Delphi Complete Works of Lucretius

by Titus Lucretius Carus

  Know you not by sight or hearsay how they commonly perish in a short time and how all vital power fails those whom the hard compulsion of necessity confines in such an employment?

  All such exhalations then the earth steams forth and breathes out into the open air and light of heaven.

  Thus too the Avernian spots must send up some power deadly to birds, which rises up from the earth into the air so as to poison a certain portion of the atmosphere; in such a way that a bird as soon as ever it is borne on its wings into it, is then attacked by the unseen poison and so palsied that it tumbles plump down on the spot where this exhalation has its course.

  And when it falls into it, then the same power of that exhalation robs all its limbs of the remnants of life: first of all it causes a sort of dizziness; but afterwards, when the birds have tumbled into the very springs of the poison, then life too has to be vomited forth, because all round rises up large store of mischievous matter.

  Sometimes too this power and exhalation of Avernus dispels whatever air lies between the birds and earth, so that almost a void is left there.

  And when the birds have arrived in their flight just opposite this spot, at once the buoyant force of their pinions is crippled and rendered vain and all the sustaining efforts of their wings are lost on both sides.

  So when they are unable to buoy themselves up and lean upon their wings, nature, you know, compels them by their weight to tumble down to earth, and lying stark through what is now almost a void they disperse their soul through all the openings of their body.

  840 frigidior porro in puteis aestate fit umor,

  arescit quia terra calore et semina si qua

  forte vaporis habet proprie, dimittit in auras.

  quo magis est igitur tellus effeta calore,

  fit quoque frigidior qui in terrast abditus umor.

  845 frigore cum premitur porro omnis terra coitque

  et quasi concrescit, fit scilicet ut coeundo

  exprimat in puteos si quem gerit ipsa calorem.

  Esse apud Hammonis fanum fons luce diurna

  frigidus et calidus nocturno tempore fertur.

  850 hunc homines fontem nimis admirantur et acri

  sole putant subter terras fervescere partim,

  nox ubi terribili terras caligine texit.

  quod nimis a verast longe ratione remotum.

  quippe ubi sol nudum contractans corpus aquai

  855 non quierit calidum supera de reddere parte,

  cum superum lumen tanto fervore fruatur,

  qui queat hic supter tam crasso corpore terram

  perquoquere umorem et calido focilare vapore?

  praesertim cum vix possit per saepta domorum

  860 insinuare suum radiis ardentibus aestum.

  quae ratiost igitur? ni mirum terra magis quod

  rara tenet circum fontem quam cetera tellus

  multaque sunt ignis prope semina corpus aquai.

  hoc ubi roriferis terram nox obruit undis,

  865 extemplo penitus frigescit terra coitque.

  hac ratione fit ut, tam quam compressa manu sit,

  exprimat in fontem quae semina cumque habet ignis,

  quae calidum faciunt laticis tactum atque vaporem.

  inde ubi sol radiis terram dimovit obortus

  870 et rare fecit calido miscente vapore,

  rursus in antiquas redeunt primordia sedes

  ignis et in terram cedit calor omnis aquai.

  frigidus hanc ob rem fit fons in luce diurna.

  praeterea solis radiis iactatur aquai

  875 umor et in lucem tremulo rarescit ab aestu;

  propterea fit uti quae semina cumque habet ignis

  dimittat; quasi saepe gelum, quod continet in se,

  mittit et exsolvit glaciem nodosque relaxat.

  [840] Again during summer the water in wells becomes colder, because the earth is rarefied by heat and rapidly sends out into the air whatever seeds of heat it happens to have.

  The more then the earth is drained of heat, the colder becomes the water which is hidden in the earth.

  Again when all the earth is compressed by cold and contracts and so to say congeals, then, you are to know, while it contracts, it presses out into the wells whatever heat it contains itself.

  At the fane of Hammon there is said to be a fountain which is cold in the daylight and hot in the night-time.

  This fountain men marvel at exceedingly and suppose that it suddenly becomes hot by the influence of the fierce sun below the earth, when night has covered the earth with awful darkness.

