Delphi Complete Works of Lucretius

by Titus Lucretius Carus

  First of all the force of the wind when aroused beats on the harbors and whelms huge ships and scatters clouds; sometimes in swift whirling eddy it scours the plains and straws them with large trees and scourges the mountain summits with forest-rending blasts: so fiercely does the wind rave with a shrill howling and rage with threatening roar.

  Winds therefore sure enough are unseen bodies which sweep the seas, the lands, ay and the clouds of heaven, tormenting them and catching them up in sudden whirls.

  On they stream and spread destruction abroad in just the same way as the soft liquid nature of water, when all at once it is borne along in an overflowing stream, and a great downfall of water from the high hills augments it with copious rains, flinging together fragments of forests and entire ,trees; nor can the strong bridges sustain the sudden force of coming water: in such wise turbid with much rain the river dashes upon the piers with mighty force: makes havoc with loud noise and rolls under its eddies huge stones:

  290 sic igitur debent venti quoque flamina ferri,

  quae vel uti validum cum flumen procubuere

  quam libet in partem, trudunt res ante ruuntque

  impetibus crebris, inter dum vertice torto

  corripiunt rapidique rotanti turbine portant.

  295 quare etiam atque etiam sunt venti corpora caeca,

  quandoquidem factis et moribus aemula magnis

  amnibus inveniuntur, aperto corpore qui sunt.

  Tum porro varios rerum sentimus odores

  nec tamen ad naris venientis cernimus umquam

  300 nec calidos aestus tuimur nec frigora quimus

  usurpare oculis nec voces cernere suemus;

  quae tamen omnia corporea constare necessest

  natura, quoniam sensus inpellere possunt;

  tangere enim et tangi, nisi corpus, nulla potest res.

  305 Denique fluctifrago suspensae in litore vestis

  uvescunt, eaedem dispansae in sole serescunt.

  at neque quo pacto persederit umor aquai

  visumst nec rursum quo pacto fugerit aestu.

  in parvas igitur partis dispergitur umor,

  310 quas oculi nulla possunt ratione videre.

  quin etiam multis solis redeuntibus annis

  anulus in digito subter tenuatur habendo,

  stilicidi casus lapidem cavat, uncus aratri

  ferreus occulte decrescit vomer in arvis,

  315 strataque iam volgi pedibus detrita viarum

  saxea conspicimus; tum portas propter aena

  signa manus dextras ostendunt adtenuari

  saepe salutantum tactu praeterque meantum.

  haec igitur minui, cum sint detrita, videmus.

  320 sed quae corpora decedant in tempore quoque,

  invida praeclusit speciem natura videndi.

  Postremo quae cumque dies naturaque rebus

  paulatim tribuit moderatim crescere cogens,

  nulla potest oculorum acies contenta tueri,

  325 nec porro quae cumque aevo macieque senescunt,

  nec, mare quae impendent, vesco sale saxa peresa

  quid quoque amittant in tempore cernere possis.

  corporibus caecis igitur natura gerit res.

  Nec tamen undique corporea stipata tenentur

  330 omnia natura; namque est in rebus inane.

  quod tibi cognosse in multis erit utile rebus

  nec sinet errantem dubitare et quaerere semper

  de summa rerum et nostris diffidere dictis.

  [289] wherever aught opposes its waves, down it dashes it.

  In this way then must the blasts of wind as well move on, and when they like a mighty stream have borne down in any direction, they push things before them and throw them down with repeated assaults, sometimes catch them up in curling eddy and carry them away in swift-circling whirl.

  Wherefore once and again I say winds are unseen bodies, since in their works and ways they are found to rival great rivers which are of a visible body.

  Then again we perceive the different smells of things, yet never see them coming to our nostrils; nor do we behold heats nor can we observe cold with the eyes nor are we used to see voices.

  Yet all these things must consist of a bodily nature, since they are able to move the senses; for nothing but body can touch and be touched.

  Again clothes hung up on a -’shore which waves break upon become moist, and then get dry if spread out in the sun.

