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De Principiis Cogitandi. Liber Primus. Ad Favonium.


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De Principiis Cogitandi.
Liber Primus. Ad Favonium.


1 Unde Animus scire incipiat: quibus inchoet orsa
2 Principiis seriem rerum, tenuemque catenam
3 Mnemosyne: Ratio unde rudi sub pectore tardum
4 Augeat imperium; et primum mortalibus aegris
5 Ira, Dolor, Metus, et Curae nascantur inanes,
6 Hinc canere aggredior. Nec dedignare canentem,
7 Oh decus! Angliacae certe oh lux altera gentis!
8 Si qua primus iter monstras, vestigia conor
9 Signare incerta, tremulaque insistere planta.
10 Quin potius duc ipse (potes namque omnia) sanctum
11 Ad limen, (si rite adeo, si pectore puro,)
12 Obscurae reserans Naturae ingentia claustra.
13 Tu caecas rerum causas, fontemque severum
14 Pande, Pater; tibi enim, tibi, veri magne Sacerdos,
15 Corda patent hominum, atque altae penetralia Mentis.
16     Tuque aures adhibe vacuas, facilesque, Favoni,
17 (Quod tibi crescit opus) simplex nec despice carmen,
18 Nec vatem: non illa leves primordia motus,
19 Quanquam parva, dabunt. Laetum vel amabile quicquid
20 Usquam oritur, trahit hinc ortum; nec surgit ad auras,
21 Quin ea conspirent simul, eventusque secundent:
22 Hinc variae vitai artes, ac mollior usus,
23 Dulce et amicitiae vinclum: Sapientia dia
24 Hinc roseum accendit lumen, vultuque sereno
25 Humanas aperit mentes, nova gaudia monstrans,
26 Deformesque fugat curas, vanosque timores:
27 Scilicet et rerum crescit pulcherrima Virtus.
28 Illa etiam, quae te (mirum) noctesque diesque
29 Assidue fovet inspirans, linguamque sequentem
30 Temperat in numeros, atque horas mulcet inertes;
31 Aurea non alia se jactat origine Musa.
32     Principio, ut magnum foedus Natura creatrix
33 Firmavit, tardis jussitque inolescere membris
34 Sublimes animas; tenebroso in carcere partem
35 Noluit aetheream longo torpere veterno:
36 Nec per se proprium passa exercere vigorem est,
37 Ne sociae molis conjunctos sperneret artus,
38 Ponderis oblita, et coelestis conscia flammae.
39 Idcirco innumero ductu tremere undique fibras
40 Nervorum instituit: tum toto corpore miscens
41 Implicuit late ramos, et sensile textum,
42 Implevitque humore suo (seu lympha vocanda,
43 Sive aura est; tenuis certe), atque levissima quaedam
44 Vis versatur agens, parvosque infusa canales
45 Perfluit; assidue externis quae concita plagis,
46 Mobilis, incussique fidelis nuntia motus,
47 Hinc inde accensa contage relabitur usque
48 Ad superas hominis sedes, arcemque cerebri.
49 Namque illic posuit solium, et sua templa sacravit
50 Mens animi: hanc circum coeunt, densoque feruntur
51 Agmine notitiae, simulacraque tenuia rerum:
52 Ecce autem naturae ingens aperitur imago
53 Immensae, variique patent commercia mundi.
54     Ac uti longinquis descendunt montibus amnes
55 Velivolus Tamisis, flaventisque Indus arenae,
56 Euphratesque, Tagusque, et opimo flumine Ganges;
57 Undas quisque suas volvens, cursuque sonoro
58 In mare prorumpunt: hos magno acclinis in antro
59 Excipit Oceanus, natorumque ordine longo
60 Dona recognoscit venientum, ultroque serenat
61 Caeruleam faciem, et diffuso marmore ridet.
62 Haud aliter species properant se inferre novellae
63 Certatim menti, atque aditus quino agmine complent.
64     Primas tactus agit partes, primusque minutae
65 Laxat iter caecum turbae, recipitque ruentem.
66 Non idem huic modus est, qui fratribus: amplius ille
67 Imperium affectat senior, penitusque medullis,
68 Visceribusque habitat totis, pellisque recentem
69 Funditur in telam, et late per stamina vivit.
70 Necdum etiam matris puer eluctatus ab alvo
71 Multiplices solvit tunicas, et vincula rupit;
72 Sopitus molli somno, tepidoque liquore
73 Circumfusus adhuc: tactus tamen aura lacessit
74 Jamdudum levior sensus, animamque reclusit.
75 Idque magis simul ac solitum blandumque calorem
76 Frigore mutavit caeli, quod verberat acri
77 Impete inassuetos artus: tum saevior adstat,
78 Humanaeque comes vitae Dolor excipit; ille
79 Cunctantem frustra, et tremulo multa ore querentem
80 Corripit invadens, ferreisque amplectitur ulnis.
81 Tum species primum patefacta est candida Lucis
