titi lucretii cari de rerum natura


liber primus

Birth-giver of the line of Aeneas, source
  of pleasure for men and gods alike;
O nourishing Venus!  whose domain
  beneath the slipping signs of the sky
Is the ship-bearing sea
  and fruit-yielding earth,
Since by you every species
  which draws breath
Is conceived, rises up, and greets
  the rays of the sun,
You, goddess, the winds flee you!
  and the cloudy parts of the sky
You and your arrival;
  for you the productive earth
Pushes up its sweet flowers,  for you
  rejoice the even surfaces of the sea,
And the calmed sky shines
  with scattered light for you.
For as soon as the day's Springtime face
  is made manifest
And the north wind is released
  and ranges free, bringing life;
First to herald you,
  goddess, and your fresh beginning
Are the birds of the sky, struck
  straight to their hearts by your power.
Next gambol wild beasts and tame
  in and by your happy sustenance
And swim they through rapid streams:
  Captured thus by your enchantment,
In desire the beast pursues you
  whither each you propose to lead.
And finally, by the seas and mountains,
  gulping streams,
Leaf-made homes of birds
  and living fields of green;
You instill the hearts of all
  with alluring love
And give the generations
  increase, species by species.
And since you alone govern
  the nature of things
And since without you nothing
  rises into the bright realm of your light
Nor becomes content
  or anything cheerful,
I invoke your aid in the
  writing of these verses
About the nature of things, which
  I intend to compose
For our friend, a son of the Memmii,
  whom you, goddess, in every instance,
Have deemed excellent and honored
  in all his worldly affairs:
All the more reason, o goddess, to
  lend to these words your eternal allure!
And may you meanwhile cause also
  that the savage military ordeals
Be lulled into silence
  across all lands and seas;
For you alone by instilling calm peace
  are able to rescue
Mortal men, since Mavors, powerful in such
  affairs, these savage acts of war
Controls; Mavors, who often
  casts himself into your lap
A helpless victim
  to the eternal wound of love
And thus looking up
  with his smooth neck rested back
Who feeds his greedy eyes with passion,
  drinking you in, o goddess,
His breath hanging at your features
  as he reclines.
You, goddess, when your heavenly body
  is draped over and about
This man relaxed, may from
  your mouth sweet speeches
Pour, illustrious goddess! seeking
  for the Romans calm peace.
For neither are we able
  in this our country's troubled time
To go about business with a balanced mind
  nor can our illustrious son of Memmius
In the midst of such affairs
  forsake the common concern.
For what remains, Memmius,
  apply willing ears
And a mind removed from cares
  to this true account;
Lest you my gifts
  set out for you in loyal devotion
Should relinquish, having spurned them
  before they are understood.
For I shall begin
  to discourse to you the highest philosphy
Of the sky and the gods and I shall explain
  the very beginnings of things
From which nature creates,
  furthers, and nourishes all things
And into which the same nature again
  resolves the things that have been destroyed;
These particles which
  in giving our account
We have become accustomed to call matter
  or the building blocks or seeds of things
And we have come to term
  these same particles
The first bodies,
  since from these first particles comes all.
When human life lay
  hideously in plain sight
On the lands, subdued
  by a grave superstition
Which showed its head
  from between the clouds,
Standing over the mortals from above
  with an horrendous appearance;
It was first a mortal man of Greece
  had the courage
To lift his eyes against
  and first to stand against,
A man whom neither rumors of the gods
  nor the thunderbolt nor the menacing
Rumble of the sky contained,
  but the more by these things
The keen courage of his heart was spurred,
  so that he desired
To be the first to break
  open the tight shackles of nature's gates.
Therefore the living power
  of his spirit prevailed, and beyond
The flaming walls of the world
  proceeded he by far,
And traversed in mind and spirit
 the immense universe,
From which he reports to us as a conqueror
  what is able to rise up
And what is not, indeed
  what the fixed power of each thing
Be, and, by his account,
  where the deep-set limit stick.
Whereby religion in its turn
  is cast beneath our feet
And trampled upon
  and victory lifts us level with the sky.
