De Rerum Natura (Lucretius)

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	De Rerum Natura Author: Lucretius	Translator: William Ellery Leonard
57	Nunc animum atque animam dico coniuncta teneri inter se atque unam naturam conficere ex se , sed caput esse quasi et dominari in corpore toto consilium , quod nos animum mentemque vocamus . idque situm media regione in pectoris haeret . hic exultat enim pavor ac metus , haec loca circum laetitiae mulcent : hic ergo mens animusquest . cetera pars animae per totum dissita corpus paret et ad numen mentis momenque movetur . idque sibi solum per se sapit et sibi gaudet , cum neque res animam neque corpus commovet una . et quasi , cum caput aut oculus temptante dolore laeditur in nobis , non omni concruciamur corpore , sic animus nonnumquam laeditur ipse laetitiaque viget , cum cetera pars animai per membra atque artus nulla novitate cietur ; verum ubi vementi magis est commota metu mens , consentire animam totam per membra videmus sudoresque ita palloremque existere toto corpore et infringi linguam vocemque aboriri , caligare oculos , sonere auris , succidere artus , denique concidere ex animi terrore videmus saepe homines ; facile ut quivis hinc noscere possit esse animam cum animo coniunctam , quae cum animi percussa est , exim corpus propellit et icit . Haec eadem ratio naturam animi atque animai corpoream docet esse ; ubi enim propellere membra , corripere ex somno corpus mutareque vultum atque hominem totum regere ac versare videtur , quorum nil fieri sine tactu posse videmus nec tactum porro sine corpore , nonne fatendumst corporea natura animum constare animamque ? praeterea pariter fungi cum corpore et una consentire animum nobis in corpore cernis . si minus offendit vitam vis horrida teli ossibus ac nervis disclusis intus adacta , at tamen insequitur languor terraeque petitus suavis et in terra mentis qui gignitur aestus inter dumque quasi exsurgendi incerta voluntas . ergo corpoream naturam animi esse necessest , corporeis quoniam telis ictuque laborat . Is tibi nunc animus quali sit corpore et unde constiterit pergam rationem reddere dictis . principio esse aio persuptilem atque minutis perquam corporibus factum constare . id ita esse hinc licet advertas animum , ut pernoscere possis .	Mind and soul, I say, are held conjoined one with other, And form one single nature of themselves; But chief and regnant through the frame entire Is still that counsel which we call the mind, And that cleaves seated in the midmost breast. Here leap dismay and terror; round these haunts Be blandishments of joys; and therefore here The intellect, the mind. The rest of soul, Throughout the body scattered, but obeys- Moved by the nod and motion of the mind. This, for itself, sole through itself, hath thought; This for itself hath mirth, even when the thing That moves it, moves nor soul nor body at all. And as, when head or eye in us is smit By assailing pain, we are not tortured then Through all the body, so the mind alone Is sometimes smitten, or livens with a joy, Whilst yet the soul's remainder through the limbs And through the frame is stirred by nothing new. But when the mind is moved by shock more fierce, We mark the whole soul suffering all at once Along man's members: sweats and pallors spread Over the body, and the tongue is broken, And fails the voice away, and ring the ears, Mists blind the eyeballs, and the joints collapse,- Aye, men drop dead from terror of the mind. Hence, whoso will can readily remark That soul conjoined is with mind, and, when 'Tis strook by influence of the mind, forthwith In turn it hits and drives the body too. And this same argument establisheth That nature of mind and soul corporeal is: For when 'tis seen to drive the members on, To snatch from sleep the body, and to change The countenance, and the whole state of man To rule and turn,- what yet could never be Sans contact, and sans body contact fails- Must we not grant that mind and soul consist Of a corporeal nature?- And besides Thou markst that likewise with this body of ours Suffers the mind and with our body feels. If the dire speed of spear that cleaves the bones And bares the inner thews hits not the life, Yet follows a fainting and a foul collapse, And, on the ground, dazed tumult in the mind, And whiles a wavering will to rise afoot. So nature of mind must be corporeal, since From stroke and spear corporeal 'tis in throes. Now, of what body, what components formed Is this same mind I will go on to tell. First, I aver, 'tis superfine, composed Of tiniest particles- that such the fact Thou canst perceive, if thou attend, from this:
58	Nil adeo fieri celeri ratione videtur , quam si mens fieri proponit et inchoat ipsa ; ocius ergo animus quam res se perciet ulla , ante oculos quorum in promptu natura videtur . at quod mobile tanto operest , constare rutundis perquam seminibus debet perquamque minutis , momine uti parvo possint inpulsa moveri . namque movetur aqua et tantillo momine flutat , quippe volubilibus parvisque creata figuris . at contra mellis constantior est natura et pigri latices magis et cunctantior actus : haeret enim inter se magis omnis materiai copia , ni mirum quia non tam levibus extat corporibus neque tam suptilibus atque rutundis . namque papaveris aura potest suspensa levisque cogere ut ab summo tibi diffluat altus acervus , at contra lapidum coniectum spicarumque noenu potest . igitur parvissima corpora pro quam et levissima sunt , ita mobilitate fruuntur ; at contra quae cumque magis cum pondere magno asperaque inveniuntur , eo stabilita magis sunt . nunc igitur quoniamst animi natura reperta mobilis egregie , perquam constare necessest corporibus parvis et levibus atque rutundis . quae tibi cognita res in multis , o bone , rebus utilis invenietur et opportuna cluebit . Haec quoque res etiam naturam dedicat eius , quam tenui constet textura quamque loco se contineat parvo , si possit conglomerari , quod simul atque hominem leti secura quies est indepta atque animi natura animaeque recessit , nil ibi libatum de toto corpore cernas ad speciem , nihil ad pondus : mors omnia praestat , vitalem praeter sensum calidumque vaporem . ergo animam totam perparvis esse necessest seminibus nexam per venas viscera nervos , qua tenus , omnis ubi e toto iam corpore cessit , extima membrorum circumcaesura tamen se incolumem praestat nec defit ponderis hilum . quod genus est , Bacchi cum flos evanuit aut cum spiritus unguenti suavis diffugit in auras aut aliquo cum iam sucus de corpore cessit ; nil oculis tamen esse minor res ipsa videtur propterea neque detractum de pondere quicquam , ni mirum quia multa minutaque semina sucos efficiunt et odorem in toto corpore rerum .	Nothing is seen to happen with such speed As what the mind proposes and begins; Therefore the same bestirs itself more swiftly Than aught whose nature's palpable to eyes. But what's so agile must of seeds consist Most round, most tiny, that they may be moved, When hit by impulse slight. So water moves, In waves along, at impulse just the least- Being create of little shapes that roll; But, contrariwise, the quality of honey More stable is, its liquids more inert, More tardy its flow; for all its stock of matter Cleaves more together, since, indeed, 'tis made Of atoms not so smooth, so fine, and round. For the light breeze that hovers yet can blow High heaps of poppy-seed away for thee Downward from off the top; but, contrariwise, A pile of stones or spiny ears of wheat It can't at all. Thus, in so far as bodies Are small and smooth, is their mobility; But, contrariwise, the heavier and more rough, The more immovable they prove. Now, then, Since nature of mind is movable so much, Consist it must of seeds exceeding small And smooth and round. Which fact once known to thee, Good friend, will serve thee opportune in else. This also shows the nature of the same, How nice its texture, in how small a space 'Twould go, if once compacted as a pellet: When death's unvexed repose gets hold on man And mind and soul retire, thou markest there From the whole body nothing ta'en in form, Nothing in weight. Death grants ye everything, But vital sense and exhalation hot. Thus soul entire must be of smallmost seeds, Twined through the veins, the vitals, and the thews, Seeing that, when 'tis from whole body gone, The outward figuration of the limbs Is unimpaired and weight fails not a whit. Just so, when vanished the bouquet of wine, Or when an unguent's perfume delicate Into the winds away departs, or when From any body savour's gone, yet still The thing itself seems minished naught to eyes, Thereby, nor aught abstracted from its weight- No marvel, because seeds many and minute Produce the savours and the redolence In the whole body of the things.