82 (Usque vices adeo Natura bonique, malique,
83 Exaequat, justaque manu sua damna rependit)
84 Tum primum, ignotosque bibunt nova lumina soles.
85     Carmine quo, Dea, te dicam, gratissima coeli
86 Progenies, ortumque tuum; gemmantia rore
87 Ut per prata levi lustras, et floribus halans
88 Purpureum Veris gremium, scenamque virentem
89 Pingis, et umbriferos colles, et caerula regna?
90 Gratia te, Venerisque Lepos, et mille Colorum,
91 Formarumque chorus sequitur, Motusque decentes.
92 At caput invisum Stygiis Nox atra tenebris
93 Abdidit, horrendaeque simul Formidinis ora,
94 Pervigilesque aestus Curarum, atque anxius Angor:
95 Undique Laetitia florent mortalia corda,
96 Purus et arridet largis fulgoribus AEther.
97     Omnia nec tu ideo invalidae se pandere Menti
98 (Quippe nimis teneros posset vis tanta diei
99 Perturbare, et inexpertos confundere visus)
100 Nec capere infantes animos, neu cernere credas
101 Tam variam molem, et mirae spectacula Lucis:
102 Nescio qua tamen haec oculos dulcedine parvos
103 Splendida percussit novitas, traxitque sequentes;
104 Nonne videmus enim, latis inserta fenestris
105 Sicubi se Phoebi dispergant aurea tela,
106 Sive lucernarum rutilus colluxerit ardor,
107 Extemplo huc obverti aciem, quae fixa repertos
108 Haurit inexpletum radios, fruiturque tuendo.
109     Altior huic vero sensu, majorque videtur
110 Addita, Judicioque arcte connexa potestas,
111 Quod simul atque aetas volventibus auxerit annis,
112 Haec simul, assiduo depascens omnia visu,
113 Perspiciet, vis quanta loci, quid polleat ordo,
114 Juncturae quis honos, ut res accendere rebus
115 Lumina conjurant inter se, et mutua fulgent.
116     Nec minor in geminis viget auribus insita virtus,
117 Nec tantum in curvis quae pervigil excubet antris
118 Hinc atque hinc (ubi Vox tremefecerit ostia pulsu
119 Aeriis invecta rotis) longeque recurset:
120 Scilicet Eloquio haec sonitus, haec fulminis alas,
121 Et mulcere dedit dictis et tollere corda,
122 Verbaque metiri numeris, versuque ligare
123 Repperit, et quicquid discant Libethrides undae,
124 Calliope quoties, quoties Pater ipse canendi
125 Evolvat liquidum carmen, calamove loquenti
126 Inspiret dulces animas, digitisque figuret.
127     At medias fauces, et linguae humentia templa
128 Gustus habet, qua se insinuet jucunda saporum
129 Luxuries, dona Autumni, Bacchique voluptas.
130     Naribus interea consedit odora hominum vis,
131 Docta leves captare auras, Panchaia quales
132 Vere novo exhalat, Floraeve quod oscula fragrant
133 Roscida, cum Zephyri furtim sub vesperis hora
134 Respondet votis, mollemque aspirat amorem.
135     Tot portas altae capitis circumdedit arci
136 Alma Parens, sensusque vias per membra reclusit;
137 Haud solas: namque intus agit vivata facultas,
138 Qua sese explorat, contemplatusque repente
139 Ipse suas animus vires, momentaque cernit.
140 Quid velit, aut possit, capiat, fugiatve, vicissim
141 Percipit imperio gaudens; neque corpora fallunt
142 Morigera ad celeres actus, ac numina mentis.
143     Qualis Hamadryadum quondam si forte sororum
144 Una, novos peragrans saltus, et devia rura;
145 (Atque illam in viridi suadet procumbere ripa
146 Fontis pura quies, et opaci frigoris umbra)
147 Dum prona in Latices speculi de margine pendet,
148 Mirata est subitam venienti occurrere Nympham:
149 Mox eosdem, quos ipsa, artus, eadem ora gerentem
150 Una inferre gradus, una succedere sylvae
151 Aspicit alludens; seseque agnoscit in undis.
152 Sic sensu interno rerum simulacra suarum
153 Mens ciet, et proprios observat conscia vultus.
154 Nec vero simplex ratio, aut jus omnibus unum
155 Constat imaginibus. Sunt quae bina ostia norunt;
156 Hae privos servant aditus; sine legibus illae
157 Passim, qua data porta, ruunt, animoque propinquant.
158 Respice, cui a cunis tristes extinxit ocellos,
159 Saeva et in aeternas mersit natura tenebras:
160 Illi ignota dies lucet, vernusque colorum
161 Offusus nitor est, et vivae gratia formae.
162 Corporis at filum, et motus, spatiumque, locique
163 Intervalla datur certo dignoscere tactu:
164 Quandoquidem his iter ambiguum est, et janua duplex,
165 Exclusaeque oculis species irrumpere tendunt
