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only. But here he cunningly fuppofes what he ought to prove that body only can act and fuffer, touch, and be touched: for the fouls of men, and all immaterial substances, contradict this definition.

Ver. 527. He, in many arguments, afcribes perfect folidity to his atoms; nor do I deny it. But there is no reason to believe that therefore they cannot be diffolved: for the folidity of the feeds proceeds from the immediate contact of their parts. But in all concrete bodies the contact of the parts is allowed to be at least equal to that which is between the parts of the feeds. And therefore concrete bodies fhould be equally, and no more liable to diffolution than the feeds them. felves. The other argument by which he afferts the eternity of his átoms, are built on a falfe fupposition: he affumes what he ought to prove; and when he at length flies to what they call a

mathematical least, ver. 630. he indeed presses hard on his adversaries, and reduces them to great difficulties, but is reduced to no less straits himself. Ver. 668. He triumphs over Heraclitus, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and others. At length, ver. 960. he employs a long difputation, to prove the univerfe, which confifts of body and void, to be infinite: and here he is very copious in his arguments against the Stoics, who held a centre in the infinite univerfe, and defcribes the opinions of Epicurus with a great deal of eloquence; but they being all built on falfe fuppofitions, fall together to the ground. Then he banishes the Antipodes, which a truer philofophy and experience have long fince recalled, and fettled in their ancient abodes. However, he foothes with his arguments the imagination of man, which delights to be led away into an infinite, and never yet fixed any bounds to space, nor ever will dare to do so.

BOOK II.

THE ARGUMENT.

I. FROM ver. 1. to 63, Lucretius exhorts his Memmius to the ftudy of philofophy, which alone can alleviate our cares and anxieties, and deliver the mind from fears. II. He difputes concerning the properties or qualities of the feeds or atoms; the firft of which is motion. That feeds move is demonftrated from the generation of things; but their. motion is downwards; for all feeds are heavy. But when folid feeds meet, they muft of neceffity rebound every way from one another. Thus fome feeds happen to unite and join together, and those whofe union is most close, compose the things that are hard and denfe; but the feeds whofe connection is more loofe, make thofe that are foft and rare. But fome feeds never combine into one, but like the motes which we fee in the beams of the fun, are in perpetual motion, flying to and fro in the void, and incessantly strike and drive up and down other atoms and themselves. Thefe arguments end at ver. 133. II. He explains the fwiftness of the feeds that tend downwards, to ver. 160. IV. Then to ver. 177, he feverely, according to his ufual method, falls upon those who acknowledge a Divine and ruling Providence. V. He refumes his argument, and to ver. 209, afferts that all bodies tend downwards. VI. To ver. 280, he shows, that the feeds, as they tend downwards, decline a little from the straight line; for unless they did fo, nothing at all, at least no free agent could ever be produced. VII. Then to ver. 318, he teaches that the feeds ftill move in the fame motion in which they have moved from all eternity and that no man ought to diftruft this opinion because he does not fee the motion, fince even the feeds themselves cannot be perceived. Figure is the fecond property or quality of the feeds and he proves, VIII. to ver. 454, That all feeds are not of the fame figure; but that fome are round, fome fquare, fome fmooth, fome rough, fome hooked, &c. And he shows at large what figures compofe bitter bodies, what fweet, what hard, what soft. IX. To ver. 546, that this variety of figures is not infinite, but that the feeds of the same figure are infinite; that is to say, that the round are infinite, the fquare infinite, &c. X. In the next place, to ver. 678, he proceeds to show, that things are not compofed of atoms of the fame figure; and proves by feveral arguments, that compound bodies contain feeds of different figures. XI. Then he teaches that feeds have none of thofe qualities which we call fenfible; as colour, tafte, cold, heat, &c. XII. And that they are not endowed with fenfe, though coloured, favoury, hot, cold and fenfible things are compofed of them, to ver. 988. XIII. Laftly, That thefe infinite feeds, flying up and down through the infinite void, compofe infinite worlds, and that thefe worlds are fometimes increased in bulk by the feeds that drop down out of the infinite fpace: and fometimes diminished and diffolved, because the feeds get loofe, and fly away from them into the infinite fpace likewife; in like manner as plants and animals are born, increase in growth, wax old, and at length die.

'Tis pleasant when the feas are rough, to stand
And view another's danger, fafe at land:
Not 'cause he's troubled, but 'tis fweet to fee
Those cares and fears from which ourfelves are
free.

'Tis alfo pleasant to behold from far

How troops engage, fecure ourselves from war.
But above all, 'tis pleasantest to get
The top of high philosophy, and fit
On the calm, peaceful flourishing head of it.

