De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)

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	De Rerum Natura Author: Lucretius	Translator: William Ellery Leonard
33	Illud in his quoque te rebus cognoscere avemus , corpora cum deorsum rectum per inane feruntur ponderibus propriis , incerto tempore ferme incertisque locis spatio depellere paulum , tantum quod momen mutatum dicere possis . quod nisi declinare solerent , omnia deorsum imbris uti guttae caderent per inane profundum nec foret offensus natus nec plaga creata principiis ; ita nihil umquam natura creasset . Quod si forte aliquis credit graviora potesse corpora , quo citius rectum per inane feruntur , incidere ex supero levioribus atque ita plagas gignere , quae possint genitalis reddere motus , avius a vera longe ratione recedit . nam per aquas quae cumque cadunt atque aera rarum , haec pro ponderibus casus celerare necessest propterea quia corpus aquae naturaque tenvis aeris haud possunt aeque rem quamque morari , sed citius cedunt gravioribus exsuperata ; at contra nulli de nulla parte neque ullo tempore inane potest vacuum subsistere rei , quin , sua quod natura petit , concedere pergat ; omnia qua propter debent per inane quietum aeque ponderibus non aequis concita ferri . haud igitur poterunt levioribus incidere umquam ex supero graviora neque ictus gignere per se , qui varient motus , per quos natura gerat res . quare etiam atque etiam paulum inclinare necessest corpora ; nec plus quam minimum , ne fingere motus obliquos videamur et id res vera refutet . namque hoc in promptu manifestumque esse videmus , pondera , quantum in se est , non posse obliqua meare , ex supero cum praecipitant , quod cernere possis ; sed nihil omnino recta regione viai declinare quis est qui possit cernere sese ? Denique si semper motu conectitur omnis et vetere exoritur motus novus ordine certo nec declinando faciunt primordia motus principium quoddam , quod fati foedera rumpat , ex infinito ne causam causa sequatur , libera per terras unde haec animantibus exstat , unde est haec , inquam , fatis avolsa voluntas , per quam progredimur quo ducit quemque voluptas , declinamus item motus nec tempore certo nec regione loci certa , sed ubi ipsa tulit mens ? nam dubio procul his rebus sua cuique voluntas principium dat et hinc motus per membra rigantur . nonne vides etiam patefactis tempore puncto carceribus non posse tamen prorumpere equorum vim cupidam tam de subito quam mens avet ipsa ? omnis enim totum per corpus materiai copia conciri debet , concita per artus omnis ut studium mentis conixa sequatur ; ut videas initum motus a corde creari ex animique voluntate id procedere primum , inde dari porro per totum corpus et artus . nec similest ut cum inpulsi procedimus ictu viribus alterius magnis magnoque coactu ; nam tum materiem totius corporis omnem perspicuumst nobis invitis ire rapique , donec eam refrenavit per membra voluntas . iamne vides igitur , quamquam vis extera multos pellat et invitos cogat procedere saepe praecipitesque rapi , tamen esse in pectore nostro quiddam quod contra pugnare obstareque possit ? cuius ad arbitrium quoque copia materiai cogitur inter dum flecti per membra per artus et proiecta refrenatur retroque residit . quare in seminibus quoque idem fateare necessest , esse aliam praeter plagas et pondera causam motibus , unde haec est nobis innata potestas , de nihilo quoniam fieri nihil posse videmus . pondus enim prohibet ne plagis omnia fiant externa quasi vi ; sed ne res ipsa necessum intestinum habeat cunctis in rebus agendis et devicta quasi cogatur ferre patique , id facit exiguum clinamen principiorum nec regione loci certa nec tempore certo .	In these affairs We wish thee also well aware of this: The atoms, as their own weight bears them down Plumb through the void, at scarce determined times, In scarce determined places, from their course Decline a little- call it, so to speak, Mere changed trend. For were it not their wont Thuswise to swerve, down would they fall, each one, Like drops of rain, through the unbottomed void; And then collisions ne'er could be nor blows Among the primal elements; and thus Nature would never have created aught. But, if perchance be any that believe The heavier bodies, as more swiftly borne Plumb down the void, are able from above To strike the lighter, thus engendering blows Able to cause those procreant motions, far From highways of true reason they retire. For whatsoever through the waters fall, Or through thin air, must quicken their descent, Each after its weight- on this account, because Both bulk of water and the subtle air By no means can retard each thing alike, But give more quick before the