166 Per digitos. Atqui solis concessa potestas
167 Luminibus blandae est radios immittere lucis.
168     Undique proporro sociis, quacunque patescit
169 Notitiae campus, mistae lasciva feruntur
170 Turba voluptatis comites, formaeque dolorum
171 Terribiles visu, et porta glomerantur in omni.
172 Nec vario minus introitu magnum ingruit Illud,
173 Quo facere et fungi, quo res existere circum
174 Quamque sibi proprio cum corpore scimus, et ire
175 Ordine, perpetuoque per aevum flumine labi.
176     Nunc age quo valeat pacto, qua sensilis arte
177 Affectare viam, atque animi tentare latebras
178 Materies (dictis aures adverte faventes)
179 Exsequar. Inprimis spatii quam multa per aequor
180 Millia multigenis pandant se corpora seclis,
181 Expende. Haud unum invenies, quod mente licebit
182 Amplecti, nedum proprius deprendere sensu,
183 Molis egens certae, aut solido sine robore, cujus
184 Denique mobilitas linquit, texturave partes,
185 Ulla nec orarum circumcaesura coercet.
186 Haec conjuncta adeo tota compage fatetur
187 Mundus, et extremo clamant in limine rerum,
188 (Si rebus datur Extremum) primordia. Firmat
189 Haec eadem tactus (tactum quis dicere falsum
190 Audeat?) haec oculi nec lucidus arguit orbis.
191     Inde potestatum enasci densissima proles
192 Nam quodcunque ferit visum, tangive laborat
193 Quicquid nare bibis, vel concava concipit auris,
194 Quicquid lingua sapit, credas hoc omne, necesse est
195 Ponderibus, textu, discursu, mole, figura
196 Particulas praestare leves, et semina rerum.
197 Nunc oculos igitur pascunt, et luce ministra
198 Fulgere cuncta vides, spargique coloribus orbem
199 Dum de sole trahunt alias, aliasque superne
200 Detorquent, retroque docent se vertere flammas.
201 Nunc trepido inter se fervent corpuscula pulsu,
202 Ut tremor aethera per magnum, lateque natantes
203 Aurarum fluctus avidi vibrantia claustra
204 Auditus queat allabi, sonitumque propaget.
205 Cominus interdum non ullo interprete per se
206 Nervorum invadunt teneras quatientia fibras,
207 Sensiferumque urgent ultro per viscera motum.

Gray's annotations

1
Plan of the Poem.
6
Invocation to Mr Lock.
17
Use & Extent of the Subject.
32
Union of the Soul & Body.
39
Office of the nervous System.
50
Sensation, the Origin of our Ideas.
64
The Touch, our first & most extensive Sense.
81
Sight, our second Sense.
85
Digression on Light.
102
Sight, imperfect at first, gradually improves.
112
Ideas of Beauty, Proportion & Order.
116
Hearing, also improveable by the Judgement.
127
Taste.
130
Smell.
135
Reflection, the other Source of our Ideas.
154
Ideas approach the Soul, some by single Avenues, some by two, others by every Sense.
158
Illustration. Light, an Example of the first.
162
Figure, Motion, Extension, of the second.
168
Pleasure, Pain, of ye 3d.
172
Also Power, Existence, Unity, Succession, Duration.
177
Primary Qualities of Bodies.
183
Magnitude, Solidity, Mobility, Texture, Figure.

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0 De Principiis Cogitandi.
Liber Primus. Ad Favonium. 1 Explanatory

Title/Paratext] "[Prose translation by J. R. [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.

"[Prose translation by J. R. Hendrickson:]
On the Elements of Thought, Book I.

    From what source the Mind begins to have knowledge; from what beginnings Memory arises and begins to arrange events in order and to weave its slender chain; from what centre Reason extends its slow-maturing empire in the uncultivated breast; and how, in sick men at first, there come to birth Anger, Grief and Pain, Fears and baseless Anxieties: of these questions I begin to sing. And thou, O glory, O second sun of the English race, scorn not the singer. If thou first showest the way, no matter where, I will attempt to mark the faint traces and to follow, though with timorous tread. Better still, lead me thyself (for unto thee are all things possible) to the holy threshold (if I approach with due reverence and a pure heart) and throw wide the mighty doors of secret Nature. O Father, reveal the hidden causes of things and their awful source, for unto thee, great Priest of Truth, the hearts of men are open, and the secret places of the lofty Mind.
