De Rerum Natura

Lucretius

Lucretius. De Rerum Natura. William Ellery Leonard. E. P. Dutton. 1916.

  1. This craving 'tis that's Venus unto us:
  2. From this, engender all the lures of love,
  3. From this, O first hath into human hearts
  4. Trickled that drop of joyance which ere long
  5. Is by chill care succeeded. Since, indeed,
  6. Though she thou lovest now be far away,
  7. Yet idol-images of her are near
  8. And the sweet name is floating in thy ear.
  9. But it behooves to flee those images;
  10. And scare afar whatever feeds thy love;
  11. And turn elsewhere thy mind; and vent the sperm,
  12. Within thee gathered, into sundry bodies,
  13. Nor, with thy thoughts still busied with one love,
  14. Keep it for one delight, and so store up
  15. Care for thyself and pain inevitable.
  16. For, lo, the ulcer just by nourishing
  17. Grows to more life with deep inveteracy,
  18. And day by day the fury swells aflame,
  19. And the woe waxes heavier day by day-
  20. Unless thou dost destroy even by new blows
  21. The former wounds of love, and curest them
  22. While yet they're fresh, by wandering freely round
  23. After the freely-wandering Venus, or
  24. Canst lead elsewhere the tumults of thy mind.