heavier weight; But contrariwise the empty void cannot, On any side, at any time, to aught Oppose resistance, but will ever yield, True to its bent of nature. Wherefore all, With equal speed, though equal not in weight, Must rush, borne downward through the still inane. Thus ne'er at all have heavier from above Been swift to strike the lighter, gendering strokes Which cause those divers motions, by whose means Nature transacts her work. And so I say, The atoms must a little swerve at times- But only the least, lest we should seem to feign Motions oblique, and fact refute us there. For this we see forthwith is manifest: Whatever the weight, it can't obliquely go, Down on its headlong journey from above, At least so far as thou canst mark; but who Is there can mark by sense that naught can swerve At all aside from off its road's straight line? Again, if ev'r all motions are co-linked, And from the old ever arise the new In fixed order, and primordial seeds Produce not by their swerving some new start Of motion to sunder the covenants of fate, That cause succeed not cause from everlasting, Whence this free will for creatures o'er the lands, Whence is it wrested from the fates,- this will Whereby we step right forward where desire Leads each man on, whereby the same we swerve In motions, not as at some fixed time, Nor at some fixed line of space, but where The mind itself has urged? For out of doubt In these affairs 'tis each man's will itself That gives the start, and hence throughout our limbs Incipient motions are diffused. Again, Dost thou not see, when, at a point of time, The bars are opened, how the eager strength Of horses cannot forward break as soon As pants their mind to do? For it behooves That all the stock of matter, through the frame, Be roused, in order that, through every joint, Aroused, it press and follow mind's desire; So thus thou seest initial motion's gendered From out the heart, aye, verily, proceeds First from the spirit's will, whence at the last 'Tis given forth through joints and body entire. Quite otherwise it is, when forth we move, Impelled by a blow of another's mighty powers And mighty urge; for then 'tis clear enough All matter of our total body goes, Hurried along, against our own desire- Until the will has pulled upon the reins And checked it back, throughout our members all; At whose arbitrament indeed sometimes The stock of matter's forced to change its path, Throughout our members and throughout our joints, And, after being forward cast, to be Reined up, whereat it settles back again. So seest thou not, how, though external force Drive men before, and often make them move, Onward against desire, and headlong snatched, Yet is there something in these breasts of ours Strong to combat, strong to withstand the same?- Wherefore no less within the primal seeds Thou must admit, besides all blows and weight, Some other cause of motion, whence derives This power in us inborn, of some free act.- Since naught from nothing can become, we see. For weight prevents all things should come to pass Through blows, as 'twere, by some external force; But that man's mind itself in all it does Hath not a fixed necessity within, Nor is not, like a conquered thing, compelled To bear and suffer,- this state comes to man From that slight swervement of the elements In no fixed line of space, in no fixed time.
34	Nec stipata magis fuit umquam materiai copia nec porro maioribus intervallis ; nam neque adaugescit quicquam neque deperit inde . qua propter quo nunc in motu principiorum corpora sunt , in eodem ante acta aetate fuere et post haec semper simili ratione ferentur , et quae consuerint gigni gignentur eadem condicione et erunt et crescent vique valebunt , quantum cuique datum est per foedera naturai . nec rerum summam commutare ulla potest vis ; nam neque quo possit genus ullum materiai effugere ex omni quicquam est extra , neque in omne unde coorta queat nova vis inrumpere et omnem naturam rerum mutare et vertere motus .	Nor ever was the stock of stuff more crammed, Nor ever, again, sundered by bigger gaps: For naught gives increase and naught takes away; On which account, just as they move to-day, The elemental bodies moved of old And shall the same hereafter evermore. And what was wont to be begot of old Shall be begotten under selfsame terms And grow and thrive in power, so far as given To each by Nature's changeless, old decrees. The sum of things there is no power can change, For naught exists outside, to which can flee Out of the world matter of any kind, Nor forth from which a fresh supply can spring, Break in upon the founded world, and change Whole nature of things, and turn their motions about.
