Delphi Complete Works of Lucretius

by Titus Lucretius Carus

  tristior esse quibus non est tractata, retroque

  945 volgus abhorret ab hac, volui tibi suaviloquenti

  carmine Pierio rationem exponere nostram

  et quasi musaeo dulci contingere melle,

  si tibi forte animum tali ratione tenere

  versibus in nostris possem, dum perspicis omnem

  950 naturam rerum, qua constet compta figura.

  Sed quoniam docui solidissima materiai

  corpora perpetuo volitare invicta per aevom,

  nunc age, summai quaedam sit finis eorum

  necne sit, evolvamus; item quod inane repertumst

  955 seu locus ac spatium, res in quo quaeque gerantur,

  pervideamus utrum finitum funditus omne

  constet an immensum pateat vasteque profundum.

  Omne quod est igitur nulla regione viarum

  finitumst; namque extremum debebat habere.

  960 extremum porro nullius posse videtur

  esse, nisi ultra sit quod finiat, ut videatur

  quo non longius haec sensus natura sequatur.

  nunc extra summam quoniam nihil esse fatendum,

  non habet extremum, caret ergo fine modoque.

  965 nec refert quibus adsistas regionibus eius;

  usque adeo, quem quisque locum possedit, in omnis

  tantundem partis infinitum omne relinquit.

  Praeterea si iam finitum constituatur

  omne quod est spatium, si quis procurrat ad oras

  970 ultimus extremas iaciatque volatile telum,

  id validis utrum contortum viribus ire

  quo fuerit missum mavis longeque volare,

  an prohibere aliquid censes obstareque posse?

  alterutrum fatearis enim sumasque necessest.

  975 quorum utrumque tibi effugium praecludit et omne

  cogit ut exempta concedas fine patere.

  nam sive est aliquid quod probeat efficiatque

  quo minus quo missum est veniat finique locet se,

  sive foras fertur, non est a fine profectum.

  980 hoc pacto sequar atque, oras ubi cumque locaris

  extremas, quaeram: quid telo denique fiet?

  fiet uti nusquam possit consistere finis

  effugiumque fugae prolatet copia semper.

  Praeterea spatium summai totius omne

  985 undique si inclusum certis consisteret oris

  finitumque foret, iam copia materiai

  undique ponderibus solidis confluxet ad imum

  nec res ulla geri sub caeli tegmine posset

  [948] But since I have taught that most solid bodies of matter fly about for ever unvanquished through all time, mark now, let us unfold whether there is or is not any limit to their sum; likewise let us clearly see whether that which has been found to be void, or room and space, in which things severally go on, is all of it altogether finite or stretches without limits and to an unfathomable depth.

  Well then, the existing universe is bounded in none of its dimensions; for then it must have had an outside.

  Again it is seen that there can be an outside of nothing, unless there be something beyond to bound it, so that that is seen, farther than which the nature of this our sense does not follow the thing.

  Now since we must admit that there is nothing outside the sum, it has no outside, and therefore is without end and limit.

  And it matters not in which of its regions you take your stand; so invariably, whatever position any one has taken up, he leaves the universe just as infinite as before in all directions.

  Again if for the moment all existing space be held to be bounded, supposing a man runs forward to its outside borders, and stands on the utmost verge and then throws a winged javelin, do you choose that when hurled with vigorous force it shall advance to the point to which it has been sent and fly to a distance, or do you decide that something can get in its way and stop it?

  For you must admit and adopt one of the two suppositions; either of which shuts you out from all escape and compels you to grant that the universe stretches without end.

  For whether there is something to get in its way and prevent its coming whither it was sent and placing itself in the point intended, or whether it is carried forward, in either case it has not started from the end.

  In this way I will go on and, wherever you have placed the outside borders, I will ask what then becomes of the javelin.

  The result will be that an end can nowhere be fixed, and that the room given for flight will still prolong the power of flight.

  Lastly one thing is seen by the eyes to end another thing; air bounds off hills, and mountains air, earth limits sea and sea again all lands; the universe however there is nothing outside to end.

  nec foret omnino caelum neque lumina solis,

  990 quippe ubi materies omnis cumulata iaceret

  ex infinito iam tempore subsidendo.

  at nunc ni mirum requies data principiorum

  corporibus nullast, quia nil est funditus imum,

  quo quasi confluere et sedes ubi ponere possint.

  995 semper in adsiduo motu res quaeque geruntur

  partibus in cunctis, infernaque suppeditantur

  ex infinito cita corpora materiai.

  Postremo ante oculos res rem finire videtur;

  aer dissaepit collis atque aera montes,

  1000 terra mare et contra mare terras terminat omnis;

  omne quidem vero nihil est quod finiat extra.

  est igitur natura loci spatiumque profundi,

  quod neque clara suo percurrere fulmina cursu

  perpetuo possint aevi labentia tractu

  1005 nec prorsum facere ut restet minus ire meando;

  usque adeo passim patet ingens copia rebus

  finibus exemptis in cunctas undique partis.