59	quare etiam atque etiam mentis naturam animaeque scire licet perquam pauxillis esse creatam seminibus , quoniam fugiens nil ponderis aufert . Nec tamen haec simplex nobis natura putanda est . tenvis enim quaedam moribundos deserit aura mixta vapore , vapor porro trahit aëra secum ; nec calor est quisquam , cui non sit mixtus et aër ; rara quod eius enim constat natura , necessest aëris inter eum primordia multa moveri . iam triplex animi est igitur natura reperta ; nec tamen haec sat sunt ad sensum cuncta creandum , nil horum quoniam recipit mens posse creare sensiferos motus , quae denique mente volutat . quarta quoque his igitur quaedam natura necessest adtribuatur ; east omnino nominis expers ; qua neque mobilius quicquam neque tenvius extat nec magis e parvis et levibus ex elementis ; sensiferos motus quae didit prima per artus . prima cietur enim , parvis perfecta figuris , inde calor motus et venti caeca potestas accipit , inde aër , inde omnia mobilitantur : concutitur sanguis , tum viscera persentiscunt omnia , postremis datur ossibus atque medullis sive voluptas est sive est contrarius ardor . nec temere huc dolor usque potest penetrare neque acre permanare malum , quin omnia perturbentur usque adeo vitae desit locus atque animai diffugiant partes per caulas corporis omnis . sed plerumque fit in summo quasi corpore finis motibus : hanc ob rem vitam retinere valemus . Nunc ea quo pacto inter sese mixta quibusque compta modis vigeant rationem reddere aventem abstrahit invitum patrii sermonis egestas ; sed tamen , ut potero summatim attingere , tangam .	And so, Again, again, nature of mind and soul 'Tis thine to know created is of seeds The tiniest ever, since at flying-forth It beareth nothing of the weight away. Yet fancy not its nature simple so. For an impalpable aura, mixed with heat, Deserts the dying, and heat draws off the air; And heat there's none, unless commixed with air: For, since the nature of all heat is rare, Athrough it many seeds of air must move. Thus nature of mind is triple; yet those all Suffice not for creating sense- since mind Accepteth not that aught of these can cause Sense-bearing motions, and much less the thoughts A man revolves in mind. So unto these Must added be a somewhat, and a fourth; That somewhat's altogether void of name; Than which existeth naught more mobile, naught More an impalpable, of elements More small and smooth and round. That first transmits Sense-bearing motions through the frame, for that Is roused the first, composed of little shapes; Thence heat and viewless force of wind take up The motions, and thence air, and thence all things Are put in motion; the blood is strook, and then The vitals all begin to feel, and last To bones and marrow the sensation comes- Pleasure or torment. Nor will pain for naught Enter so far, nor a sharp ill seep through, But all things be perturbed to that degree That room for life will fail, and parts of soul Will scatter through the body's every pore. Yet as a rule, almost upon the skin These motion aIl are stopped, and this is why We have the power to retain our life. Now in my eagerness to tell thee how They are commixed, through what unions fit They function so, my country's pauper-speech Constrains me sadly. As I can, however, I'll touch some points and pass.