  Yet it has not been seen in what way the moisture of water has sunk into them nor again in what way this has been dispelled by heat.

  The moisture therefore is dispersed into small particles which the eyes are quite unable to see.

  Again after the revolution of many of the sun’s years a ring on the finger is thinned on the under side by wearing, the dripping from the eaves hollows a stone, the bent plowshare of iron imperceptibly decreases in the fields, and we behold the stone-paved streets worn down by the feet of the multitude; the brass statues too at the gates show their right hands to be wasted by the touch of the numerous passers by who greet them.

  These things then we see are lessened, since they have been thus worn down; but what bodies depart at any given time the nature of vision has jealously shut out our seeing.

  Lastly the bodies which time and nature add to things by little and little, constraining them to grow in due measure, no exertion of the eyesight can behold; and so too wherever things grow old by age and decay, and when rocks hanging over the sea are eaten away by the gnawing salt spray, you cannot see what they lose at any given moment Nature therefore works by unseen bodies.

  And yet all things are not on all sides jammed together and kept in by body: there is also void in things.

  To have learned this will be good for you on many accounts; it will not suffer you to wander in doubt and be to seek in the sum of things and, distrustful of our words.

  If there were not void, things could not move at all;

  qua propter locus est intactus inane vacansque.

  335 quod si non esset, nulla ratione moveri

  res possent; namque officium quod corporis exstat,

  officere atque obstare, id in omni tempore adesset

  omnibus; haud igitur quicquam procedere posset,

  principium quoniam cedendi nulla daret res.

  340 at nunc per maria ac terras sublimaque caeli

  multa modis multis varia ratione moveri

  cernimus ante oculos, quae, si non esset inane,

  non tam sollicito motu privata carerent

  quam genita omnino nulla ratione fuissent,

  345 undique materies quoniam stipata quiesset.

  Praeterea quamvis solidae res esse putentur,

  hinc tamen esse licet raro cum corpore cernas.

  in saxis ac speluncis permanat aquarum

  liquidus umor et uberibus flent omnia guttis.

  350 dissipat in corpus sese cibus omne animantum;

  crescunt arbusta et fetus in tempore fundunt,

  quod cibus in totas usque ab radicibus imis

  per truncos ac per ramos diffunditur omnis.

  inter saepta meant voces et clausa domorum

  355 transvolitant, rigidum permanat frigus ad ossa.

  quod nisi inania sint, qua possent corpora quaeque

  transire, haud ulla fieri ratione videres.

  Denique cur alias aliis praestare videmus

  pondere res rebus nihilo maiore figura?

  360 nam si tantundemst in lanae glomere quantum

  corporis in plumbo est, tantundem pendere par est,

  corporis officiumst quoniam premere omnia deorsum,

  contra autem natura manet sine pondere inanis.

  ergo quod magnumst aeque leviusque videtur,

  365 ni mirum plus esse sibi declarat inanis;

  at contra gravius plus in se corporis esse

  dedicat et multo vacui minus intus habere.

  est igitur ni mirum id quod ratione sagaci

  quaerimus, admixtum rebus, quod inane voc
amus.

  370 Illud in his rebus ne te deducere vero

  possit, quod quidam fingunt, praecurrere cogor.

  cedere squamigeris latices nitentibus aiunt

  et liquidas aperire vias, quia post loca pisces

  linquant, quo possint cedentes confluere undae;

  375 sic alias quoque res inter se posse moveri

  et mutare locum, quamvis sint omnia plena.

  scilicet id falsa totum ratione receptumst.

  nam quo squamigeri poterunt procedere tandem,

  ni spatium dederint latices? concedere porro

  380 quo poterunt undae, cum pisces ire nequibunt?

  [334] for that which is the property of body, to let and hinder, would be present to all things at all times; nothing therefore could go on, since no other thing would be the first to give way.