II

Whence we may view deep, wond'rous deep below,
How poor mistaken mortals wand'ring go,
Seeking the path to happiness: some aim
At learning, wit, nobility, or fame :

Others with cares and dangers vex each hour
To reach the top of wealth and fov'reign pow'r :
Blind wretched man! in what dark paths of ftrife
We walk this little journey of our life!
While frugal nature seeks for only ease;
A body free from pains, free from disease;
A mind from cares and jealousies at peace. 2C
And little too is needful to maintain
The body found in health, and free from pain.
Not delicates but fuch as may supply
Contented nature's thrifty luxury.

She asks no more. What though no boys of gold
Adorn the walls, and fprightly tapers hold,
Whole beauteous rays, fcatt'ring the gaudy light,
Might grace the feasts and revels of the night:
What though no gold adorns; no mufic's found
With doubled fweetness from the roofs rebound;
Yet underneath a loving myrtle's fhade,
Hard by a purling ftream fupinely laid, [fpread,
When fpring with fragrant flow'rs the earth has
And sweetest rofes grow around our head;
Envy'd by wealth and pow'r, with small expence
We may enjoy the fweet delights of fenfe.
Who ever heard a fever tamer grown

In clothes embroider d o'er, and beds of down,
Than in courfe rags?

31

50

Since then fuch toys as these Contribute nothing to the bodies eafe, As honour, wealth, and nobleness of blood, 'Tis plain they likewife do the mind no good. If when thy fierce embattled troops at land Mock-fights maintain; or when the navies ftand In graceful ranks, or fweep the yielding feas, If then before fuch martial fights as thefe, Difperfe not all black jealoufies and cares, Vain dread of death, and fuperftitious fears Not leave thy mind; but if all this be vain, If the fame cores and dread and fears remain, If traitor-like they seize thee on the throne, And dance within the circle of a crown; If noife of arms, nor darts can make them fly, Nor the gay fparklings of the purple dye. If they on emperors will rudely feize, What makes us value all fuch things as thefe, But folly and dark ignorance of happiness? For we, as boys at night. by day do fear Shadows as vain and fenfelefs as thole are. [fouls, Wherefore that darkness which o'erfpreads our Day can't difperfe; but thofe eternal rules, Which from firm premises true reafon draws, And a deep infight into nature's laws.

61

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For when those bodies part, the things grow less,
And old but they do flourish and increase,
To which they join; thence too they fly away;
So things by turns increafe, by turns decay:
Like racers bear the lamp of life and live,
And their race done, their lamp to others give.
And fo the mafs renews: few years deface
One kind, and straight another takes the place. 85
But if you think the feeds can reft, and make
A change by reft, how great is the mistake
For fince they through the boundless vacuum rove,
By their own weight, or other's ftroke they move,
For when they meet and ttrike, that furious play
Makes each of them reflect a diff'rent way:
For both are perfect folids, and nought lies
Behind, to stop their motion as they rise. [move,
But that you may conceive how thus they
Confider that my former reafons prove, 90
That feeds feek not the midft, and that the space
Is infinite, and knows no lowest place;
And, therefore, feeds can never end their race,
But always move, and in a various round. [bound
Some when they meet, and rudely strike, re-
To a great distance; others when they jar
Will part too, and rebound, but not fo far.
Now thefe fmall feeds that are more closely join'd,
And tremble, in a little space confin'd,
99
Stopp'd by their mutual twinings, Rones compofe
Iron or steel, or bodies like to those ;
But those that fwim in a wide void alone,
And make their quick and large rebounds, or run
Through a large space, compose the air and fun.
Befides thefe two, there is another kind;
Bodies from union free, and unconfin'd;
With others ne'er in friendly motion join'd.
Of thefe there's a familiar inftance-

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For here you may behold, by fecret blows
How bodies turn'd, their line of motion lofe :
How beaten backward, and with wanton play,
Now this, now that, and ev'ry other way.
All have their motions from their feeds; for those
Move of themselves and then with fecret blows
Strike on the fmall moleculæ ; they receive
The fwift impreffion, and to greater give:
Thus they begin from the firft feeds; and thence
Go on by just degrees, and move our sense.
For look, within the little beam of light
You fee them ftrike; but what blow makes
them fight

Is undifcern'd, and hidden from our fight.