35	Illud in his rebus non est mirabile , quare , omnia cum rerum primordia sint in motu , summa tamen summa videatur stare quiete , praeter quam siquid proprio dat corpore motus . omnis enim longe nostris ab sensibus infra primorum natura iacet ; qua propter , ubi ipsa cernere iam nequeas , motus quoque surpere debent ; praesertim cum , quae possimus cernere , celent saepe tamen motus spatio diducta locorum . nam saepe in colli tondentes pabula laeta lanigerae reptant pecudes , quo quamque vocantes invitant herbae gemmantes rore recenti , et satiati agni ludunt blandeque coruscant ; omnia quae nobis longe confusa videntur et velut in viridi candor consistere colli . praeterea magnae legiones cum loca cursu camporum complent belli simulacra cientes , fulgor ubi ad caelum se tollit totaque circum aere renidescit tellus supterque virum vi excitur pedibus sonitus clamoreque montes icti reiectant voces ad sidera mundi et circum volitant equites mediosque repente tramittunt valido quatientes impete campos ; et tamen est quidam locus altis montibus , unde stare videntur et in campis consistere fulgor .	Herein wonder not How 'tis that, while the seeds of things are all Moving forever, the sum yet seems to stand Supremely still, except in cases where A thing shows motion of its frame as whole. For far beneath the ken of senses lies The nature of those ultimates of the world; And so, since those themselves thou canst not see, Their motion also must they veil from men- For mark, indeed, how things we can see, oft Yet hide their motions, when afar from us Along the distant landscape. Often thus, Upon a hillside will the woolly flocks Be cropping their goodly food and creeping about Whither the summons of the grass, begemmed With the fresh dew, is calling, and the lambs, Well filled, are frisking, locking horns in sport: Yet all for us seem blurred and blent afar- A glint of white at rest on a green hill. Again, when mighty legions, marching round, Fill all the quarters of the plains below, Rousing a mimic warfare, there the sheen Shoots up the sky, and all the fields about Glitter with brass, and from beneath, a sound Goes forth from feet of stalwart soldiery, And mountain walls, smote by the shouting, send The voices onward to the stars of heaven, And hither and thither darts the cavalry, And of a sudden down the midmost fields Charges with onset stout enough to rock The solid earth: and yet some post there is Up the high mountains, viewed from which they seem To stand- a gleam at rest along the plains.
36	Nunc age , iam deinceps cunctarum exordia rerum qualia sint et quam longe distantia formis , percipe , multigenis quam sint variata figuris ; non quo multa parum simili sint praedita forma , sed quia non volgo paria omnibus omnia constant . nec mirum ; nam cum sit eorum copia tanta , ut neque finis , uti docui , neque summa sit ulla , debent ni mirum non omnibus omnia prorsum esse pari filo similique adfecta figura . Praeterea genus humanum mutaeque natantes squamigerum pecudes et laeta armenta feraeque et variae volucres , laetantia quae loca aquarum concelebrant circum ripas fontisque lacusque , et quae pervolgant nemora avia pervolitantes , quorum unum quidvis generatim sumere perge ; invenies tamen inter se differre figuris . nec ratione alia proles cognoscere matrem nec mater posset prolem ; quod posse videmus nec minus atque homines inter se nota cluere . nam saepe ante deum vitulus delubra decora turicremas propter mactatus concidit aras sanguinis expirans calidum de pectore flumen ; at mater viridis saltus orbata peragrans novit humi pedibus vestigia pressa bisulcis , omnia convisens oculis loca , si queat usquam conspicere amissum fetum , completque querellis frondiferum nemus adsistens et crebra revisit ad stabulum desiderio perfixa iuvenci , nec tenerae salices atque herbae rore vigentes fluminaque ulla queunt summis labentia ripis oblectare animum subitamque avertere curam , nec vitulorum aliae species per pabula laeta derivare queunt animum curaque levare ; usque adeo quiddam proprium notumque requirit . praeterea teneri tremulis cum vocibus haedi cornigeras norunt matres agnique petulci balantum pecudes ; ita , quod natura resposcit , ad sua quisque fere decurrunt ubera lactis . Postremo quodvis frumentum non tamen omne quidque suo genere inter se simile esse videbis , quin intercurrat quaedam distantia formis . concharumque genus parili ratione videmus pingere telluris gremium , qua mollibus undis litoris incurvi bibulam pavit aequor harenam . quare etiam atque etiam simili ratione necessest , natura quoniam constant neque facta manu sunt unius ad certam formam primordia rerum , dissimili inter se quaedam volitare figura .	