This I fear herein:
  lest perchance you feel
You are entering into elements of my explanation
  that are irreverent and setting out
On a path of treachery,
  when to the contrary that same religion
Has more often been the cause
  of such irreverent and treacherous acts:
In the way in which at Aulis
  the altar of the Trivian virgin
Was with the blood of Iphianassa
  so grotesquely defiled
By the elected leaders of the Greeks,
  the foremost of men.
And as soon as the crown of the victim
  was cast about her virgin tresses
And fell in equal parts
  about each cheek,
And as soon as she realized that her father
  stood before the altars in not joy but grief,
And that the attendant ministers
  concealed a blade,
And that the gathered citizens
  poured out their tears at the sight of her;
She became dumb with fear and,
  sent down by her knees, she found the ground.
Nor could it be of any use
  to the wretched girl at such a time
That she had been the eldest
  to call her father king.
For still trembling she was lifted
  by the hands of men and to the altars
Led, not so that once the sacred rites'
  solemn ceremony had been completed
She could be accompanied
  by the well known wedding song,
But so that she pure maiden as if impure
  in the very moment of her nuptials
Should fall a victim,
  further distressed by her father's hand in it;
All that a propitious and happy departure
  be granted the fleet.
So much of these evils
  at the apt persuasiveness of superstition!
Yes, you, at some time or other
  you from us
Will seek to depart, defeated
  by the awe inspiring words of soothsayers.
For indeed are they already able
  to dream up for you how many
Sleep-visions, which be able
  to subvert your sensible approach to life
And to upset all your happiness
  with fear!
And with reason:
  for if men see there is a strict limit
To their woes, they should
  by some mode of reason have the strength
To the superstitions and threats
  of soothsayers.
Now there is no logic to make them stand up,
  no means,
Since in death
  eternal penalties are to be feared.
For it is not known
  what the nature of the soul is,
Be it born or on the contrary
  take up residence in beings as they are born
Nor whether it die along with us at once,
  stolen by death,
Or it visit the shadows and vast lagoons
  of Orcus
Or by divine means take
  itself into other beasts,
As our Ennius has sung;
  The man who first from pleasant
Helicon brought down
  an evergreen crown
That would through the Italian races of men
  have a famous name for itself.
Although, however, to add one thing more,
  that there are Acherusian regions
Ennius explains,
  uttering in his immortal verses,
Where neither our souls
  nor bodies reside,
But things like images
  growing pale in wonderful ways;
From here he tells how the image
  of ever flourishing Homer
Rose to meet him and began
  to pour out tears of salt
And to explain in his words
  the nature of things.
Wherefore; firstly,
  we must have an account
Of the things in the sky:
  on what account depend
The movements of the sun and the moon
  and by what force each being is driven
On earth, and secondly, most of all,
  by a rigorous account
We must see from what the soul
  and the nature of the mind are composed
And what obstacle to our minds
  terrifies us when awake
And affected by disease
  or buried in sleep,
So that we seem
  to see and hear them clearly,
Men whose bones the earth has embraced
  since they met with death.
Nor does it escape my attention,
  the difficulty
Of rendering in Latin verses
  the hidden discoveries of the Greeks,
Especially since many things
  must be addressed by neologism
On account of the poverty of the language
  and the novelty of the things themselves.
But your worth
  and moreover the desired pleasure
of sweet friendship
  urge me to undergo whatever labour
is required and lead me
  to sit up through the serene nights
searching for how,
  in which words, in which rhyme
I'll at last be able
  to shed bright volumes of light upon your mind
that you can then percieve with insight
  the hidden truths.
This terror therefore,
  this shadow over our minds,
must be dispelled not by the rays of the sun
  or the bright lances of day,
but by the evidence and ration
  of nature;
the first point of which
  begs we assume for starters
That no thing is ever born from nothing
  by divine power.
Thus indeed does fear
  hold all mortals in check,
for they observe many things happen
  on the lands and in the sky,
the causes of which occurences
  they can in no way understand,
and suppose arise
  by divine power.
On account of these things,
  when we see that nothing can be created
from nothing, then from there
  we shall see the more clearly
what we seek: both from what
  each and every thing is able to be produced,
and in what way each and occurence may happen
  without the work of the gods.