130

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And yet how fwift the atoms motions are, This foll'wing inftance will in fhort declare: For when the morning climbs the eastern skies, And tuneful birds falute her early rife; In ev'ry grove and wood with joy appear, And fill with rav'fhing founds the yielding air. How fwift the beams of the bright rifing fun 140 Shoot forth! Their race is finish'd when begun : From heav'n to earth they take their hafty flight, And gild the diftant globe with gaudy light. But this thin vapour, and this glitt'ring ray, Through a mere void, make not their eafy way; But with much trouble force a paffage through Refifting air; and therefore move more flow: Nor are they feeds, but little bodies join'd; And adverse motions in small space confin'd: And therefore from without refifting force, 150 And inbred jars must stop their eager course; But folid feeds, that move through empty space, And all whofe parts do feek one common place; Whom nothing from without refifts; than light And beams more fwift, must make their hasty flight;

}

And in that time a larger distance fly,
While the fun's lazy beams creep through our sky:
For they by counsel cannot move more flow;
Or top to make inquiry, or to know
259
How they must work, on what design they go.
But fome, dull fouls! think matter cannot move
Into fit fhapes, without the pow'rs above:
Nor make the various seasons of the year
So fit for men; nor fruit, nor bushes bear,
Nor other things, which pleasure prompts, could
do:

Pleasure, that guide of life, and mistress too!
That we fhould feek love's generous embrace,
And thence renew frail man's decaying race:
And therefore fancy that the gods did make
And rule this all. How great is that mistake!
For were I ignorant whence things arife,
Yet many reafons from the earth and fkies,
From ev'ry thing deduc'd, will plainly prove,
That this imperfect world--

Was never made by the wife pow'rs above.
This I'll explain hereafter; now go on
To finish what already I've begun.

171

And this I think a proper place to prove, That nothing of itself can upward move: Left when you fee th' ambitious flame alpire, 180 You think 'tis nat'ral force bears up the fire. For ev'ry tree does rear its lofty head, Each tender ear and fhrub does upward spread, An all draw up their nour'fhment from below, But yet all weights by nature downward go. So when the fubtle flame, and thining ftreams Of fire arife, and wafte the upper beams; 'Tis fome force drives them up. So from a wound Our blood shoots forth, and fprinkles all around. Again, who fees not that a quiet flood 190

Throws back with mighty force th' immerfed wood?

For when we ftrive, in deeper freams, to drown, And fcarce with all our force can prefs it down, The waves, with double vigour, throw it up, And make it strongly leap above the top:

And yet who doubts all these would downward tend,

200

When plac'd in void, and natʼrally defcend?
So rifing flames by th' air are upwards borne,
Although their nat'ral weights prefs a return:
Befides, we all behold, how ev'ry night
The falling meteors draw long trains of light.
Wherever nature yields a paffage through,
We fee stars fall, and feek them here below:
The fun too from above his vigour yields
To us below and cherishes our fields.
Therefore its fire defcends; fwift lightning flies;
Now here, now there, betwixt the parted fkies:
And fighting through the clouds, its place of birth,
The broken fulph'rous flame defcends to earth.

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230

Or ftreams; the swiftnefs of the fall must bear
Proportion to the weights; and reafon good;
Because the fleeting air, and yielding flood
With equal ftrength refift not ev'ry course,
But fooner yield unto the greater force :
But now no void can stop, no space can stay
The feeds; for 'tis its nature to give way;
Therefore through void unequal weights must be
Like fwift in motion, all of like degree.
Nor can the heavier bodies overtake
The lighter falling feeds; and, ftriking, make
The motions various, fit for nature's ufe,
By which all pow'rful fhe may things produce.
'Tis certain then and plain, that feeds decline,
Though very little from th' exacteft line,
But not obliquely move that fond pretence
Would fight all reafon, nay, ev'n common sense:
For ev'ry body fees, a falling weight
Makes its defcent by lines direct and straight.
Befides, did all things move in a straight

line,

240

[fare:

Did ftill one motion to another join
In certain order, and no feeds decline,
And make a motion fit to diffipate
The well wrought chain of caufes, and ftrong
Whence comes this perfect freedom of the mind?
Whence comes the will fo free, and unconfin'd,
Above the pow'r of fate, by which we go
Whene'er we pleafe, and what we will we do?
In animals the will moves firft; and thence
The motions fpread to the circumference, 250)
And vig'rous action through the limbs difpenfe;)
For look, and fee, when firft the barrier's down,
The Borfe, though eager, cannot start so soon
As his own mind requires; because the force,
And fubtle matter that maintains the courfe,

Must be ftirr'd through the limbs, then fitly join'd, Obey the eager motions of his mind :

Which proves thefe motions rife within the heart, Beginning by the will, then run through ev'ry part.