ATOMIC FORMS AND THEIR COMBINATIONS Now come, and next hereafter apprehend What sorts, how vastly different in form, How varied in multitudinous shapes they are- These old beginnings of the universe; Not in the sense that only few are furnished With one like form, but rather not at all In general have they likeness each with each, No marvel: since the stock of them's so great That there's no end (as I have taught) nor sum, They must indeed not one and all be marked By equal outline and by shape the same. . . . . . . Moreover, humankind, and the mute flocks Of scaly creatures swimming in the streams, And joyous herds around, and all the wild, And all the breeds of birds- both those that teem In gladsome regions of the water-haunts, About the river-banks and springs and pools, And those that throng, flitting from tree to tree, Through trackless woods- Go, take which one thou wilt, In any kind: thou wilt discover still Each from the other still unlike in shape. Nor in no other wise could offspring know Mother, nor mother offspring- which we see They yet can do, distinguished one from other, No less than human beings, by clear signs. Thus oft before fair temples of the gods, Beside the incense-burning altars slain, Drops down the yearling calf, from out its breast Breathing warm streams of blood; the orphaned mother, Ranging meanwhile green woodland pastures round, Knows well the footprints, pressed by cloven hoofs, With eyes regarding every spot about, For sight somewhere of youngling gone from her; And, stopping short, filleth the leafy lanes With her complaints; and oft she seeks again Within the stall, pierced by her yearning still. Nor tender willows, nor dew-quickened grass, Nor the loved streams that glide along low banks, Can lure her mind and turn the sudden pain; Nor other shapes of calves that graze thereby Distract her mind or lighten pain the least- So keen her search for something known and hers. Moreover, tender kids with bleating throats Do know their horned dams, and butting lambs The flocks of sheep, and thus they patter on, Unfailingly each to its proper teat, As nature intends. Lastly, with any grain, Thou'lt see that no one kernel in one kind Is so far like another, that there still Is not in shapes some difference running through. By a like law we see how earth is pied With shells and conchs, where, with soft waves, the sea Beats on the thirsty sands of curving shores. Wherefore again, again, since seeds of things Exist by nature, nor were wrought with hands After a fixed pattern of one other, They needs must flitter to and fro with shapes In types dissimilar to one another.
37	Perfacile est animi ratione exsolvere nobis quare fulmineus multo penetralior ignis quam noster fluat e taedis terrestribus ortus ; dicere enim possis caelestem fulminis ignem subtilem magis e parvis constare figuris atque ideo transire foramina quae nequit ignis noster hic e lignis ortus taedaque creatus . praeterea lumen per cornum transit , at imber respuitur . quare , nisi luminis illa minora corpora sunt quam de quibus est liquor almus aquarum ? et quamvis subito per colum vina videmus perfluere , at contra tardum cunctatur olivom , aut quia ni mirum maioribus est elementis aut magis hamatis inter se perque plicatis , atque ideo fit uti non tam diducta repente inter se possint primordia singula quaeque singula per cuiusque foramina permanare .	. . . . . . Easy enough by thought of mind to solve Why fires of lightning more can penetrate Than these of ours from pitch-pine born on earth. For thou canst say lightning's celestial fire, So subtle, is formed of figures finer far, And passes thus through holes which this our fire, Born from the wood, created from the pine, Cannot. Again, light passes through the horn On the lantern's side, while rain is dashed away. And why?- unless those bodies of light should be Finer than those of water's genial showers. We see how quickly through a colander The wines will flow; how, on the other hand, The sluggish olive-oil delays: no doubt, Because 'tis wrought of elements more large, Or else more crook'd and intertangled. Thus It comes that the primordials cannot be So suddenly sundered one from other, and seep, One through each several hole of anything.