For if things were come of nothing
  then. . .
. . .
Besides, why do we observe
  That the rose in spring, grain in the warm season,
vines in beckoning autumn
  are produced,
if not because, once the seeds of the things
  at the unique fixed season
have streamed together,
  whatever produce becomes apparent,
with the seasons attending
  and the living earth
bearing safely its tender fruit
  forth into the realm of light.
But if they came from nothing
  they would burst forth
at uncertain times
  and in strange parts of the year
since there would be no first beginings
  which could prevent
a birth-yielding union
  at the wrong time
For further would there be a use
  for a period of growth for things
following the meeting of their seed,
  if they could grow from nothing;
for then young men would come about
  suddenly from small infants
and from the earth trees
  would sprout and flourish instantly.
It is clear that none of these things occur
  since all things
grow gradually, as is reasonable,
  from fixed seed
and in growing retain their species
  that you can be sure
each thing grows and is fed
  from its own material
This culminates in the fact
  That without each year's fixed showers
Earth is unable
  to push up her gladdening fruit,
Nor, further, when kept from food,
  can the nature of living things
continue its kind
  or protect its vitality:
So rather should you hold
  That there are many bodies common
to many things,
  as we observe letters to words,
than that any thing may exist
  without its first beginnings.
Then why has not nature been able
  to produce men so great
that they can cross the main
  in footsteps by the shallows,
cleave huge mountains
  with their hands
and outlive many living generations
  in their single life;
if not because,
  since the material bestowed upon things
is fixed at birth,
  it is already agreed what can arise from what?
It must therefore be admitted
  That nothing can come from nothing;
since things must have seed
  before they can be created
and brought forth
  into the yielding breezes of the air.
Finally:
  because we observe that arable tracts
best those uncultivated
  and return to our hands better crops,
it is plain that first beginnings of things
  reside in the earth;
which things we,
  by turning the fertile clods with the plough
and taming the earth's soil,
  bring to birth.
But if there were no first beginnings
  you would observe each thing
become much more prosperous
  instantly and of its own.
This brings us further to the point
  That nature dissolves each thing
agin into its parts
  and does not reduce things to nothing.
For if anything were to exist
  mortal in all its parts
then each and every thing before our eyes
  would be taken suddenly away and perish,
for there would need be no force
  able to provide
the divorce of its parts
  and dissolve their bindings.
But as things stand,
  since all things are constitute with eternal seed
until met with some force
  that it dashes the things apart with a blow
or penetrates inwards through the areas of void
  and loosens them up,
Nature suffers not to be seen
  the complete departure of any thing.
Besides which, if time,
  which leads anythingsoever away with age,
destroys things completely,
  consuming all matter,
whence does Venus return the animal species
  to the light of life
generation after generation?
  Or whence the productive earth nourish,
offer food for, and give increase to
  the species returned, generation after generation?
whence supply
  the natural springs and far off rivers
the sea? whence does the sky
  nourish the stars?
For everything ought,
  which exists of mortal parts,
to have been consumed
  by infinite time and days gone by.
But if from this time and ever before
  there have been first beginnings
from which this sum of things
  is formed and replenished,
then certainly they are endowed
  with nature immortal
and therefore not any of them
  can be returned to nothing.
Next, the same force and cause
  would make done with every thing
without discrimination,
  unless eternal matter held sway
amongst itself,
  more or less interlocked;
For a mere touch
  would assuredly be a sufficient cause for death,
where indeed there would be nothing
  with immortal body
whose substance any force
  could dissolve.
But since, as things stand,
  the bonds between the first beginnings
are allowed to be different
  while the material remains constant,
things remain with intact body,
  until met with a force
powerful enough
  to discover the substance of each.
Nothing, therefore, ever returns to nothing;
  but everything,
by the divorce of its parts,
  returns to the constituents of its material.
Finally: the rains “perish”
  once father sky
has driven them
  into the lap of mother earth;
but glistening fruit then grow,
  branches sprout from trees
which themselves grow
  and are made heavy with fruit.