  Ipsa modum porro sibi rerum summa parare

  ne possit, natura tenet, quae corpus inane

  1010 et quod inane autem est finiri corpore cogit,

  ut sic alternis infinita omnia reddat,

  aut etiam alterutrum, nisi terminet alterum eorum,

  simplice natura pateat tamen inmoderatum,

  nec mare nec tellus neque caeli lucida templa

  1015 nec mortale genus nec divum corpora sancta

  exiguum possent horai sistere tempus;

  nam dispulsa suo de coetu materiai

  copia ferretur magnum per inane soluta,

  sive adeo potius numquam concreta creasset

  1020 ullam rem, quoniam cogi disiecta nequisset.

  nam certe neque consilio primordia rerum

  ordine se suo quaeque sagaci mente locarunt

  nec quos quaeque darent motus pepigere profecto

  sed quia multa modis multis mutata per omne

  1025 ex infinito vexantur percita plagis,

  omne genus motus et coetus experiundo

  tandem deveniunt in talis disposituras,

  qualibus haec rerum consistit summa creata,

  et multos etiam magnos servata per annos

  1030 ut semel in motus coniectast convenientis,

  efficit ut largis avidum mare fluminis undis

  integrent amnes et solis terra vapore

  fota novet fetus summissaque gens animantum

  floreat et vivant labentis aetheris ignes.

  [989] Again if all the space of the whole sum were enclosed within fixed borders and were bounded, in that case the store of matter by its solid weights would have streamed together from all sides to the lowest point nor could anything have gone on under the canopy of heaven, no nor would there have been a heaven nor sunlight at all, inasmuch as all matter, settling down through infinite time past, would lie together in a heap.

  But as it is, sure enough no rest is given to the bodies of the first-beginnings, because there is no lowest point at all, to which they might stream together as it were, and where they might take up their positions.

  All things are ever going on in ceaseless motion on all sides and bodies of matter stirred to action
are supplied from beneath out of infinite space.

  Therefore the nature of room and the space of the unfathomable void are such as bright thunderbolts cannot race through in their course though gliding on through endless tract of time, no nor lessen one jot the journey that remains to go by all their travel: so huge a room is spread out on all sides for things without any bounds in all directions round.

  Again nature keeps the sum of things from setting any limit to itself, since she compels body to be ended by void and void in turn by body, so that either she thus renders the universe infinite by this alternation of the two, or else the one of the two, in case the other does not bound it, with its single nature stretches nevertheless immeasurably.

  [But void I have already proved to be infinite; therefor matter must be infinite: for if void were infinite, and matter finite] neither sea nor earth nor the glittering quarters of heaven nor mortal kind nor the holy bodies of the gods could hold their ground one brief passing hour; since forced asunder from its union the store of matter would be dissolved and borne along the mighty void, or rather I should say would never have combined to produce any thing, since scattered abroad it could never have been brought together.

  For verily not by design did the first beginnings of things station themselves each in its right place guided by keen intelligence, nor did they bargain sooth to say what motions each should assume, but because many in number and shifting about in many ways throughout the universe they are driven and tormented by blows during infinite time past, after trying motions and unions of every kind at length they fall into arrangements such as those out of which this our sum of things has been formed, and by which too, it is preserved through many great years when once it has been thrown into the appropriate motions, and causes the streams to replenish the greedy sea with copious river waters and the earth, fostered by the heat of the sun, to renew its produce, and the race of living things to come up and flourish, and the gliding fires of ether to live:

  1035 quod nullo facerent pacto, nisi materiai

  ex infinito suboriri copia posset,

  unde amissa solent reparare in tempore quaeque.

  nam vel uti privata cibo natura animantum

  diffluit amittens corpus, sic omnia debent

  1040 dissolui simul ac defecit suppeditare

  materies aliqua ratione aversa viai.

  nec plagae possunt extrinsecus undique summam

  conservare omnem, quae cumque est conciliata.

  cudere enim crebro possunt partemque morari,

  1045 dum veniant aliae ac suppleri summa queatur;

  inter dum resilire tamen coguntur et una

  principiis rerum spatium tempusque fugai

  largiri, ut possint a coetu libera ferri.

  quare etiam atque etiam suboriri multa necessest,

  1050 et tamen ut plagae quoque possint suppetere ipsae,

  infinita opus est vis undique materiai.

  Illud in his rebus longe fuge credere, Memmi,

  in medium summae quod dicunt omnia niti

  atque ideo mundi naturam stare sine ullis

  1055 ictibus externis neque quoquam posse resolvi

  summa atque ima, quod in medium sint omnia nixa,

  ipsum si quicquam posse in se sistere credis,

  et quae pondera sunt sub terris omnia sursum

  nitier in terraque retro requiescere posta,

  1060 ut per aquas quae nunc rerum simulacra videmus;

  et simili ratione animalia suppa vagari

  contendunt neque posse e terris in loca caeli

  reccidere inferiora magis quam corpora nostra

  sponte sua possint in caeli templa volare;

  1065 illi cum videant solem, nos sidera noctis

  cernere et alternis nobiscum tempora caeli

  dividere et noctes parilis agitare diebus.