38	Huc accedit uti mellis lactisque liquores iucundo sensu linguae tractentur in ore ; at contra taetra absinthi natura ferique centauri foedo pertorquent ora sapore ; ut facile agnoscas e levibus atque rutundis esse ea quae sensus iucunde tangere possunt , at contra quae amara atque aspera cumque videntur , haec magis hamatis inter se nexa teneri proptereaque solere vias rescindere nostris sensibus introituque suo perrumpere corpus . omnia postremo bona sensibus et mala tactu dissimili inter se pugnant perfecta figura ; ne tu forte putes serrae stridentis acerbum horrorem constare elementis levibus aeque ac musaea mele , per chordas organici quae mobilibus digitis expergefacta figurant ; neu simili penetrare putes primordia forma in nares hominum , cum taetra cadavera torrent , et cum scena croco Cilici perfusa recens est araque Panchaeos exhalat propter odores ; neve bonos rerum simili constare colores semine constituas , oculos qui pascere possunt , et qui conpungunt aciem lacrimareque cogunt aut foeda specie foedi turpesque videntur . omnis enim , sensus quae mulcet cumque , tibi res haut sine principiali aliquo levore creatast ; at contra quae cumque molesta atque aspera constat , non aliquo sine materiae squalore repertast . Sunt etiam quae iam nec levia iure putantur esse neque omnino flexis mucronibus unca , sed magis angellis paulum prostantibus , ut quae titillare magis sensus quam laedere possint , fecula iam quo de genere est inulaeque sapores . Denique iam calidos ignis gelidamque pruinam dissimili dentata modo conpungere sensus corporis , indicio nobis est tactus uterque . tactus enim , tactus , pro divum numina sancta , corporis est sensus , vel cum res extera sese insinuat , vel cum laedit quae in corpore natast aut iuvat egrediens genitalis per Veneris res , aut ex offensu cum turbant corpore in ipso , semina confundunt inter se concita sensum ; ut si forte manu quamvis iam corporis ipse tute tibi partem ferias atque experiare . qua propter longe formas distare necessest principiis , varios quae possint edere sensus . Denique quae nobis durata ac spissa videntur , haec magis hamatis inter sese esse necessest et quasi ramosis alte compacta teneri . in quo iam genere in primis adamantina saxa prima acie constant ictus contemnere sueta et validi silices ac duri robora ferri aeraque quae claustris restantia vociferantur . illa quidem debent e levibus atque rutundis esse magis , fluvido quae corpore liquida constant . namque papaveris haustus itemst facilis quod aquarum ; nec retinentur enim inter se glomeramina quaeque et perculsus item proclive volubilis exstat . omnia postremo quae puncto tempore cernis diffugere ut fumum nebulas flammasque , necessest , si minus omnia sunt e levibus atque rotundis , at non esse tamen perplexis indupedita , pungere uti possint corpus penetrareque saxa , nec tamen haerere inter se ; quod cumque videmus sensibus dentatum , facile ut cognoscere possis non e perplexis , sed acutis esse elementis . sed quod amara vides eadem quae fluvida constant , sudor uti maris est , minime mirabile debet * * * nam quod fluvidus est , e levibus atque rotundis est , sed levibus sunt hamata admixta doloris corpora . nec tamen haec retineri hamata necessust : scilicet esse globosa tamen , cum squalida constent , provolvi simul ut possint et laedere sensus . et quo mixta putes magis aspera levibus esse principiis , unde est Neptuni corpus acerbum , est ratio secernendi seorsumque videndi , umor dulcis ubi per terras crebrius idem percolatur , ut in foveam fluat ac mansuescat ; linquit enim supera taetri primordia viri , aspera quo magis in terris haerescere possint .	