60	inter enim cursant primordia principiorum motibus inter se , nihil ut secernier unum possit nec spatio fieri divisa potestas , sed quasi multae vis unius corporis extant . quod genus in quovis animantum viscere volgo est odor et quidam color et sapor , et tamen ex his omnibus est unum perfectum corporis augmen , sic calor atque aër et venti caeca potestas mixta creant unam naturam et mobilis illa vis , initum motus ab se quae dividit ollis , sensifer unde oritur primum per viscera motus . nam penitus prorsum latet haec natura subestque nec magis hac infra quicquam est in corpore nostro atque anima est animae proporro totius ipsa . quod genus in nostris membris et corpore toto mixta latens animi vis est animaeque potestas , corporibus quia de parvis paucisque creatast , sic tibi nominis haec expers vis , facta minutis corporibus , latet atque animae quasi totius ipsa proporrost anima et dominatur corpore toto . consimili ratione necessest ventus et aër et calor inter se vigeant commixta per artus atque aliis aliud subsit magis emineatque , ut quiddam fieri videatur ab omnibus unum , ni calor ac ventus seorsum seorsumque potestas aëris interemant sensum diductaque solvant .	In such a wise Course these primordials 'mongst one another With inter-motions that no one can be From other sundered, nor its agency Perform, if once divided by a space; Like many powers in one body they work. As in the flesh of any creature still Is odour and savour and a certain warmth, And yet from all of these one bulk of body Is made complete, so, viewless force of wind And warmth and air, commingled, do create One nature, by that mobile energy Assisted which from out itself to them Imparts initial motion, whereby first Sense-bearing motion along the vitals springs. For lurks this essence far and deep and under, Nor in our body is aught more shut from view, And 'tis the very soul of all the soul. And as within our members and whole frame The energy of mind and power of soul Is mixed and latent, since create it is Of bodies small and few, so lurks this fourth, This essence void of name, composed of small, And seems the very soul of all the soul, And holds dominion o'er the body all. And by like reason wind and air and heat Must function so, commingled through the frame, And now the one subside and now another In interchange of dominance, that thus From all of them one nature be produced, Lest heat and wind apart, and air apart, Make sense to perish, by disseverment.
61	est etiam calor ille animo , quem sumit , in ira cum fervescit et ex oculis micat acrius ardor ; est et frigida multa , comes formidinis , aura , quae ciet horrorem membris et concitat artus ; est etiam quoque pacati status aëris ille , pectore tranquillo fit qui voltuque sereno . sed calidi plus est illis quibus acria corda iracundaque mens facile effervescit in ira , quo genere in primis vis est violenta leonum , pectora qui fremitu rumpunt plerumque gementes nec capere irarum fluctus in pectore possunt . at ventosa magis cervorum frigida mens est et gelidas citius per viscera concitat auras , quae tremulum faciunt membris existere motum . at natura boum placido magis aëre vivit nec nimis irai fax umquam subdita percit fumida , suffundens caecae caliginis umbra , nec gelidis torpet telis perfixa pavoris ; interutrasque sitast cervos saevosque leones . sic hominum genus est : quamvis doctrina politos constituat pariter quosdam , tamen illa relinquit naturae cuiusque animi vestigia prima . nec radicitus evelli mala posse putandumst , quin proclivius hic iras decurrat ad acris , ille metu citius paulo temptetur , at ille tertius accipiat quaedam clementius aequo . inque aliis rebus multis differre necessest naturas hominum varias moresque sequacis ; quorum ego nunc nequeo caecas exponere causas nec reperire figurarum tot nomina quot sunt principiis , unde haec oritur variantia rerum . illud in his rebus video firmare potesse , usque adeo naturarum vestigia linqui parvola , quae nequeat ratio depellere nobis , ut nihil inpediat dignam dis degere vitam . Haec igitur natura tenetur corpore ab omni ipsaque corporis est custos et causa salutis ; nam communibus