Thence indeed are fed
  our race and that of wild animals,
thence we see happy cities
  teem with children
and the woods bearing fresh leaf
  sing on all sides with the song of newborn birds,
thence the cattle,
  weary with milk
lay themselves down all through the happy fields
  and the pure white liquid
flows from their distended udders,
  thence the playful new offspring
gambol on unsteady legs
  through the soft grasses,
their innocent new senses struck giddy
  by the undiluted milk.
That which seems to perish, therefore,
  does not do so entirely;
For nature forms and nourishes one thing
  from another and does not suffer
any thing to be born
  unless aided by the death of something else.
Now pay attention,
  now that I have taught
That things cannot be got of nothing
  and, once got, cannot be reduced to nothing,
lest you for any reason
  begin to doubt my words
just because the first beginnings of things
  are indiscernable with the naked eye;
rather consider these bodies
  which it is safe to admit
exist amongst things
  and yet are invisible.
Firstly the force of the wind,
  when roused up, beats the sea,
drives huge ships
  and scatters clouds,
sometimes racing through
  in a flying squall,
peppering the plains with huge trees
  and buffeting the highest mountains
with timber-splintering blasts:
  thus rages the wind
with a shrill cry, and barrels on
  with a menacing rumble.
It is no wonder, therefore,
  that there be hidden bodies of wind
which sweep sea, land,
  even the clouds of the sky,
and in a sudden gust
  uproot the object of its buffeting.
These hidden bodies flow and propagate destruction
  in exactly the same manner
as the soft nature of water
  when born suddenly along
by a swollen river
  which the huge rush of water feeds
with great downpours of rain
  from mountains on high,
tossing together bits and pieces of forest,
  whole trees;
not even stout bridges
  are able to withstand
the sudden force of the oncoming water:
  thus the river,
rapid with much rain,
  dashes against the foundations with solid strength,
wreaks havoc with a great rumbling,
  rolls great boulders
beneath its waves
  and rushes against anything which stands in its way.
In this way, therefore,
  the blasts of wind must too be born
which, when, like the mighty river,
  they are directed in
in any which way,
  they thrust things before them and rush on,
delivering frequent blows,
  sometimes in a violent eddy
siezing things up
  and carrying them off in a swiftly whirling maelstrom.
Wherefor we see again and again
  that the hidden bodies of wind exist,
since indeed they are found
  to be similar in both deeds and manner
to great rivers,
  which are of visible body.
Furthermore,
  we sense the different smells of things
and yet we never see them
  coming towards our nostrils.
We are not able to percieve
  either the warmth of heat or blasts of cold
with our eyes, nor are we accustomed
  to discern voices with those same organs:
All of which, however,
  must consist of a corporeal nature,
since they are able
  to affect our senses.
For no thing is able to touch and to be touched
  if it be not corporeal.
My next point is that clothes
  held out on the wave-breaking shore
grow wet, while the same
  stretched in the sun become dry;
and yet we cannot see
  in what manner the moisture of the water has settled in
nor how, with heat,
  it has fled again.
The wetness, therefore,
  is dispersed into small particles
which are by no means
  able to be seen with the naked eye.
What is more,
  with many returning years of the sun,
The ring on one's finger
  is subtly worn thin by the wearing of it,
the drip of falling water
  carves out stone, the curved iron plughshare
of the plough quietly erodes
  in the fields.
We observe the paving stones of the streets
  are already worn away
by the feet of the crowd;
  And further: by the gates,
the bronze statues there
  show their right hands to be eroded
by the frequent touch
  of the worshippers and passers by.
We see, therefore, that these things have diminished,
  since they have been corroded thus;
but those bodies which depart
  each time
the jealous nature of our sight
  precludes us from perceiving.
Lastly:
  whatever bodies nature and the days
allow things, little by little;
  letting them grow accordingly
not the keenest scrutiny of the eyes
  can behold.
Indeed, anything which grows old
  by age and decay,
rocks which hang over the sea,
  eaten away by gnawing salt:
you cannot see what is lost from each
  at any given moment.
Nature, therefore, governs things
  by hidden bodies.
