De Rerum Natura

Lucretius

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

  1. And thus
  2. Began the loathing of the acorn; thus
  3. Abandoned were those beds with grasses strewn
  4. And with the leaves beladen. Thus, again,
  5. Fell into new contempt the pelts of beasts-
  6. Erstwhile a robe of honour, which, I guess,
  7. Aroused in those days envy so malign
  8. That the first wearer went to woeful death
  9. By ambuscades,- and yet that hairy prize,
  10. Rent into rags by greedy foemen there
  11. And splashed by blood, was ruined utterly
  12. Beyond all use or vantage. Thus of old
  13. 'Twas pelts, and of to-day 'tis purple and gold
  14. That cark men's lives with cares and weary with war.
  15. Wherefore, methinks, resides the greater blame
  16. With us vain men to-day: for cold would rack,
  17. Without their pelts, the naked sons of earth;
  18. But us it nothing hurts to do without
  19. The purple vestment, broidered with gold
  20. And with imposing figures, if we still
  21. Make shift with some mean garment of the Plebs.
  22. So man in vain futilities toils on
  23. Forever and wastes in idle cares his years-
  24. Because, of very truth, he hath not learnt
  25. What the true end of getting is, nor yet
  26. At all how far true pleasure may increase.
  27. And 'tis desire for better and for more
  28. Hath carried by degrees mortality
  29. Out onward to the deep, and roused up
  30. From the far bottom mighty waves of war.