And note, besides, that liquor of honey or milk Yields in the mouth agreeable taste to tongue, Whilst nauseous wormwood, pungent centaury, With their foul flavour set the lips awry; Thus simple 'tis to see that whatsoever Can touch the senses pleasingly are made Of smooth and rounded elements, whilst those Which seem the bitter and the sharp, are held Entwined by elements more crook'd, and so Are wont to tear their ways into our senses, And rend our body as they enter in. In short all good to sense, all bad to touch, Being up-built of figures so unlike, Are mutually at strife- lest thou suppose That the shrill rasping of a squeaking saw Consists of elements as smooth as song Which, waked by nimble fingers, on the strings The sweet musicians fashion; or suppose That same-shaped atoms through men's nostrils pierce When foul cadavers burn, as when the stage Is with Cilician saffron sprinkled fresh, And the altar near exhales Panchaean scent; Or hold as of like seed the goodly hues Of things which feast our eyes, as those which sting Against the smarting pupil and draw tears, Or show, with gruesome aspect, grim and vile. For never a shape which charms our sense was made Without some elemental smoothness; whilst Whate'er is harsh and irksome has been framed Still with some roughness in its elements. Some, too, there are which justly are supposed To be nor smooth nor altogether hooked, With bended barbs, but slightly angled-out, To tickle rather than to wound the sense- And of which sort is the salt tartar of wine And flavours of the gummed elecampane. Again, that glowing fire and icy rime Are fanged with teeth unlike whereby to sting Our body's sense, the touch of each gives proof. For touch- by sacred majesties of Gods!- Touch is indeed the body's only sense- Be't that something in-from-outward works, Be't that something in the body born Wounds, or delighteth as it passes out Along the procreant paths of Aphrodite; Or be't the seeds by some collision whirl Disordered in the body and confound By tumult and confusion all the sense- As thou mayst find, if haply with the hand Thyself thou strike thy body's any part. On which account, the elemental forms Must differ widely, as enabled thus To cause diverse sensations. And, again, What seems to us the hardened and condensed Must be of atoms among themselves more hooked, Be held compacted deep within, as 'twere By branch-like atoms- of which sort the chief Are diamond stones, despisers of all blows, And stalwart flint and strength of solid iron, And brazen bars, which, budging hard in locks, Do grate and scream. But what are liquid, formed Of fluid body, they indeed must be Of elements more smooth and round- because Their globules severally will not cohere: To suck the poppy-seeds from palm of hand Is quite as easy as drinking water down, And they, once struck, roll like unto the same. But that thou seest among the things that flow Some bitter, as the brine of ocean is, Is not the least a marvel... For since 'tis fluid, smooth its atoms are And round, with painful rough ones mixed therein; Yet need not these be held together hooked: In fact, though rough, they're globular besides, Able at once to roll, and rasp the sense. And that the more thou mayst believe me here, That with smooth elements are mixed the rough (Whence Neptune's salt astringent body comes), There is a means to separate the twain, And thereupon dividedly to see How the sweet water, after filtering through So often underground, flows freshened forth Into some hollow; for it leaves above The primal germs of nauseating brine, Since cling the rough more readily in earth. Lastly, whatso thou markest to disperse Upon the instant- smoke, and cloud, and flame- Must not (even though not all of smooth and round) Be yet co-linked with atoms intertwined, That thus they can, without together cleaving, So pierce our body and so bore the rocks. Whatever we see... Given to senses, that thou must perceive They're not from linked but pointed elements.