  But this is far far removed from true reason.

  Why when the sun though in contact with the uncovered body of the water has not been able to make it hot on its upper side, though his light above possesses such great heat, how can he below the earth which is of so dense a body boil the water and glut it with heat? Above all, when he can scarcely with his burning rays force his heat through the walls of houses.

  What then is the cause? This sure enough: the earth is more porous and warmer round the fountain than the rest of the earth, and there are many seeds of fire near the body of water.

  For this reason when night has buried the earth in its dewy shadows, the earth at once becomes quite cold and contracts: in this way just as if it were squeezed by the hand it forces out into the fountain whatever seeds of fire it has; and these make the water hot to the touch and taste.

  Next when the sun has risen and with his rays has loosened the earth and has rarefied it as his heat waxes stronger, the first-beginnings of fire return back to their ancient seats and all the heat of the water withdraws into the earth: for this reason the fountain becomes cold in the daylight.

  Again the liquid of water is played upon by the sun’s rays and in the daytime is rarefied by his throbbing heat; and therefore it gives up whatever seeds of fire it has; just as it often parts with the frost which it holds in itself, and thaws the ice and loosens its bonds.

  Frigidus est etiam fons, supra quem sita saepe

  880 stuppa iacit flammam concepto protinus igni,

  taedaque consimili ratione accensa per undas

  conlucet, quo cumque natans impellitur auris.

  ni mirum quia sunt in aqua permulta vaporis

  semina de terraque necessest funditus ipsa

  885 ignis corpora per totum consurgere fontem

  et simul exspirare foras exireque in auras,

  non ita multa tamen, calidus queat ut fieri fons;

  praeterea dispersa foras erumpere cogit

  vis per aquam subito sursumque ea conciliari.

  890 quod genus endo marist Aradi fons, dulcis aquai

  qui scatit et salsas circum se dimovet undas;

  et multis aliis praebet regionibus aequor

  utilitatem opportunam sitientibus nautis,

  quod dulcis inter salsas intervomit undas.

  895 sic igitur per eum possunt erumpere fontem

  et scatere illa foras; in stuppam semina quae cum

  conveniunt aut in taedai corpore adhaerent,

  ardescunt facile extemplo, quia multa quoque in se

  semina habent ignis stuppae taedaeque tenentes.

  900 nonne vides etiam, nocturna ad lumina linum

  nuper ubi extinctum admoveas, accendier ante

  quam tetigit flammam, taedamque pari ratione?

  multaque praeterea prius ipso tacta vapore

  eminus ardescunt quam comminus imbuat ignis.

  905 hoc igitur fieri quoque in illo fonte putandumst.

  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.

  910 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 u
bi ex uno dependet supter adhaerens

  915 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;

  [879] There is also a cold fountain of such a nature that tow, often when held over it, imbibes fire forthwith and emits flame; a pine torch in like manner is lighted and shines among the waters, in whatever direction it swims under the impulse of the winds.

  Because sure enough there are in the water very many seeds of heat, and from the earth itself at the bottom must rise up bodies of fire throughout the whole fountain and at the same time pass abroad in exhalations and go forth into the air, not in such numbers however that the fountain can become hot, for these reasons a force compels those seeds to burst out through the water and disperse abroad and to unite when they have mounted up.

  In the sea at Aradus is a fountain of this kind, which wells up with fresh water and keeps off the salt waters all round it; and in many other quarters the sea affords a seasonable help in need to thirsting sailors, vomiting forth fresh waters amid the salt.

  In this way then those seeds may burst forth through that fountain and well out; and when they are met together in the tow or cohere in the body of the pine-torch, they at once readily take fire, because the tow and pinewood contain in them likewise many seeds of latent fire.

  See you not too that, when you bring a newly extinguished wick near night-lamps it catches light before it has touched the flame; and the same with the pinewood? And many things beside catch fire at some distance touched merely by the heat, before the fire in actual contact infects them.

  This therefore you must suppose to take place in that fountain as well.