inter se radicibus haerent nec sine pernicie divelli posse videntur . quod genus e thuris glaebis evellere odorem haud facile est , quin intereat natura quoque eius , sic animi atque animae naturam corpore toto extrahere haut facile est , quin omnia dissoluantur . inplexis ita principiis ab origine prima inter se fiunt consorti praedita vita , nec sibi quaeque sine alterius vi posse videtur corporis atque animi seorsum sentire potestas , sed communibus inter eas conflatur utrimque motibus accensus nobis per viscera sensus . Praeterea corpus per se nec gignitur umquam nec crescit neque post mortem durare videtur . non enim , ut umor aquae dimittit saepe vaporem , qui datus est , neque ea causa convellitur ipse , sed manet incolumis , non , inquam , sic animai discidium possunt artus perferre relicti , sed penitus pereunt convulsi conque putrescunt . ex ineunte aevo sic corporis atque animai mutua vitalis discunt contagia motus , maternis etiam membris alvoque reposta , discidium nequeat fieri sine peste maloque ; ut videas , quoniam coniunctast causa salutis , coniunctam quoque naturam consistere eorum .	There is indeed in mind that heat it gets When seething in rage, and flashes from the eyes More swiftly fire; there is, again, that wind, Much, and so cold, companion of all dread, Which rouses the shudder in the shaken frame; There is no less that state of air composed, Making the tranquil breast, the serene face. But more of hot have they whose restive hearts, Whose minds of passion quickly seethe in rage- Of which kind chief are fierce abounding lions, Who often with roaring burst the breast o'erwrought, Unable to hold the surging wrath within; But the cold mind of stags has more of wind, And speedier through their inwards rouses up The icy currents which make their members quake. But more the oxen live by tranquil air, Nor e'er doth smoky torch of wrath applied, O'erspreading with shadows of a darkling murk, Rouse them too far; nor will they stiffen stark, Pierced through by icy javelins of fear; But have their place half-way between the two- Stags and fierce lions. Thus the race of men: Though training make them equally refined, It leaves those pristine vestiges behind Of each mind's nature. Nor may we suppose Evil can e'er be rooted up so far That one man's not more given to fits of wrath, Another's not more quickly touched by fear, A third not more long-suffering than he should. And needs must differ in many things besides The varied natures and resulting habits Of humankind- of which not now can I Expound the hidden causes, nor find names Enough for all the divers shapes of those Primordials whence this variation springs. But this meseems I'm able to declare: Those vestiges of natures left behind Which reason cannot quite expel from us Are still so slight that naught prevents a man From living a life even worthy of the gods. So then this soul is kept by all the body, Itself the body's guard, and source of weal: For they with common roots cleave each to each, Nor can be torn asunder without death. Not easy 'tis from lumps of frankincense To tear their fragrance forth, without its nature Perishing likewise: so, not easy 'tis From all the body nature of mind and soul To draw away, without the whole dissolved. With seeds so intertwined even from birth, They're dowered conjointly with a partner-life; No energy of body or mind, apart, Each of itself without the other's power, Can have sensation; but our sense, enkindled Along the vitals, to flame is blown by both With mutual motions. Besides the body alone Is nor begot nor grows, nor after death Seen to endure. For not as water at times Gives off the alien heat, nor is thereby Itself destroyed, but unimpaired remains- Not thus, I say, can the deserted frame Bear the dissevering of its joined soul, But, rent and ruined, moulders all away. Thus the joint contact of the body and soul Learns from their earliest age the vital motions, Even when still buried in the mother's womb; So no dissevering can hap to them, Without their bane and ill. And thence mayst see That, as conjoined is their source of weal, Conjoined also must their nature be.