39	Quod quoniam docui , pergam conectere rem quae ex hoc apta fidem ducat , primordia rerum finita variare figurarum ratione . quod si non ita sit , rursum iam semina quaedam esse infinito debebunt corporis auctu . namque in eadem una cuiusvis iam brevitate corporis inter se multum variare figurae non possunt . fac enim minimis e partibus esse corpora prima tribus , vel paulo pluribus auge ; nempe ubi eas partis unius corporis omnis , summa atque ima locans , transmutans dextera laevis , omnimodis expertus eris , quam quisque det ordo formai speciem totius corporis eius , quod super est , si forte voles variare figuras , addendum partis alias erit . inde sequetur , adsimili ratione alias ut postulet ordo , si tu forte voles etiam variare figuras . ergo formarum novitatem corporis augmen subsequitur . quare non est ut credere possis esse infinitis distantia semina formis , ne quaedam cogas inmani maximitate esse , supra quod iam docui non posse probari . iam tibi barbaricae vestes Meliboeaque fulgens purpura Thessalico concharum tacta colore , aurea pavonum ridenti imbuta lepore saecla novo rerum superata colore iacerent et contemptus odor smyrnae mellisque sapores , et cycnea mele Phoebeaque daedala chordis carmina consimili ratione oppressa silerent ; namque aliis aliud praestantius exoreretur . cedere item retro possent in deteriores omnia sic partis , ut diximus in melioris ; namque aliis aliud retro quoque taetrius esset naribus auribus atque oculis orisque sapori . quae quoniam non sunt , sed rebus reddita certa finis utrimque tenet summam , fateare necessest materiem quoque finitis differe figuris . denique ab ignibus ad gelidas hiemum usque pruinas finitumst retroque pari ratione remensumst . omnis enim calor ac frigus mediique tepores interutrasque iacent explentes ordine summam . ergo finita distant ratione creata , ancipiti quoniam mucroni utrimque notantur , hinc flammis illinc rigidis infesta pruinis .	The which now having taught, I will go on To bind thereto a fact to this allied And drawing from this its proof: these primal germs Vary, yet only with finite tale of shapes. For were these shapes quite infinite, some seeds Would have a body of infinite increase. For in one seed, in one small frame of any, The shapes can't vary from one another much. Assume, we'll say, that of three minim parts Consist the primal bodies, or add a few: When, now, by placing all these parts of one At top and bottom, changing lefts and rights, Thou hast with every kind of shift found out What the aspect of shape of its whole body Each new arrangement gives, for what remains, If thou percase wouldst vary its old shapes, New parts must then be added; follows next, If thou percase wouldst vary still its shapes, That by like logic each arrangement still Requires its increment of other parts. Ergo, an augmentation of its frame Follows upon each novelty of forms. Wherefore, it cannot be thou'lt undertake That seeds have infinite differences in form, Lest thus thou forcest some indeed to be Of an immeasurable immensity- Which I have taught above cannot be proved. . . . . . . And now for thee barbaric robes, and gleam Of Meliboean purple, touched with dye Of the Thessalian shell... The peacock's golden generations, stained With spotted gaieties, would lie o'erthrown By some new colour of new things more bright; The odour of myrrh and savours of honey despised; The swan's old lyric, and Apollo's hymns, Once modulated on the many chords, Would likewise sink o'ermastered and be mute: For, lo, a somewhat, finer than the rest, Would be arising evermore. So, too, Into some baser part might all retire, Even as we said to better might they come: For, lo, a somewhat, loathlier than the rest To nostrils, ears, and eyes, and taste of tongue, Would then, by reasoning reversed, be there. Since 'tis not so, but unto things are given Their fixed limitations which do bound Their sum on either side, 'tmust be confessed That matter, too, by finite tale of shapes Does differ. Again, from earth's midsummer heats Unto the icy hoar-frosts of the year The forward path is fixed, and by like law O'ertravelled backwards at the dawn of spring. For each degree of hot, and each of cold, And the half-warm, all filling up the sum In due progression, lie, my Memmius, there Betwixt the two extremes: the things create Must differ, therefore, by a finite change, Since at each end marked off they ever are By fixed point- on one side plagued by flames And on the other by congealing frosts.
