Lucretius III 592-623 | Dickinson College Commentaries

Quīn etiam fīnis dum vītae vertitur intrā,

saepe aliquā tamen ē causā labefacta vidētur

īre animā ac tōtō soluī dē corpore

et quasi suprēmō languēscere tempore voltūs595

molliaque exsanguī cadere omnia membra.

quod genus est, animō male factum cum perhibētur

aut animam līquisse; ubi iam trepidātur et omnēs

extrēmum cupiunt vītae reprehendere vinclum;

conquassātur enim tum mēns animaeque potestās600

omnis. et haec ipsō cum corpore conlabefīunt,

ut gravior paulō possit dissolvere causā.

Quid dubitās tandem quīn extrā prōdita corpus

inbēcilla forās in apertō, tegmine dēmptō,

nōn modo nōn omnem possit dūrāre per aevom,605

sed minimum quodvīs nequeat cōnsistere tempus?

nec sibi enim quisquam moriēns sentīre vidētur

īre forās animam incolumem dē corpore tōtō,

nec prius ad iugulum et superā succēdere faucēs,

vērum dēficere in certā regiōne locātam;610

ut sēnsūs aliōs in partī quemque sua scit

dissoluī. quod sī inmortālis nostra foret mēns,

nōn tam sē moriēns dissolvī conquererētur,

sed magis īre forās vestemque relinquere, ut anguis.

Dēnique cūr animī numquam mēns cōnsiliumque615

gignitur in capite aut pedibus manibusve, sed ūnīs

sēdibus et certīs regiōnibus omnibus haeret,

sī nōn certa loca ad nāscendum reddita cuique

sunt, et ubī quicquid possit dūrāre creātum

atque ita multimodis partītīs artubus esse,620

membrōrum ut numquam existat praeposterus ōrdō?

usque adeō sequitur rēs rem, neque flamma creārī

flūminibus solitāst neque in ignī gignier algor.

notes

592: quin etaim "and indeed." finīs ... vitae ... intra "within the limits of life;" when used as a preposition, intra regularly follows its object.

597: perhibetur is impersonal "it is asserted," which has as its complements two phrases that describe persons who have fainted. These phrases are: (a) animo male factum [esse] "it's happened badly for his mind," and (b) animam liquisse "his anima has left."

598: trepidatur is impersonal. Omnes seems to refer to those who have witnessed a person fainting or having a seizure, although it might refer to all those who experience such events.

601: haec Lucretius points to the two abstract ideas (i.e., mens, animae potestas) with a neuter plural adjective. The feminine would also have been possible. Cf. line 559.

603: prodita and inbecilla (line 604) modify an understood anima.

607: sibi ethical dative.

609: both ad iugulum ("toward the lower part of the throat") and fauces modify succedere. supera adverb "above."

610: verum adversative "but."

611: quemque is in apposition to sensus alios.

615-623: The mind occupies a certain place (the chest) in the body.

615: animi ... mens consiliumque the rational, as opposed to sensing or emotional, part of the animus.

616: unis sedibus "in its one proper place;" the use of the plural is more poetic than strictly logical.

620: multimodis partitis artubus "with its limbs distributed in various ways." The thought is that just as the parts of any organ have their proper place, so each organ within a human body has its proper place. artubus = artibus, which Lucretius rarely writes; Cf. lines 7 and 644.

623: gignier present passive infinitive (= gigni) Cf. lines 67, 263, 443.

vocabulary

labefaciō –ere –fecī –factus OR –labefīō –fierī –factus (labō and faciō –ere): to cause to totter or waver; labefactus, a, um: shaken; yielding, melting

595

languēscō –ere –languī: to become faint, grow weak, droop (> langueo)

exsanguis –e: without blood; lifeless; pale with terror, terrified

perhibeō –ēre –uī –itus: to hold persistently; maintain, assert; say, report; to be asserted

linquō linquere līquī: to leave, relinquish

trepidō trepidāre trepidāvī trepidātus: to be fearful/agitated, tremble

reprehendō reprehendere reprehendī reprehēnsus: to hold back, seize, catch; blame; to hold on

600

conquassō, conquassāre, conquassāvī, conquassātum: to shake, to shatter, to disturb

collabefīō,-fierī, -factus sum: to be made to totter, to be made to reel; to be brought to ruin, to overthrow; to collapse

dissolvō dissolvere dissolvī dissolūtus: to loosen, dissolve, destroy

quid: what; why

extrā: outside / outside of, beyond, without, beside; except

imbēcillus –e: weak, feeble

forās: out of doors, out through the doors, forth, out

apertus aperta apertum: open

tegmen (tegumen) –inis n.: a means of covering; skin, hide; clothing; shield; tegmen crurum, close–fitting trousers worn by Phrygians (> tego)

dēmō dēmere dēmpsī dēmptus: to remove

605

dūrō dūrāre dūrāvī dūrātus: to harden; to endure

minimus –a –um: least, smallest, very small, minute, trifling, insignificant

quīvīs quaevīs quodvīs or (subst.) quidvīs: who or what thou pleasest; any whatever, any

nequeō nequīre nequiī/nequīvī nequitum: to be unable

incolumis incolumis incolume: unharmed, uninjured; alive, safe; unimpaired

iugulum –ī n.: the joining part; the throat (rel. to iungo)

succēdō succēdere successī successus: to climb; advance; follow; succeed in

faux faucis f.: the throat, gullet; pl. jaws, mouth

610

vērum: but indeed, but yet, yet, but

locō locāre locāvī locātus: to place, put, station; arrange; contract (for); farm out (taxes) on contract

quod: because, the fact that, which

immortālis immortālis immortāle: immortal, not subject to death; eternal, everlasting, perpetual; imperishable

conqueror –querī –questus sum: to complain, lament

anguis anguis m. or f.: snake

615

haereō haerēre haesī haesūrus: to stick to, hang on to

620

multimodis: variously, in many ways

partiō – īre –īvī –ītum: to share, part, distribute, apportion, divide

artus artūs m.: limb, leg

exsistō –sistere –stitī: to emerge, appear, be visible, be

praeposterus -a, -um: reversed, inverted; perverted, distorted; absurd reversed, inverted; perverted, distorted; absurd

algor, algōris m.: cold, chilliness; (in the plural) cold weather cold, chilliness; (in the plural) cold weather