Nor, however, are all things
  held packed together on all sides
by bodily nature;
  For there is void in things.
For to have known this
  will be useful for you in many matters,
and will not allow you to doubt in our wanderings,
  to ever be unsure
of the big question,
  or to distrust my words.
With this in mind,
  void is defined as empty and intangible.
For were it not
  then by no means
would things be capable of motion,
  since the property which is inherent in bodies,
to block and hinder,
  would be present at every moment
in all things.
  Nothing, therefore, could move forward,
since no thing would allow
  a beginning pointfor movement.
But as things stand,
  across seas, lands, the highest reaches of the skies,
we observe that many things by many causes
  are moved each in a different way
before our eyes;
  things which, if there were no void,
would not so much be without busy motion,
  having being deprived of it;
so much as they would not have been born at all,
  by any means;
since their material would have lain still
  packed in on all sides.
Moreover,
  although it is widely held that solid things exist,
From this you may yet see
  that they are truly of rare texture.
In rocks and caves
  the damp moisture of water
seeps through
  and everything weeps with rich droplets.
Food dissipates itself
  into every part of the livig body.
Trees grow
  and when in season pour forth fruit,
since food from the bottom most roots
  into the entire being
is spread,
  by the roots and boughs.
Voices travel through walled rooms
  and are transmitted through closed doors.
Stiffening cold
  seeps into the bones.
For unless there be empty spaces
  through which all bodies
may pass, you would by no means whatever
  percieve anything happen.
Then why do we observe
  that some things exceed others
in weight
  and not at all in size?
For if there is exactly as much body
  in a ball of wool
as in a lump of lead;
  it's reasonable they are exactly the same weight,
since it is on the one hand
  the duty of body to press everything downwards
and on the other hand
  the nature of void to remain weightless.
It is no wonder, then,
  that that which is larger
and seems lighter
  declares that there is more of void in it;
while in the other case the heavier one indicates
  that there is more body in it
and that it has within itself
  much less vaccuum.
It is therefore no wonder
  that that which we seek with keen science,
that which is mixed up in tangible objects,
  is what we call void.
Wherefore those who have believed
  that the material of things
is fire
  and that the sum of things can be composed of fire,
and those who believed air
  to consitute the sole element in begetting things,
and all those
  who thought the same of water,
that it could create things in and of itself,
  or that the creates everything
and changes itself
  into all the natures of things
all seem
  to have erred a very long way from the truth.
Those too
  who make the first beginnings of things twofold,
joinging air to fire,
  earth to water,
and those who believe
  that all things can come
from four things:
  from fire, earth, air and water,
Chief among whom
  is Empedocles Arcagantine.
That island bore him
  in its three cornered shores of land,
about which flows the Ionian sea
  in great curves.
The brine splashes up
  from blue-grey waves.
The sea, rapid in the straits and channels,
  divides by its waves
the shores of the lands of Italy
  from other coastlines.
Here is wasteful Charybdis,
  and here Aetna threatens
with a murmur of flames
  to again gather her ires
so that the force should once more
  throw flames bursting from her throat
And to the sky once more
  should the thunderbolts of flame fly.
This land seems most wondrous
  and in many ways,
and it is said the place
  must be visited by mankind,
that it is abundant in the good things
  and guarded by many a force of men;
and yet it seems to have had in it
  nothing more renowned than this man,
nothing more holy,
  marvelous and dear.
His verses too
  carry from his reverent heart
and deliver
  his famous discoveries
in such a way
  that he hardly seems to have come from human stock.
He, however,
  and those whom we mentioned above
(outstandingly inferior in many ways
  and lesser men by far)
Although they found many things
  good and holy
and although they gave responses
  from the inner temple of their heart
more sanctly
  and with much firmer reason by far
than the Pythia
  who speaks from the tripod and laurel of Phoebus;
yet they have come to ruin
  in the first beginnings of things
and, great men themselves,
  there they failed gravely, in a great demise.
Firstly because they assign motion to things
  while withholding void
and allow soft things
  and rare:
airs, sun, fire
  earth, living things, crops
and yet
  do not mix void up in their bodies.
  . . .