On the Nature of the Universe

by Lucretius

Therefore all things we see do not utterly perish Since nature makes good one thing from another, And does not suffer anything to be born Unless it is aided by another’s death.

Therefore nature works by means of hidden bodies. Yet all things everywhere are not held in packed tight In a mass of body. There is void in things

Time likewise does not exist by itself*, But a sense follows from things themselves Of what has been done in the past, what now is present, 460 And what in addition is to follow after. And no one has a sense of time distinct From the movement of things or from their quiet rest.

events never at all Exist by themselves as matter does, nor can Be said to exist in the same way as void. 480 But rightly you may call them accidents Of matter and of place in which things happen.

Now do you see the point I made before, That often it is a matter of great importance How these same atoms combine, in what positions They are held, what motions they give and take, 910 And that these same by quite small mutual changes Can make both fires and firs? As the words themselves Consist of elements a little changed When we say fires or firs with different sounds?

We find then that the universe is not bounded In any direction. If it were, it would need to have An extremity. But nothing can have an extremity Unless there is something outside to limit it, 960 Something beyond to bound it, some clear point Further than which our senses cannot reach. Now since we must admit that there is nothing Beyond the sum of things, it has no extremity. Therefore it has no end, nor any limit. Nor does it matter in what part of it 965 You stand: wherever a man takes his place It stretches always boundless, infinite.

Therefore there is a vast abyss of space So wide and deep that flashing thunderbolts Can neither in their courses traverse it Though they may fall through endless tracts of time, Nor by their travel make one whit the less The distance still to go. So huge extends 1005 Capacity of space on either side, No bounds at all, no limit anywhere.

the ether twinkles with the stars And the sun’s flame feeds on the sky’s blue pastures

That is just stunningly beautiful.

A joy it is*, when the strong winds of storm Stir up the waters of a mighty sea, To watch from shore the troubles of another. No pleasure this in any man’s distress, But joy to see the ills from which you are spared, And joy to see great armies locked in conflict 5 Across the plains, yourself free from the danger.

Our lives in very truth Are but an endless labour in the dark. For we, like children frightened of the dark*, 55 Are sometimes frightened in the light—of things

We see that everything Diminishes, and through the long lapse of time We note that all things seem to melt away As years and age withdraw them from our sight. 70 And yet the sum of things stays unimpaired.

But atoms, which are completely solid and single, When they pass through the empty void, and nothing Outside of them delays them, then they move As single units on the course on which they started. 160 Therefore they must be of surpassing speed And move much faster than the light of the sun, And cover a distance many times as great In the time the sun’s flash takes to cross the sky.

This is astonishing: two thousand years ago conceiving that light had a speed and that it was limited.

If atoms never swerve and make beginning Of motions that can break the bonds of fate*, And foil the infinite chain of cause and effect, 255 What is the origin of this free will Possessed by living creatures throughout the earth?

Good question.

if the same great force of nature stands Ready to throw the seeds of things together In the same way as they have here combined, Then of necessity you must accept That other earths exist, in other places, 1075 With varied tribes of men and breeds of beasts.

Life on other planets. Good job, Lucretius.

For we, like children frightened of the dark*, 87 Are sometimes frightened in the light—of things

And really it is ridiculous to imagine That spirits at the coupling and birth of animals Stand waiting to get in, immortal spirits Awaiting mortal bodies, numberless, Jostling and fighting to get in. Unless, that is, 780 They’ve made some sort of contract among themselves, First come first served, that puts an end to squabbling.

That's funny.

When you review the whole past length of time 855 Existing measureless, and think how mixed And various the motions of matter are, You will easily believe that the same seeds Of which we now are made, have often before Been placed in the positions they are now in.

I think he might be onto something.