  But in fact throughout seas and lands and the heights of heaven we see before our eyes many things move in many ways for various reasons, which things, if there were no void, I need not say would lack and want restless motion: they never would have been begotten at all, since matter jammed on all sides would have been at rest Again however solid things are thought to be, you may yet learn from this that they are of rare body: in rocks and caverns the moisture of water oozes through and all things weep with abundant drops; food distributes itself through the whole body of living things; trees grow and yield fruit in season, because food is diffused through the whole from the very roots over the stem and all the boughs.

  Voices pass through walls and fly through houses shut, stiffening frost pierces to the bones.

  Now if there are no void parts, by what way can the bodies severally pass? You would see it to be quite impossible.

  Once more, why do we see one thing surpass another in weight though not larger in size? For if there is just as much body in a ball of wool as there is in a lump of lead, it is natural it should weigh the same, since the property of body is to weigh all things downwards, while on the contrary the nature of void is ever without weight.

  Therefore when a thing is just as large, yet is found to be void in it; while on the other hand that which is lighter, it proves sure enough that it has more of ‘heavier shows that there is in it more of body and that it contains within it much less of void.

  Therefore that which we are seeking with keen reason exists sure enough, mixed up in things; and we call it void. And herein I am obliged to forestall this point which some raise, lest it draw you away from the truth.

  The waters they say make way for the scaly creatures as they press on, and open liquid paths, because the fish leave room behind them, into which the yielding waters may stream; thus other things too may move and change place among themselves, although the whole sum be full.

  This you are to know has been taken up on grounds wholly false.

  For on what side I ask can the scaly creatures move forwards, unless the waters have first made room? Again on what side can the waters give place, so long as the fish are unable to go on?

  aut igitur motu privandumst corpora quaeque

  aut esse admixtum dicundumst rebus inane,

  unde initum primum capiat res quaeque movendi.

  Postremo duo de concursu corpora lata

  385 si cita dissiliant, nempe aer omne necessest,

  inter corpora quod fiat, possidat inane.

  is porro quamvis circum celerantibus auris

  confluat, haud poterit tamen uno tempore totum

  compleri spatium; nam primum quemque necessest

  390 occupet ille locum, deinde omnia possideantur.

  quod si forte aliquis, cum corpora dissiluere,

  tum putat id fieri quia se condenseat aer,

  errat; nam vacuum tum fit quod non fuit ante

  et repletur item vacuum quod constitit ante,

  395 nec tali ratione potest denserier aer

  nec, si iam posset, sine inani posset, opinor,

  ipse in se trahere et partis conducere in unum.

  Qua propter, quamvis causando multa moreris,

  esse in rebus inane tamen fateare necessest.

  400 multaque praeterea tibi possum commemorando

  argumenta fidem dictis conradere nostris.

  verum animo satis haec vestigia parva sagaci

  sunt, per quae possis cognoscere cetera tute.

  namque canes ut montivagae persaepe ferai

  405 naribus inveniunt intectas fronde quietes,

  cum semel institerunt vestigia certa viai,

  sic alid ex alio per te tute ipse videre

  talibus in rebus poteris caecasque latebras

  insinuare omnis et verum protrahere inde.

  410 quod si pigraris paulumve recesseris ab re,

  hoc tibi de plano possum promittere, Memmi:

  usque adeo largos haustus e fontibus magnis

  lingua meo suavis diti de pectore fundet,

  ut verear ne tarda prius per membra senectus

  415 serpat et in nobis vitai claustra resolvat,

  quam tibi de quavis una re versibus omnis

  argumentorum sit copia missa per auris.

  Sed nunc ut repetam coeptum pertexere dictis,

  omnis ut est igitur per se natura duabus

  420 constitit in rebus; nam corpora sunt et inane,

  haec in quo sita sunt et qua diversa moventur.

  corpus enim per se communis dedicat esse

  sensus; cui nisi prima fides fundata valebit,

  haut erit occultis de rebus quo referentes

  425 confirmare animi quicquam ratione queamus.

  [380] Therefore you must either strip all bodies of motion or admit that in things void is mixed up from which every thing gets its first start in moving.

  Lastly if two broad bodies after contact quickly spring asunder, the air must surely fill all the void which is formed between the bodies.