    Do you also, Favonius, lend attentive ears and favourable (since it is for you that the work advances) and do not scorn the simple song, nor the singer: these first-beginnings, although small, will give rise to no slight activities. Whenever anything joyful and lovable is conceived, it owes its origin to these first-beginnings; nor does it soar into the light of day unless they work together in harmony and favour the result. From this source [arise] the varied arts of life and milder practice, and the sweet bond of friendship; divine Wisdom lights her rosy torch from this source and with serene countenance enlarges the minds of men, shows the way to new joys, and scatters into flight monstrous cares and unsubstantial terrors: and thus, in truth, Virtue, fairest of all things, waxes strong. She, moreover, who constantly (wondrous deed) fosters you night and day with her inspiration, trains the obedient tongue to numbers and charms idle hours, the golden Muse, proudly affirms that she has no other origin.
    In the beginning, when Nature, the law-giver of creation, established the great covenant and bade lofty souls grow in sluggish bodies, she did not wish the ethereal part to grow torpid through long inaction in a dark prison; neither did she permit it to exercise its special vigour unchecked, lest it spurn the linked joints of the united mass, forgetful of weight and conscious of celestial fire. For this reason she caused fibres of nerves to vibrate in numberless ducts from all parts; then, distributing them throughout the body, she wove branches everywhere, a sensitive network, and filled the ducts with their own peculiar fluid (it is uncertain whether it should be called lymph or air; at any rate, it is very rarefied); some very slight force drives it along and circulates it; after it has been instilled, it flows through tiny canals.
    When this fluid is stirred by external impulses, being easily moved and a faithful messenger of the movement imparted to it by the impulses, it flows back from the point of the impact to the upper regions of the man, to the citadel of the skull. For there the mind, the rational element of the soul, has placed its throne and dedicated its temples; around the mind the sensations, ethereal images of things, come together and are swept along in a dense crowd. Then, lo! a full representation of boundless nature is revealed and the comings and goings of the varied universe are unfolded.
    And just as rivers flow down from distant mountains—the Thames studded with sails, the Indus full of yellow sand, and the Euphrates and the Tagus, and the Ganges with its fruitful stream: each one rolling its own waters—and burst with resounding flood into the sea; and welcoming Ocean receives them in its great basin and recognizes as its own the gifts of its children coming in a long line and keeps its blue face calm and laughs in scattered ripples: not otherwise do sensations vie with each other in their haste to pour themselves into the fresh mind, and they crowd around the entrances in a fivefold procession.
    The sense of touch plays the leading role; it goes first, widening the dark path for the lesser crowd, and restrains its headlong rush. This sense is not subject to the same restrictions that its brothers are: since it is the first-born, it asserts a wider sway, and has its dwelling deep in the marrow of the bones and throughout the viscera, and is widely diffused and has its being in the warp and woof of the skin. Indeed, even the child that has not yet struggled forth from its mother's womb dissolves the many layers of covering and bursts the chains; although it is as yet wrapped in soft slumber and bathed in warm fluid, nevertheless a very slight breeze has already been stimulating the sense of touch and opening the way for the breath of life. This activity is intensified the moment the child has exchanged the soothing warmth to which it has grown accustomed for the chill of the outer air, which assails its untried limbs with savage fury. Then a more excruciating sense of touch begins to function, and Pain, the constant companion of human life, takes possession. Striking home inexorably, Pain seizes the infant, despite his vain attempts to delay and the many wails of complaint from his quivering lips, and folds him in an iron embrace.
    Then for the first time the shining vision of light is made manifest (so true is it that Nature balances the alternations of good and of evil, and with a just hand makes amends for the damage that she has caused); then, as I say, for the first time the new eyes drink in the light of the sun that up to now has been unknown.
    With what song, Goddess, shall I speak of you, most pleasing child of heaven, and of your origin; of how you pass in divine progress over meadows bejewelled with light dew and fill the purple lap of spring with flower-scented breath; of how you paint the green landscape and the shady hills and the realms of deepest blue? The grace and charm of Venus attend you, and a chorus of a thousand colours and shapes of loveliness, and comely motions. But black Night hides her hated head in Stygian shadows: so too the face of horrible Fear and raging hordes of sleep-destroying Cares and carking Anguish. How different when an unclouded sky smiles with abundant shafts of radiance! Then the hearts of mortals blossom with joy.
