adveniunt ideo quia longe discrepitant res ? nam quid Brittannis caelum differre putamus , et quod in Aegypto est , qua mundi claudicat axis , quidve quod in Ponto est differre et Gadibus atque usque ad nigra virum percocto saecla colore ? quae cum quattuor inter se diversa videmus quattuor a ventis et caeli partibus esse , tum color et facies hominum distare videntur largiter et morbi generatim saecla tenere . est elephas morbus qui propter flumina Nili gignitur Aegypto in media neque praeterea usquam . Atthide temptantur gressus oculique in Achaeis finibus . inde aliis alius locus est inimicus partibus ac membris ; varius concinnat id aeër . proinde ubi se caelum , quod nobis forte alienum , commovet atque aeër inimicus serpere coepit , ut nebula ac nubes paulatim repit et omne qua graditur conturbat et immutare coactat , fit quoque ut , in nostrum cum venit denique caelum , corrumpat reddatque sui simile atque alienum . haec igitur subito clades nova pestilitasque aut in aquas cadit aut fruges persidit in ipsas aut alios hominum pastus pecudumque cibatus , aut etiam suspensa manet vis aeëre in ipso et , cum spirantes mixtas hinc ducimus auras , illa quoque in corpus pariter sorbere necessest . consimili ratione venit bubus quoque saepe pestilitas et iam pigris balantibus aegror . nec refert utrum nos in loca deveniamus nobis adversa et caeli mutemus amictum , an caelum nobis ultro natura corumptum deferat aut aliquid quo non consuevimus uti , quod nos adventu possit temptare recenti .	Now, of diseases what the law, and whence The Influence of bane upgathering can Upon the race of man and herds of cattle Kindle a devastation fraught with death, I will unfold. And, first, I've taught above That seeds there be of many things to us Life-giving, and that, contrariwise, there must Fly many round bringing disease and death. When these have, haply, chanced to collect And to derange the atmosphere of earth, The air becometh baneful. And, lo, all That Influence of bane, that pestilence, Or from Beyond down through our atmosphere, Like clouds and mists, descends, or else collects From earth herself and rises, when, a-soak And beat by rains unseasonable and suns, Our earth hath then contracted stench and rot. Seest thou not, also, that whoso arrive In region far from fatherland and home Are by the strangeness of the clime and waters Distempered?- since conditions vary much. For in what else may we suppose the clime Among the Britons to differ from Aegypt's own (Where totters awry the axis of the world), Or in what else to differ Pontic clime From Gades' and from climes adown the south, On to black generations of strong men With sun-baked skins? Even as we thus do see Four climes diverse under the four main-winds And under the four main-regions of the sky, So, too, are seen the colour and face of men Vastly to disagree, and fixed diseases To seize the generations, kind by kind: There is the elephant-disease which down In midmost Aegypt, hard by streams of Nile, Engendered is- and never otherwhere. In Attica the feet are oft attacked, And in Achaean lands the eyes. And so The divers spots to divers parts and limbs Are noxious; 'tis a variable air That causes this. Thus when an atmosphere, Alien by chance to us, begins to heave, And noxious airs begin to crawl along, They creep and wind like unto mist and cloud, Slowly, and everything upon their way They disarrange and force to change its state. It happens, too, that when they've come at last Into this atmosphere of ours, they taint And make it like themselves and alien. Therefore, asudden this devastation strange, This pestilence, upon the waters falls, Or settles on the very crops of grain Or other meat of men and feed of flocks. Or it remains a subtle force, suspense In the atmosphere itself; and when therefrom We draw our inhalations of mixed air, Into our body equally its bane Also we must suck in. In manner like, Oft comes the pestilence upon the kine, And sickness, too, upon the sluggish sheep. Nor aught it matters whether journey we To regions adverse to ourselves and change The atmospheric cloak, or whether nature Herself import a tainted atmosphere To us or something strange to our own use Which can attack us soon as ever it come.