  Well however rapidly it stream together with swift-circling currents, yet the whole space will not be able to be filled up in one moment for it must occupy first one spot and then another, until the whole is taken up.

  But if haply any one supposes that, when the bodies have started asunder, that result follows because the air condenses, he is mistaken; for a void is then formed which was not before, and a void also is filled which existed before; nor can the air condense in such a way, nor supposing it could, could it methinks without void draw into itself and bring its parts together.

  Wherefore however long you hold out by urging many objections, you must needs in the end admit that there is a void in things.

  And many more arguments I may state to you in order to accumulate proof on my words; but these slight footprints are enough for a keen-searching mind to enable you by yourself to find out all the rest.

  For as dogs often discover by smell the lair of a mountain-ranging wild beast though covered over with leaves, when once they have got on the sure tracks, thus you in cases like this will be able by yourself alone to see one thing after another and find your way into all dark corners and draw forth the truth.

  But if you lag or swerve a jot from the reality, this I can promise you, Memmius, without more ado: such plenteous draughts from abundant wellsprings my sweet tongue shall pour from my richly furnished breast, that I fear slow age will steal over our limbs and break open in us the fastnesses of life, ere the whole store of reasons on any one question has by my verses been dropped into your ears.

  But now to resume the thread of the design which I am weaving in verse: all nature then, as it exists by itself, is founded on two things: there are bodies and there is void in which these bodies are placed and through which they move about.

  For that body exists by itself the general feeling of man kind declares; and unless at the very first belief in this be firmly grounded, there will be nothing to which we can appeal on hidden things in order to prove anything by reasoning of mind.

  tum porro locus ac spatium, quod inane vocamus,

  si nullum foret, haut usquam sita corpora possent
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  esse neque omnino quoquam diversa meare;

  id quod iam supera tibi paulo ostendimus ante.

  430 praeterea nihil est quod possis dicere ab omni

  corpore seiunctum secretumque esse ab inani,

  quod quasi tertia sit numero natura reperta.

  nam quod cumque erit, esse aliquid debebit id ipsum

  augmine vel grandi vel parvo denique, dum sit;

  435 cui si tactus erit quamvis levis exiguusque,

  corporis augebit numerum summamque sequetur;

  sin intactile erit, nulla de parte quod ullam

  rem prohibere queat per se transire meantem,

  scilicet hoc id erit, vacuum quod inane vocamus.

  440 Praeterea per se quod cumque erit, aut faciet quid

  aut aliis fungi debebit agentibus ipsum

  aut erit ut possint in eo res esse gerique.

  at facere et fungi sine corpore nulla potest res

  nec praebere locum porro nisi inane vacansque.

  445 ergo praeter inane et corpora tertia per se

  nulla potest rerum in numero natura relinqui,

  nec quae sub sensus cadat ullo tempore nostros

  nec ratione animi quam quisquam possit apisci.

  Nam quae cumque cluent, aut his coniuncta duabus

  450 rebus ea invenies aut horum eventa videbis.

  coniunctum est id quod nusquam sine permitiali

  discidio potis est seiungi seque gregari,

  pondus uti saxis, calor ignis, liquor aquai,

  tactus corporibus cunctis, intactus inani.

  455 servitium contra paupertas divitiaeque,

  libertas bellum concordia cetera quorum

  adventu manet incolumis natura abituque,

  haec soliti sumus, ut par est, eventa vocare.

  tempus item per se non est, sed rebus ab ipsis

  460 consequitur sensus, transactum quid sit in aevo,

  tum quae res instet, quid porro deinde sequatur;

  nec per se quemquam tempus sentire fatendumst

  semotum ab rerum motu placidaque quiete.

  denique Tyndaridem raptam belloque subactas

  465 Troiiugenas gentis cum dicunt esse, videndumst

  ne forte haec per se cogant nos esse fateri,

  quando ea saecla hominum, quorum haec eventa fuerunt,

  inrevocabilis abstulerit iam praeterita aetas;