    And yet you do not reveal yourself in full splendour to the mind in the weakness of infancy (perhaps because so great a flood of daylight might dazzle eyes still too tender and confuse them before they have grown accustomed to use) for the reason that you have no confidence that infant souls can take in and perceive such a varied host of visions revealed by miraculous light: nevertheless the shining novelty strikes the eyes of infants with some sort of charm and draws them along so that they follow; for have we not seen their gaze turn instantly to any place where the golden shafts of Phoebus shine through a broad window or the golden glow of lamps shines forth, and remain fixed, drinking in with insatiable appetite the beams that they have spied and taking delight in gazing?
    In truth, another power, firmly bound up with Judgement, one that is deeper and greater, seems to have been added to this sense. As soon as age, in the course of the circling years, shall have increased Judgement, this power, nourishing itself on all things with uninterrupted gaze, will perceive how great the force of place is, what strength order confers, and what the reward of combination, as the eyes conspire with each other to illuminate things with things and shine with united effort.
    And no less a power, planted in the two ears, grows and increases; keeping constant vigil, it not only stands like a sentinel in the curved hollows on either side (where Voice, borne on a chariot of air, makes the doors tremble at its knock), but also runs far back: in truth, this faculty gives to eloquence the sounds and speed of the thunderbolt and to speech the power to calm the hearts of men or to arouse them; it has found out how to accommodate words to rhythms and to bind them together in a verse; it has revealed what the waters of Libethra learn, whenever Calliope, or the Father of Music himself, chants a clear-voiced song or breathes sweet airs into the vocal reed and patterns the sounds with his fingers.
    The sense of taste has its seat in the midst of the jaws, the moist expanses of the tongue, whereby the delightful riot of savours finds its way in, the gifts of Autumn and the pleasure that Bacchus affords.
    Meanwhile the sense of smell has its seat in the noses of men; it has learned how to seize upon light airs, such as Panchaia breathes forth in early spring, or the fragrances that the dewy kisses of Flora impart when, at the hour of twilight, she shyly responds to the prayers of Zephyr and sighs with gentle love.
    This number of gates the gracious mother has placed around the lofty citadel of the head, and she has hidden avenues of sense throughout our bodies; but not these only, for a lively faculty works within, by means of which the mind examines itself, and having made the examination instantly perceives its own powers and movements. What it wishes, what it can do, what it should seize hold of and what it should fly from—all these it surveys one by one, rejoicing in its power of command. And neither bodies obedient to swift actions nor the notions of the mind escape unnoticed.
    One might, perhaps, liken it to one of the Hamadryads in the old story, who was wandering through strange mountain valleys and pathless tracts (and the unbroken silence and the cool darkness of the shade persuaded her to lie down on the green bank of a spring). While she was lying prone and hanging over the bank looking into the liquid mirror, she was amazed to see a nymph coming to meet her suddenly as she leaned toward the water: presently, playfully advancing and retreating, she realized that the nymph had the same limbs as herself, and the same features, that they advanced from and went back into the forest at the same instant. She recognized herself in the waters.
    In the same way, the mind, by an internal sense, arouses images of its own actions and consciously observes its own features. But no uniform pattern has been established, nor does a single law always govern all images. There are some that know two entrances: some confine themselves to particular entrances; others, without fixed laws, rush in helter-skelter, wherever a door opens up, and draw near the soul.
    Take for example the man whose unhappy eyes cruel nature has extinguished in the cradle and sunk in everlasting darkness; for him the light of day gleams unknown and on him the spring-time splendour of colours is lavished in vain, and the grace of living beauty. But the power is granted to him to distinguish with a sure sense of touch the shape of a body, and motions, and space, and the intervals between places: for, you see, these sensations have a two-fold pathway, a double entrance door, and when they have been locked out by the eyes, they hasten to burst in through the fingers. And yet the power of admitting beams of pleasing light has been granted to the eyes alone.
    Moreover, from every direction, wherever the field of conception stretches, a sportive band, companions of pleasure mingled with their friends, is borne along, and so also shapes of pain terrifying to behold, and they crowd around every entrance. And by entrances no less varied that power breaks in by means of which we know that we do and suffer and that things around us exist, each with its own characteristic form, and proceed in order and glide along through time in an uninterrupted stream.
    Come now! I shall explain by what means and by what art matter endowed with sensation is able to aim at and penetrate into the inner recesses of the mind (lend favouring ears to my words). In the first place, consider how many bodies of every sort are diffused through space. You will not find one that can be grasped by the mind, let alone be apprehended and accurately reported by the senses, that lacks definite mass and is without any firm solidity, whose parts are devoid of mobility or texture and that some outline of form does not define. In all its frame the universe testifies to the binding together of these bodies, and, as first-beginnings, they clamour on the outermost threshold of things (if any final limit can be assigned to things). The sense of touch proves that these things exist (who would dare to say that the sense of touch lies?), and the bright orb of the eye does not disprove that they exist.