40	Quod quoniam docui , pergam conectere rem quae ex hoc apta fidem ducat , primordia rerum , inter se simili quae sunt perfecta figura , infinita cluere . etenim distantia cum sit formarum finita , necesse est quae similes sint esse infinitas aut summam materiai finitam constare , id quod non esse probavi . * * * versibus ostendam corpuscula materiai ex infinito summam rerum usque tenere undique protelo plagarum continuato . nam quod rara vides magis esse animalia quaedam fecundamque magis naturam cernis in illis , at regione locoque alio terrisque remotis multa licet genere esse in eo numerumque repleri ; sicut quadripedum cum primis esse videmus in genere anguimanus elephantos , India quorum milibus e multis vallo munitur eburno , ut penitus nequeat penetrari : tanta ferarum vis est , quarum nos perpauca exempla videmus . sed tamen id quoque uti concedam , quam lubet esto unica res quaedem nativo corpore sola , cui similis toto terrarum non sit , in orbi ; infinita tamen nisi erit vis materiai , unde ea progigni possit concepta , creari non poterit neque , quod super est , procrescere alique . quippe etenim sumant alii finita per omne corpora iactari unius genitalia rei , unde ubi qua vi et quo pacto congressa coibunt materiae tanto in pelago turbaque aliena ? non , ut opinor , habent rationem conciliandi : sed quasi naufragiis magnis multisque coortis disiactare solet magnum mare transtra cavernas antemnas prorem malos tonsasque natantis , per terrarum omnis oras fluitantia aplustra ut videantur et indicium mortalibus edant , infidi maris insidias virisque dolumque ut vitare velint , neve ullo tempore credant , subdola cum ridet placidi pellacia ponti , sic tibi si finita semel primordia quaedam constitues , aevom debebunt sparsa per omnem disiectare aestus diversi materiai , numquam in concilium ut possint compulsa coire nec remorari in concilio nec crescere adaucta ; quorum utrumque palam fieri manifesta docet res , et res progigni et genitas procrescere posse . esse igitur genere in quovis primordia rerum infinita palam est , unde omnia suppeditantur . Nec superare queunt motus itaque exitiales perpetuo neque in aeternum sepelire salutem , nec porro rerum genitales auctificique motus perpetuo possunt servare creata . sic aequo geritur certamine principiorum ex infinito contractum tempore bellum . nunc hic nunc illic superant vitalia rerum et superantur item . miscetur funere vagor , quem pueri tollunt visentis luminis oras ; nec nox ulla diem neque noctem aurora secutast , quae non audierit mixtos vagitibus aegris ploratus , mortis comites et funeris atri .	The which now having taught, I will go on To bind thereto a fact to this allied And drawing from this its proof: those primal germs Which have been fashioned all of one like shape Are infinite in tale; for, since the forms Themselves are finite in divergences, Then those which are alike will have to be Infinite, else the sum of stuff remains A finite- what I've proved is not the fact, Showing in verse how corpuscles of stuff, From everlasting and to-day the same, Uphold the sum of things, all sides around By old succession of unending blows. For though thou view'st some beasts to be more rare, And mark'st in them a less prolific stock, Yet in another region, in lands remote, That kind abounding may make up the count; Even as we mark among the four-foot kind Snake-handed elephants, whose thousands wall With ivory ramparts India about, That her interiors cannot entered be- So big her count of brutes of which we see Such few examples. Or suppose, besides, We feign some thing, one of its kind and sole With body born, to which is nothing like In all the lands: yet now unless shall be An infinite count of matter out of which Thus to conceive and bring it forth to life, It cannot be created and- what's more- It cannot take its food and get increase. Yea, if through all the world in finite tale Be tossed the procreant bodies of one thing, Whence, then, and where in what mode, by what power, Shall they to meeting come together there, In such vast ocean of matter and tumult strange?- No means they have of joining into one. But, just as, after mighty ship-wrecks piled, The mighty main is wont to scatter wide The rowers' banks, the ribs, the yards, the prow, The masts and swimming oars, so that afar Along all shores of lands are seen afloat The carven fragments of the rended poop, Giving a lesson to mortality To shun the ambush of the faithless main, The violence and the guile, and trust it not At any hour, however much may smile The crafty enticements of the placid deep: Exactly thus, if once thou holdest true That certain seeds are finite in their tale, The various tides of matter, then, must needs Scatter them flung throughout the ages all, So that not ever can they join, as driven Together into union, nor remain In union, nor with increment can grow- But facts in proof are manifest for each: Things can be both begotten and increase. 'Tis therefore manifest that primal germs, Are infinite in any class thou wilt- From whence is furnished matter for all things. Nor can those motions that bring death prevail Forever, nor eternally entomb The welfare of the world; nor, further, can Those motions that give birth to things and growth Keep them forever when created there. Thus the long war, from everlasting waged, With equal strife among the elements Goes on and on. Now here, now there, prevail The vital forces of the world- or fall. Mixed with the funeral is the wildered wail Of infants coming to the shores of light: No night a day, no dawn a night hath followed That heard not, mingling with the small birth-cries, The wild laments, companions old of death And the black rites.