260

[on,

But now 'tis otherwise, when 'tis begun From force; for then our limbs are hurry'd on By violent ftrokes, no pow'r of our own, Until the will, by her own nat'ral sway, Shall check, or turn the force another way. Wherefore 'tis plain; though force may drive us And make us move our limbs, and make us run; Yet fomething lies within, that can oppose The vi'lent ftroke, and ftill refift the blows; At whofe command a subtle matter flies, And bends through all our limbs, our arms, our thighs;

270

}

And check'd again, and all the vigour dies. Therefore, we must confefs, as these things

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Nor was this mass of matter, the whole frame, Ever more loofe or close, but still the fame : For it can never fail, or greater grow; Wherefore the feeds ftill mov'd, ev'n just as now: And the like motions ever will maintain; What things were made, will be produc'd again In the fame way; look fair, grow strong, and great,

And live as long as nature's laws permit. Nor is there any force can change this all : For there's no place from which strange feeds may fall, 290

And make disturbance: no space does here lie Beyond the whole, to which the feeds may fly, And leave the mighty all to waste and die.

Befides, 'tis nothing strange that ev'ry mass Seems quiet, and at reft, and keeps its place; Though ev'ry little part moves here and there : For fince the principles too fubtle are For úght, their motion too muft difappear: Nay, objects fit for fenfe, which diftant lie, Conceal their motions too, and cheat our eye. For often on a hill the wanton sheep,

301

At diftance plac'd, o'er flow'ry paftures creep, Where'er herbs, crown'd with pearly dew, invite,

And kindly call their eager appetite.

The lambs, their bellies full, with various turns,
Play o'er the field, and try their tender horns :
Yet all these feem confus'd at diftance feen,
And like a fteady white, fpread o'er the green.
And thus, when two embattled armies rage,
And in a fpacious plain at last engage,
When all run here and there; the furious horfe
Beat o'er the trembling fields with nimble force:

310

Straight dreadful sparklings from their arms ap

pear,

And fill with a strange light the wond'ring air :
Earth groans beneath their feet; the hills around,
Flatt'ring the noife, restore the dreadful found:
Yet this would feem, if from a mountain fhown,
A fteady light, and a continu'd one. [are,
Now learn what manner of things first bodies
What diff'rent figures, shapes, and forms they
bear.
320

For though the fhape to many is the fame,
Yet all agree not in one common frame:
Nor is this ftrange, or to be wonder'd at:
For fince the numbers are so vastly great,
And know no bound, nor end, it cannot be,
That all in the fame figures fhould agree.

how

335

Besides, confider men, or beafts, or trees, Or filent fish, that cut the yielding feas; Or birds, that either wanton o'er the floods, Or fill with tuneful founds the lift'ning woods; Confider each particular, you'll find How diff'rent shapes appear in ev'ry kind. Elfe how could dams their tender young, or [know; The new-born young their diftant mothers Which all perform as well as men can do. For often when an inn'cent heifer dies, To angry gods a spotlefs facrifice; When all around the sheds atoning blood, And stains the altars with a purple flood: Her dam beats o'er the fields in wild despair, 340 And wounds with loud complaints the tender air; Now here, now there will run, and still complain; Now leaves her fall, and then returns again : Mad for her young, she ev'ry field does trace; With paffionate eyes fhe vifits ev'ry place: No ftreams, no flow'rs, her former great delight, Can raife or quicken her dead appetite,Allay her grief, divert her pining care, And though a thousand heifers should appear, More fat, more fair than hers, she paffes by, 350 And looks on none, or, with a flighting eye: So plain it is, fhe looks for fomething known, And view'd before; fhe only seeks her own.

Befides, the tender kids, and wanton lambs All know the voice, and bleatings of their dams: And all, as natʼral inftinct prompts them on, When hunger calls, to their own mothers run.

Besides, what various fhapes in corn appear? A diff'rent fize to ev'ry grain, and ear. And so in shells, where waters, washing o'er, 360 With wanton kiffes bathe th' amorous fhore. And therefore feeds, fince they from nature'

came,

Not made by art, after one common frame, Muft not be all alike, their shapes the fame. And hence a reason's seen why light'ning flies With keener force, through ftones, through parted skies. [arife:

Than those blunt flames, which from our fires_ Because its little parts, more loosely join'd, More fubtle far, an eafy paffage find Through fuch small pores, as ftop the blunter flame, 370 Which parts of heavy oil, or timber frame.

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But heavy oil, or stops, or runs more flow:
The reafon's this; 'caufe 'tis of parts combin'd,
Far greater, and more hook'd, and clofely twin'd,
Which therefore cannot be disjoin'd as foon, 38
And through each little paffage fingly run.