    Hence a very thick crowd of powers arises: for if you believe what strikes the sense of sight or struggles to be felt, the sensations that enter through the nose or what the hollow ear takes in, what the tongue tastes—if you believe all this, you must believe that light particles, the seeds of things, are responsible for weight, texture, motion, mass, and shape. Now, therefore, they feed the eyes and with the aid of light you see all things gleaming brightly and the world splashed with colours, while they draw some fires from the sun and twist others from above aside and teach the flames to turn themselves back. Again, tiny bodies seethe and boil among themselves with vibrating pulsation, with the result that the vibration throughout the vast expanse of ether—waves of air flowing freely in all directions—is able to slip through the vibrating doors of the eager sense of hearing and begets sound. Meanwhile, in close array, vibrating bodies, with no intermediary, directly invade the delicate fibres of the nerves and, unassisted, set up a motion that produces sensation throughout the vitals."

The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 162-167.

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1 Unde Animus scire incipiat: quibus inchoet orsa
2 Principiis seriem rerum, tenuemque catenam
3 Mnemosyne: Ratio unde rudi sub pectore tardum
4 Augeat imperium; et primum mortalibus aegris
5 Ira, Dolor, Metus, et Curae nascantur inanes,
6 Hinc canere aggredior. Nec dedignare canentem,
7 Oh decus! Angliacae certe oh lux altera gentis!
8 Si qua primus iter monstras, vestigia conor
9 Signare incerta, tremulaque insistere planta.
10 Quin potius duc ipse (potes namque omnia) sanctum
11 Ad limen, (si rite adeo, si pectore puro,)
12 Obscurae reserans Naturae ingentia claustra.
13 Tu caecas rerum causas, fontemque severum
14 Pande, Pater; tibi enim, tibi, veri magne Sacerdos,
15 Corda patent hominum, atque altae penetralia Mentis.
16     Tuque aures adhibe vacuas, facilesque, Favoni,
17 (Quod tibi crescit opus) simplex nec despice carmen,
18 Nec vatem: non illa leves primordia motus,
19 Quanquam parva, dabunt. Laetum vel amabile quicquid
20 Usquam oritur, trahit hinc ortum; nec surgit ad auras,
21 Quin ea conspirent simul, eventusque secundent:
22 Hinc variae vitai artes, ac mollior usus,
23 Dulce et amicitiae vinclum: Sapientia dia
24 Hinc roseum accendit lumen, vultuque sereno
25 Humanas aperit mentes, nova gaudia monstrans,
26 Deformesque fugat curas, vanosque timores:
27 Scilicet et rerum crescit pulcherrima Virtus.
28 Illa etiam, quae te (mirum) noctesque diesque
29 Assidue fovet inspirans, linguamque sequentem
30 Temperat in numeros, atque horas mulcet inertes;
31 Aurea non alia se jactat origine Musa.
32     Principio, ut magnum foedus Natura creatrix
33 Firmavit, tardis jussitque inolescere membris
34 Sublimes animas; tenebroso in carcere partem
35 Noluit aetheream longo torpere veterno:
36 Nec per se proprium passa exercere vigorem est,
37 Ne sociae molis conjunctos sperneret artus,
38 Ponderis oblita, et coelestis conscia flammae.
39 Idcirco innumero ductu tremere undique fibras
40 Nervorum instituit: tum toto corpore miscens
41 Implicuit late ramos, et sensile textum,
42 Implevitque humore suo (seu lympha vocanda,
43 Sive aura est; tenuis certe), atque levissima quaedam
44 Vis versatur agens, parvosque infusa canales
45 Perfluit; assidue externis quae concita plagis,
46 Mobilis, incussique fidelis nuntia motus,
47 Hinc inde accensa contage relabitur usque
48 Ad superas hominis sedes, arcemque cerebri.
49 Namque illic posuit solium, et sua templa sacravit
50 Mens animi: hanc circum coeunt, densoque feruntur
51 Agmine notitiae, simulacraque tenuia rerum:
52 Ecce autem naturae ingens aperitur imago
53 Immensae, variique patent commercia mundi.
54     Ac uti longinquis descendunt montibus amnes
55 Velivolus Tamisis, flaventisque Indus arenae,
56 Euphratesque, Tagusque, et opimo flumine Ganges;
57 Undas quisque suas volvens, cursuque sonoro
58 In mare prorumpunt: hos magno acclinis in antro
59 Excipit Oceanus, natorumque ordine longo
