Matheson Collection > De rerum natura liber quintus

50 LUCRETIUS. BOOK V.
iV^
VLsesferv^eSindLfulgfre. It here takes a ^en ., i nstead of the usual abl..
as if scatif were =pljn^^. "^ "
terrore: in this sense Martial twice calls the Nemean lion terror
Nemees.
42. est_ nostra_f>ote_stas : lit. ' there is power belonging to us ', i.e. .
"* ' wehave the^power '. |
43. purgatumst : the enclitic est is common in Lucr. and earlier \
writeis ; so tumst just.below.
N.S- '^ quae^proelia etc. : ' what battles and dangers must then find their
— ^ wav into us '. Here. as often. Lur.r. nses the ^ activ e ^erund instead of
the |)assiye gemgdive ; for insinuare is here an acHve vcrb. Comp. i 1 11
aetenias ^uotiia m poenas in morte timenduvis t ; this construction wa s
d ropped bv later writers. though it was alwavs kept in Gree k. (L(p€\riT4oi>
TTjv v&Kiv being as good as an^eXijr^a r) ttSXls.
44. ingraiis is contracted from ingj^tiis and used'adverbiaIlyTL.S^^-2^., j
tu^^k^t^.^ 45. cuppedinis = cupiditatis ; an archaic word . ' ]
47. superbi&^spurcitia : the a is left short before sp ; see 1. 79; the
Augustan poets avoid placing a short vowel before sp, sc, st.
^fjtCtt^ k**^. spurcitia, ' impurity ' ; petulantia, ' brutal violgace '. to*—'^^^*'**'*''*^
48. 'desidiae, ''d iffere nt forms of sloth '. •i*JZi's*/t4^i£j<t^
■ 49. subegerit is perf. subj., qui being = <r«»/ is\ comp. cum suerit
just below.
51. digitarier, the archaic form of dignari, is here passive, and
followed by the inf. esse.
53. immortalibu^ : in pre- Augustan poets th e final s is often i^nored
i n short syl ls^bles. suerii is contracted from sueverit. Epicurus wrote
a book irepi deOv.
54. The ' nature of things * is here what we call ' natural science ' ;
it can have a wider meaning ; see 1. 199.
55—90. FoUowing Epicunis I point out the absolute reign of law in
the natural world ; and, as I have already proved that the mind of
man is viortal, so I will now prove that the world too must some day
come to an end. I will also describe the birth-time ofike world, and
above all the motions of the heavenly bodies, as it is mainly owing to
our ignorance ofthese that superstition has so strongahold upon us,
55 — 75. This long sentence may be split up into three, in trans-
lating, of four, five, and twelve lines. In this case dum must not be
translated.