From tafted honey pleafing thoughts arife,
And in delightful airs look through our eyes:
When rue, or wormwood's touch'd, flies ev'ry
grace,

And violent diftortions fcrew the face. [fmooth,
Whence you may eas'ly guess thofe round, and
That with delightful touch affect the mouth :
But thofe which we more rough or bitter find,
Are made of parts more hook'd, and closely
twin'd;

390

Which wound the organ, as they enter in,
And force a paffage through the injur'd skin.
In short, what things are good for fenfe, what
bad,

Of feeds of diff'rent shape, and size are made:
Nor muft you fancy bodies that compose
The harsher founds of faws, as fmooth as thofe
That form the sweetest airs that viols make,
When gentle ftrokes the fleeping strings awake.
Thofe feeds have diff'rent figures, form, and
That from all rotting carcafes arise.
[fize,
From those that new-prefs'd faffron yields, or rear
From incens'd altars, fweet'ning all the air. 401
And fo in colours too, that gaudy dye,
That pleafes, and delights the curious eye,
A diff'rent form, and fhape, and figure bears
From that which wounds the fenfe, and forces
tears;

Or mean and ugly to the fight appears.
For feeds of all that please the fense are smooth;
Of all that hurt, are rough, or hook'd, or both.
But befides thefe, there other bodies are,
Not perfect smooth, nor hook'd, but angular:
With little corners butting ev'ry where,
Which tickle more than burt the sense; fuch join
To make the acid tafle of palling wine.

411 S

Laftly, that heat and cold, form'd diff'rent ways, Aflect the organs, ev'n our touch betrays. For touch, that beft, that chiefeft fenfe is made, When ftrokes, from things without, the nerves invade,

420

Or fomething from within does outward flow,
And hurts, or tickles as it paffes through:
As 'tis in venery, or when the feed
Remain within, and firange confufions breed,
Stirr'd up by vi'lent ftroke: for tirike a blow
On any limb, and you will find 'tis fo.
Wherefore these feeds must be of diff'rent fize,
Of diff'rent shapes and figures; when arife
In ferfe, fo great, fo ftrange varieties.
Farther, what things feem hard and thick, are
join'd
twin'd;

Of parts more hook'd and firm, and clofely

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But fluids are composed of smooth and round; For their fmall parts, by no ftrong union bound, Are very easily disjoin'd, and move

Or here, or there, at every little shove.

Laftly, Whatever's foon diffolv'd, or broke, As morning mifts, or yielding flames, or smoke; If all its little bodies be not imooth

And round in figure, form, or shape, or both, Yet they are not all twin'd, all have not hooks, And fo may pass through ftones and hardest rocks.

Nor muft you think it strange the fame should Fluid and bitter too, as is the fea; [be, For fluids are of smooth and round combin'd; To these are little pungent bodies join'd; Yet there's no need they should be hook'd or twin'd;

For they may globous be, though rough, and

thence

Are fitted both to move, and hurt the fenfe.

But to convince you with a clearer proof, That acid fluids have fmooth join'd with rough, They may be sep`rated with ease enough, 450 For when falt ftreams through winding caverns país,

They rife up fweet, and bubble o'er the grafs: Because those pungent parts they roll'd before, Now ftay behind, and lodge in every pore.

460

This being prov'd, I'll now go on to show Thefe various fhapes are finite, and but few; For grant them infinite, it follows thence That fome among the feeds must be immenfe : And how can numerous forts of fhapes appear In fuch small bodies as the atoms are? For think that fome minuteft parts compofe The feed, add two, or three, or more to thofe; Now, when the topmost parts are plac'd below, And the right turn'd to left, you'll plainly know, By changing ev'ry way their former place, What figure each pofition gives the mafs. But if you'd make it capable of more, You must fubjoin new parts to those before, And fo go on, if you would vary thofe ; Thus with the shapes the body greater grows: Wherefore 'tis downright folly to admit That this variety is infinite,

Unless you grant fome feeds immensely great.

Befides; embroider'd fluff, and purple dye, Or gaudy peacocks plumes, that court our eye, Excell'd by finer colours would seem less bright, And lofe their wonted power to delight.

So things more sweet than honey would appear, And founds more foft than fwans falute the ear; Nay, mufic's fweeteft airs would ceafe to please, Because there might be better than all these: 481

So on the contrary we ftill might fall From bad to worse, but ne'er to word of all; For ftill in nature fomething worse may rise, Still more offenfive to our ears, our eyes, Our imell, our tafle But now, fince 'tis confefs'd That fome things are in nature worst, some best. And we can fear no high'r, 'tis likewife true, Thefe various thapes are finite, and but few.

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