  [1033] all which these several things could in nowise bring to pass, unless a store of matter could rise up from infinite space, out of which store they are wont to make up in due season whatever has been lost.

  For as the nature of living things when robbed of food loses its substance and wastes away, thus all things must be broken up, as soon as matter has ceased to be supplied, diverted in any way from its proper course.

  Nor can blows from without hold together all the sum which has been brought into union.

  They can it is true frequently strike upon and stay a part, until others come and the sum can be completed.

  At times however they are compelled to rebound and in so doing grant to the first beginnings of things room and time for flight, to enable them to get clear away from the mass in union.

  Wherefore again and again I repeat many bodies must rise up; nay for the blows themselves not to fail, there is need of an infinite supply of matter on all sides.

  And herein, Memmius, be far from believing this, that all things as they say press to the center of the sum, and that for this reason the nature of the world stands fast without any strokes from the outside and the uppermost and lowest parts cannot part asunder in any direction, because all things have been always pressing towards the center (if you can believe that anything can rest upon itself); or that the heavy bodies which are beneath the earth all press upwards and are at rest on the earth, turned topsy-turvy, just like the images of things we see before us in the waters.

  In the same way they maintain that living things walk head downwards and cannot tumble out of earth into the parts of heaven lying below them any more than our bodies can spontaneously fly into the quarters of heaven; that when those see the sun, we behold the stars of night; and that they share with us time about the seasons of heaven and pass nights equal in length to our days.

  But groundless [error has devised such dreams] for fools, because they have embraced [false principles of reason.]

  sed vanus stolidis haec * * *

  amplexi quod habent perv * * *

  1070 nam medium nihil esse potest * * *

  infinita; neque omnino, si iam medium sit,

  possit ibi quicquam consistere * * *

  quam quavis alia longe ratione * * *

  omnis enim locus ac spatium, quod inane vocamus,

  1075 per medium, per non medium, concedere debet

  aeque ponderibus, motus qua cumque feruntur.

  nec quisquam locus est, quo corpora cum venerunt,

  ponderis amissa vi possint stare in inani;

  nec quod inane autem est ulli subsistere debet,

  1080 quin, sua quod natura petit, concedere pergat.

  haud igitur possunt tali ratione teneri

  res in concilium medii cuppedine victae.

  Praeterea quoniam non omnia corpora fingunt

  in medium niti, sed terrarum atque liquoris

  umorem ponti magnasque e montibus undas,

  1085 et quasi terreno quae corpore contineantur,

  at contra tenuis exponunt aeris auras

  et calidos simul a medio differrier ignis,

  atque ideo totum circum tremere aethera signis

  1090 et solis flammam per caeli caerula pasci,

  quod calor a medio fugiens se ibi conligat omnis,

  nec prorsum arboribus summos frondescere ramos

  posse, nisi a terris paulatim cuique cibatum

  * * *

  ne volucri ritu flammarum moenia mundi

  diffugiant subito magnum per inane soluta

  et ne cetera consimili ratione sequantur

  1105 neve ruant caeli tonitralia templa superne

  terraque se pedibus raptim subducat et omnis

  inter permixtas rerum caelique ruinas

  corpora solventes abeat per inane profundum,

  temporis ut puncto nihil extet reliquiarum

  1110 desertum praeter spatium et primordia caeca.

  nam qua cumque prius de parti corpora desse

  constitues, haec rebus erit pars ianua leti,

  hac se turba foras dabit omnis materiai.

  [1069] For there can be no center [w
here the universe is] infinite; no nor, even if there were a center, could anything take up a position there [any more on that account] than for some quite different reason [be driven away.]

  For all room and space, which we term void, must through center, through no-center alike give place to heavy bodies, in whatever directions their motions tend.

  Nor is there any spot of such a sort that when bodies have reached it, they can lose their force of gravity and stand upon void; and that again which is void must not serve to support anything, but must, as its nature craves, continually give place.

  Things cannot therefore in such a way be held in union, o’er-mastered by love of a center.

  Again since they do not suppose that all bodies press to the center, but only those of earth, and those, of water, [both such as descend to the earth in rain] and those which are held in by the earth’s body, so to say, the fluid of the sea and great waters from the mountains; while on the other hand they teach that the subtle element of air and hot fires at the same time are carried away from the center and that for this reason the whole ether round bickers with signs and the sun’s flame is fed throughout the blue of heaven, because heat flying from the center all gathers together there, and that the topmost boughs of trees could not put forth leaves at all, unless from time to time [nature supplied] food from the earth to each [throughout both stem and boughs, their reasons are not only false, but they contradict each other.

  Space I have already proved to be infinite; and space being infinite matter as I have said must also be infinite] lest after the winged fashion of flames the walls of the world should suddenly break up and fly abroad along the mighty void, and all other things follow for like reasons and the innermost quarters of heaven tumble in from above and the earth in an instant withdraw from beneath our feet and amid the commingled ruins of things in it and of heaven, ruins unloosing the first bodies, should wholly pass away along the unfathomable void, so that in a moment of time not a wrack should be left behind, nothing save untenanted space and viewless first-beginnings.