Matheson Collection > De rerum natura liber quintus

A«tfrM.
52 LUCRETIUS. BOOK V.
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73. ille is often used by Lucr. to express vividly admiration or, as
here, contempt.
divom tnetus, BeicriSaLfxovla, is the main cause of human misery, ac-
cording to Lucr. ; and to banish it is the sole aim of the study of nature.
N.S i nsinuar it is here injran s., thou gh not in 1. 44 ; the zjw qfjhe verb
p^'&xn% pcctor^.
74. qin tn : fo i^the hiatus see n. to 1. 7. orbi is the* archai c abl. ;
, again, 1. 707. Lucr. uses also ig^, luci, parti, labi, in this book.
'{f ^ i^XitfJ» sancta and tuetur are to be taken together.
44 "Tn' 75. lacus are often coupled with liici as holy places.
TJ . J^natura gubernans, ^iWotmg nature ' ; another metaphor from
a ship. Comp. 1. 107, from which it appears that natura and fortuna
are identical.
79. libera : see n. to 1. 47. cursus : internal acc. after lustrare.
^if*^^}!^^S 80. morigera, ' obliging enougli ' ; sarcastic. aniniantes : see n. to
8 1 . 'Trattone} ' for ethoii ght '. Trpovolq..
82. qtn, 'e yen t h(;ise ^o'. Part of the I. is quoted by Horace,
Sat. i 5 loi dcos didici securum agere aevnin.
Si
eodem tonpore in the same sense : see 11. 756, 765. ratione = modo.
85. aetherii s in oris , ' in the regions of aether '. In Lucr. aethe r
i s always the higher. unclouded skv . aer llie lower abode of storms nn^l
clouds : see 11. 500 — 504. orae luminis, 'the region s of light', i.e. the
world. is a favourite phrase of Lucr.
^^-fA . 87. dominos acres, i.e. the gods ; they are called domini stiperbi,
ii 1091.^ *V»^ C^*Wl
.^. 8q. finita etc.^'in short on what prmciple each thing has its
*-*^? power^efined aiKT Tts deep-set boundary mark'. With terminus, sc.
^,ji^Jt^. finitus sit. The metaphor is from a land-mark dividing two properties ;
here the terminus divides for each thing the possible from the im-
possible.
90. sit belongs io finita above; Lucr. likes to keep separate tlj e
parts of these compound tenses;^ see 11. 177, 546, 583, 858, 1225,
1416.
91 — 109. To proceed to the demonstration I have promised, it is certain,
however astonishing it may sound, that the zvhole worldwill one day
be destroyed. Vou yourself may live to see it.