60 Dona recognoscit venientum, ultroque serenat
61 Caeruleam faciem, et diffuso marmore ridet.
62 Haud aliter species properant se inferre novellae
63 Certatim menti, atque aditus quino agmine complent.
64     Primas tactus agit partes, primusque minutae
65 Laxat iter caecum turbae, recipitque ruentem.
66 Non idem huic modus est, qui fratribus: amplius ille
67 Imperium affectat senior, penitusque medullis,
68 Visceribusque habitat totis, pellisque recentem
69 Funditur in telam, et late per stamina vivit.
70 Necdum etiam matris puer eluctatus ab alvo
71 Multiplices solvit tunicas, et vincula rupit;
72 Sopitus molli somno, tepidoque liquore
73 Circumfusus adhuc: tactus tamen aura lacessit
74 Jamdudum levior sensus, animamque reclusit.
75 Idque magis simul ac solitum blandumque calorem
76 Frigore mutavit caeli, quod verberat acri
77 Impete inassuetos artus: tum saevior adstat,
78 Humanaeque comes vitae Dolor excipit; ille
79 Cunctantem frustra, et tremulo multa ore querentem
80 Corripit invadens, ferreisque amplectitur ulnis.
81 Tum species primum patefacta est candida Lucis
82 (Usque vices adeo Natura bonique, malique,
83 Exaequat, justaque manu sua damna rependit)
84 Tum primum, ignotosque bibunt nova lumina soles.
85     Carmine quo, Dea, te dicam, gratissima coeli
86 Progenies, ortumque tuum; gemmantia rore
87 Ut per prata levi lustras, et floribus halans
88 Purpureum Veris gremium, scenamque virentem
89 Pingis, et umbriferos colles, et caerula regna?
90 Gratia te, Venerisque Lepos, et mille Colorum,
91 Formarumque chorus sequitur, Motusque decentes.
92 At caput invisum Stygiis Nox atra tenebris
93 Abdidit, horrendaeque simul Formidinis ora,
94 Pervigilesque aestus Curarum, atque anxius Angor:
95 Undique Laetitia florent mortalia corda,
96 Purus et arridet largis fulgoribus AEther.
97     Omnia nec tu ideo invalidae se pandere Menti
98 (Quippe nimis teneros posset vis tanta diei
99 Perturbare, et inexpertos confundere visus)
100 Nec capere infantes animos, neu cernere credas
101 Tam variam molem, et mirae spectacula Lucis:
102 Nescio qua tamen haec oculos dulcedine parvos
103 Splendida percussit novitas, traxitque sequentes;
104 Nonne videmus enim, latis inserta fenestris
105 Sicubi se Phoebi dispergant aurea tela,
106 Sive lucernarum rutilus colluxerit ardor,
107 Extemplo huc obverti aciem, quae fixa repertos
108 Haurit inexpletum radios, fruiturque tuendo.
109     Altior huic vero sensu, majorque videtur
110 Addita, Judicioque arcte connexa potestas,
111 Quod simul atque aetas volventibus auxerit annis,
112 Haec simul, assiduo depascens omnia visu,
113 Perspiciet, vis quanta loci, quid polleat ordo,
114 Juncturae quis honos, ut res accendere rebus
115 Lumina conjurant inter se, et mutua fulgent.
116     Nec minor in geminis viget auribus insita virtus,
117 Nec tantum in curvis quae pervigil excubet antris
118 Hinc atque hinc (ubi Vox tremefecerit ostia pulsu
119 Aeriis invecta rotis) longeque recurset:
120 Scilicet Eloquio haec sonitus, haec fulminis alas,
121 Et mulcere dedit dictis et tollere corda,
122 Verbaque metiri numeris, versuque ligare
123 Repperit, et quicquid discant Libethrides undae,
124 Calliope quoties, quoties Pater ipse canendi
125 Evolvat liquidum carmen, calamove loquenti
126 Inspiret dulces animas, digitisque figuret.
127     At medias fauces, et linguae humentia templa
128 Gustus habet, qua se insinuet jucunda saporum
129 Luxuries, dona Autumni, Bacchique voluptas.
130     Naribus interea consedit odora hominum vis,
131 Docta leves captare auras, Panchaia quales
132 Vere novo exhalat, Floraeve quod oscula fragrant
133 Roscida, cum Zephyri furtim sub vesperis hora
134 Respondet votis, mollemque aspirat amorem.
135     Tot portas altae capitis circumdedit arci
136 Alma Parens, sensusque vias per membra reclusit;
137 Haud solas: namque intus agit vivata facultas,
138 Qua sese explorat, contemplatusque repente
139 Ipse suas animus vires, momentaque cernit.
140 Quid velit, aut possit, capiat, fugiatve, vicissim
141 Percipit imperio gaudens; neque corpora fallunt
142 Morigera ad celeres actus, ac numina mentis.
143     Qualis Hamadryadum quondam si forte sororum