  Next in order I will proceed to discuss by what law of nature it comes to pass that iron can be attracted by that stone which the Greeks call the Magnet from the name of its native place, because it has its origin within the bounds of the country of the Magnesians.

  This stone men wonder at; as it often produces a chain of rings hanging down from it.

  Thus you may see sometimes five and more suspended in succession and tossing about in the light airs, one always hanging down from one and attached to its lower side, and each in turn one from the other experiencing the binding power of the stone: with such a continued current its force flies through all.

  In things of this kind many points must be established before you can assign the true law of the thing in question, and it must be approached by a very circuitous road;

  920 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;

  925 frigus ut a 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

  930 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

  935 cernere odorari licet et sentire sonare.

  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,

  940 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,

  945 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

  950 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,

  955 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.

  Huc accedit uti non omnia, quae iaciuntur

  960 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

  extructasque nives radiis tabescere cogit;

  [920] wherefore all the more I call for an attentive ear and mind.

  In the first place from all things whatsoever which we see there must incessantly stream and be discharged and scattered abroad such bodies as strike the eyes and provoke vision.

  Smells too incessantly stream from certain things; as does cold from rivers, heat from the sun, spray from the waves of the sea that eats into walls near the shore.

  Various sounds too cease not to stream through the air.

  Then a moist salt flavor often comes into the mouth, when we are moving about beside the sea; and when we look on at the mixing of a decoction of wormwood, its bitterness affects us.

  In such a constant stream from all things the several qualities of things are carried and are transmitted in all directions round, and no delay, no respite in the flow is ever granted, since we constantly have feeling, and may at anytime see, smell and hear the sound of anything.

  And now I will state once again how rare a body all things have: a question made clear in the first part of my poem also: although the knowledge of this is of importance in regard to many things, above all in regard to this very question which I am coming to discuss, at the very outset it is necessary to establish that nothing comes under sense save body mixed with void.

  For instance in caves rocks overhead sweat with moisture and trickle down in oozing drops.

  Sweat too oozes out from our whole body; the beard grows, and hairs over all our limbs and frame.

  Food is distributed through all the veins, gives increase and nourishment to the very extremities and nails.

  We feel too cold and heat pass through brass, we feel them pass through gold and silver, when we hold full cups.

  Again voices fly through the stone partitions of houses; smell passes through and cold, and the heat of fire which is wont ay to pierce even the strength of iron, where the Gaulish cuirass girds the body round.

  And when a storm has gathered in earth and heaven, and when along with it the influence of disease makes its way in from without, they both withdraw respectively to heaven and earth and there work their wills, since there is nothing at all that is not of a rare texture of, body.

  Furthermore all bodies whatever which are discharged from things are not qualified to excite the same sensations nor are adapted for all things alike.

  The sun for instance bakes and dries up the earth, but thaws ice, and forces the snows piled up high on the high hills to melt away beneath his rays;

  965 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 dur
ata calore.

  970 barbigeras oleaster eo iuvat usque capellas,

  effluat ambrosias quasi vero et nectare tinctus;

  qua nihil est homini quod amarius fronde acida extet.

  denique amaracinum fugitat sus et timet omne

  unguentum; nam saetigeris subus acre venenumst;

  975 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.

  Hoc etiam super est, ipsa quam dicere de re

  980 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,

  985 quorum quisque suam proprie rem percipit in se;

  nam penetrare alio sonitus alioque saporem

  cernimus e sucis, alio nidoris odores.

  scilicet id fieri cogit natura viarum

  multimodis varians, ut paulo ostendimus ante.

  990 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.

  995 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,

  1000 quod super est, facile hinc ratio reddetur et omnis

  causa pate fiet, quae ferri pelliciat vim.

  Principio fluere e lapide hoc permulta necessest

  semina sive aestum, qui discutit aeëra plagis,

  inter qui lapidem ferrumque est cumque locatus.

  1005 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.

  [964] wax again turns to liquid when placed within reach of his heat,

  Fire also melts brass and fuses gold, but shrivels up and draws together hides and flesh.

  The liquid of water after fire hardens steel, but softens hides and flesh hardened by heat.