62	Quod super est , siquis corpus sentire refutat atque animam credit permixtam corpore toto suscipere hunc motum quem sensum nominitamus , vel manifestas res contra verasque repugnat . quid sit enim corpus sentire quis adferet umquam , si non ipsa palam quod res dedit ac docuit nos ? ' at dimissa anima corpus caret undique sensu . ' perdit enim quod non proprium fuit eius in aevo multaque praeterea perdit quom expellitur aevo . Dicere porro oculos nullam rem cernere posse , sed per eos animum ut foribus spectare reclusis , difficilest , contra cum sensus ducat eorum ; sensus enim trahit atque acies detrudit ad ipsas , fulgida praesertim cum cernere saepe nequimus , lumina luminibus quia nobis praepediuntur . quod foribus non fit ; neque enim , qua cernimus ipsi , ostia suscipiunt ullum reclusa laborem . praeterea si pro foribus sunt lumina nostra , iam magis exemptis oculis debere videtur cernere res animus sublatis postibus ipsis . Illud in his rebus nequaquam sumere possis , Democriti quod sancta viri sententia ponit , corporis atque animi primordia singula primis adposita alternis , variare ac nectere membra . nam cum multo sunt animae elementa minora quam quibus e corpus nobis et viscera constant , tum numero quoque concedunt et rara per artus dissita sunt , dum taxat ut hoc promittere possis , quantula prima queant nobis iniecta ciere corpora sensiferos motus in corpore , tanta intervalla tenere exordia prima animai .	If one, moreover, denies that body feel, And holds that soul, through all the body mixed, Takes on this motion which we title "sense," He battles in vain indubitable facts: For who'll explain what body's feeling is, Except by what the public fact itself Has given and taught us? "But when soul is parted, Body's without all sense." True!- loses what Was even in its life-time not its own; And much beside it loses, when soul's driven Forth from that life-time. Or, to say that eyes Themselves can see no thing, but through the same The mind looks forth, as out of opened doors, Is- a hard saying; since the feel in eyes Says the reverse. For this itself draws on And forces into the pupils of our eyes Our consciousness. And note the case when often We lack the power to see refulgent things, Because our eyes are hampered by their light- With a mere doorway this would happen not; For, since it is our very selves that see, No open portals undertake the toil. Besides, if eyes of ours but act as doors, Methinks that, were our sight removed, the mind Ought then still better to behold a thing- When even the door-posts have been cleared away. Herein in these affairs nowise take up What honoured sage, Democritus, lays down- That proposition, that primordials Of body and mind, each super-posed on each, Vary alternately and interweave The fabric of our members. For not only Are the soul-elements smaller far than those Which this our body and inward parts compose, But also are they in their number less, And scattered sparsely through our frame. And thus This canst thou guarantee: soul's primal germs Maintain between them intervals as large At least as are the smallest bodies, which, When thrown against us, in our body rouse Sense-bearing motions.
63	nam neque pulveris inter dum sentimus adhaesum corpore nec membris incussam sidere cretam , nec nebulam noctu neque arani tenvia fila obvia sentimus , quando obretimur euntes , nec supera caput eiusdem cecidisse vietam vestem nec plumas avium papposque volantis , qui nimia levitate cadunt plerumque gravatim , nec repentis itum cuiusvis cumque animantis sentimus nec priva pedum vestigia quaeque , corpore quae in nostro culices et cetera ponunt . usque adeo prius est in nobis multa ciendum quam primordia sentiscant concussa animai , semina corporibus nostris inmixta per artus , et quam in his intervallis tuditantia possint concursare coire et dissultare vicissim . Et magis est animus vitai claustra coërcens et dominantior ad vitam quam vis animai . nam sine mente animoque nequit residere per artus temporis exiguam partem pars ulla animai , sed comes insequitur facile et discedit in auras et gelidos artus in leti frigore linquit . at manet in vita cui mens animusque remansit , quamvis est circum caesis lacer undique membris ; truncus adempta anima circum membrisque remota vivit et aetherias vitalis suscipit auras ; si non omnimodis , at magna parte animai privatus , tamen in vita cunctatur et haeret ; ut , lacerato oculo circum si pupula mansit incolumis , stat cernundi vivata potestas , dum modo ne totum corrumpas luminis orbem et circum caedas aciem solamque relinquas ; id quoque enim sine pernicie non fiet eorum . at si tantula pars oculi media illa peresa est , occidit extemplo lumen tenebraeque secuntur , incolumis quamvis alioqui splendidus orbis . hoc anima atque animus vincti sunt foedere semper .	Hence it comes that we Sometimes don't feel alighting on our frames The clinging dust, or chalk that settles soft; Nor mists of night, nor spider's gossamer We feel against us, when, upon our road, Its net entangles us, nor on our head The dropping of its withered garmentings; Nor bird-feathers, nor vegetable down, Flying about, so light they barely fall; Nor feel the steps of every crawling thing, Nor each of all those footprints on our skin Of midges and the like. To that degree Must many primal germs be stirred in us Ere once the seeds of soul that through our frame Are intermingled 'gin to feel that those Primordials of the body have been strook, And ere, in pounding with such gaps between, They clash, combine and leap apart in turn. But mind is more the keeper of the gates, Hath more dominion over life than soul. For without intellect and mind there's not One part of soul can rest within our frame Least part of time; companioning, it goes With mind into the winds away, and leaves The icy members in the cold of death. But he whose mind and intellect abide Himself abides in life. However much The trunk be mangled, with the limbs lopped off, The soul withdrawn and taken from the limbs, Still lives the trunk and draws the vital air. Even when deprived of all but all the soul, Yet will it linger on and cleave to life,- Just as the power of vision still is strong, If but the pupil shall abide unharmed, Even when the eye around it's sorely rent- Provided only thou destroyest not Wholly the ball, but, cutting round the pupil, Leavest that pupil by itself behind- For more would ruin sight. But if that centre, That tiny part of eye, be eaten through, Forthwith the vision fails and darkness comes, Though in all else the unblemished ball be clear. 'Tis by like compact that the soul and mind Are each to other bound forevermore.
64	Nunc age , nativos animantibus et mortalis esse animos animasque levis ut noscere possis , conquisita diu dulcique reperta labore digna tua pergam disponere carmina vita . tu fac utrumque uno subiungas nomine eorum atque animam verbi causa cum dicere pergam , mortalem esse docens , animum quoque dicere credas , qua tenus est unum inter se coniunctaque res est . Principio quoniam tenuem constare minutis corporibus docui multoque minoribus esse principiis factam quam liquidus umor aquai aut nebula aut fumus —; nam longe mobilitate praestat et a tenui causa magis icta movetur , quippe ubi imaginibus fumi nebulaeque movetur ; quod genus in somnis sopiti ubi cernimus alte exhalare vaporem altaria ferreque fumum ; nam procul haec dubio nobis simulacra gerunturæ nunc igitur quoniam quassatis undique vasis diffluere umorem et laticem discedere cernis , et nebula ac fumus quoniam discedit in auras , crede animam quoque diffundi multoque perire ocius et citius dissolvi in corpora prima , cum semel ex hominis membris ablata recessit ; quippe etenim corpus , quod vas quasi constitit eius , cum cohibere nequit conquassatum ex aliqua re ac rarefactum detracto sanguine venis , aëre qui credas posse hanc cohiberier ullo , corpore qui nostro rarus magis incohibens sit ?	THE SOUL IS MORTAL Now come: that thou mayst able be to know That minds and the light souls of all that live Have mortal birth and death, I will go on Verses to build meet for thy rule of life, Sought after long, discovered with sweet toil. But under one name I'd have thee yoke them both; And when, for instance, I shall speak of soul, Teaching the same to be but mortal, think Thereby I'm speaking also of the mind- Since both are one, a substance inter-joined. First, then, since I have taught how soul exists A subtle fabric, of particles minute, Made up from atoms smaller much than those Of water's liquid damp, or fog, or smoke, So in mobility it far excels, More prone to move, though strook by lighter cause Even moved by images of smoke or fog- As where we view, when in our sleeps we're lulled, The altars exhaling steam and smoke aloft- For, beyond doubt, these apparitions come To us from outward. Now, then, since thou seest, Their liquids depart, their waters flow away, When jars are shivered, and since fog and smoke Depart into the winds away, believe The soul no less is shed abroad and dies More quickly far, more quickly is dissolved Back to its primal bodies, when withdrawn From out man's members it has gone away. For, sure, if body (container of the same Like as a jar), when shivered from some cause, And rarefied by loss of blood from veins, Cannot for longer hold the soul, how then Thinkst thou it can be held by any air- A stuff much rarer than our bodies be?