144 Una, novos peragrans saltus, et devia rura;
145 (Atque illam in viridi suadet procumbere ripa
146 Fontis pura quies, et opaci frigoris umbra)
147 Dum prona in Latices speculi de margine pendet,
148 Mirata est subitam venienti occurrere Nympham:
149 Mox eosdem, quos ipsa, artus, eadem ora gerentem
150 Una inferre gradus, una succedere sylvae
151 Aspicit alludens; seseque agnoscit in undis.
152 Sic sensu interno rerum simulacra suarum
153 Mens ciet, et proprios observat conscia vultus.
154 Nec vero simplex ratio, aut jus omnibus unum
155 Constat imaginibus. Sunt quae bina ostia norunt;
156 Hae privos servant aditus; sine legibus illae
157 Passim, qua data porta, ruunt, animoque propinquant.
158 Respice, cui a cunis tristes extinxit ocellos,
159 Saeva et in aeternas mersit natura tenebras:
160 Illi ignota dies lucet, vernusque colorum
161 Offusus nitor est, et vivae gratia formae.
162 Corporis at filum, et motus, spatiumque, locique
163 Intervalla datur certo dignoscere tactu:
164 Quandoquidem his iter ambiguum est, et janua duplex,
165 Exclusaeque oculis species irrumpere tendunt
166 Per digitos. Atqui solis concessa potestas
167 Luminibus blandae est radios immittere lucis.
168     Undique proporro sociis, quacunque patescit
169 Notitiae campus, mistae lasciva feruntur
170 Turba voluptatis comites, formaeque dolorum
171 Terribiles visu, et porta glomerantur in omni.
172 Nec vario minus introitu magnum ingruit Illud,
173 Quo facere et fungi, quo res existere circum
174 Quamque sibi proprio cum corpore scimus, et ire
175 Ordine, perpetuoque per aevum flumine labi.
176     Nunc age quo valeat pacto, qua sensilis arte
177 Affectare viam, atque animi tentare latebras
178 Materies (dictis aures adverte faventes)
179 Exsequar. Inprimis spatii quam multa per aequor
180 Millia multigenis pandant se corpora seclis,
181 Expende. Haud unum invenies, quod mente licebit
182 Amplecti, nedum proprius deprendere sensu,
183 Molis egens certae, aut solido sine robore, cujus
184 Denique mobilitas linquit, texturave partes,
185 Ulla nec orarum circumcaesura coercet.
186 Haec conjuncta adeo tota compage fatetur
187 Mundus, et extremo clamant in limine rerum,
188 (Si rebus datur Extremum) primordia. Firmat
189 Haec eadem tactus (tactum quis dicere falsum
190 Audeat?) haec oculi nec lucidus arguit orbis.
191     Inde potestatum enasci densissima proles
192 Nam quodcunque ferit visum, tangive laborat
193 Quicquid nare bibis, vel concava concipit auris,
194 Quicquid lingua sapit, credas hoc omne, necesse est
195 Ponderibus, textu, discursu, mole, figura
196 Particulas praestare leves, et semina rerum.
197 Nunc oculos igitur pascunt, et luce ministra
198 Fulgere cuncta vides, spargique coloribus orbem
199 Dum de sole trahunt alias, aliasque superne
200 Detorquent, retroque docent se vertere flammas.
201 Nunc trepido inter se fervent corpuscula pulsu,
202 Ut tremor aethera per magnum, lateque natantes
203 Aurarum fluctus avidi vibrantia claustra
204 Auditus queat allabi, sonitumque propaget.
205 Cominus interdum non ullo interprete per se
206 Nervorum invadunt teneras quatientia fibras,
207 Sensiferumque urgent ultro per viscera motum.

Gray's annotations

1
Plan of the Poem.
6
Invocation to Mr Lock.
17
Use & Extent of the Subject.
32
Union of the Soul & Body.
39
Office of the nervous System.
50
Sensation, the Origin of our Ideas.
64
The Touch, our first & most extensive Sense.
81
Sight, our second Sense.
85
Digression on Light.
102
Sight, imperfect at first, gradually improves.
112
Ideas of Beauty, Proportion & Order.
116
Hearing, also improveable by the Judgement.
127
Taste.
130
Smell.
135
Reflection, the other Source of our Ideas.
154
Ideas approach the Soul, some by single Avenues, some by two, others by every Sense.
158
Illustration. Light, an Example of the first.
162
Figure, Motion, Extension, of the second.
168
Pleasure, Pain, of ye 3d.
172
Also Power, Existence, Unity, Succession, Duration.
177
Primary Qualities of Bodies.
183
Magnitude, Solidity, Mobility, Texture, Figure.

Works cited

  • The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966.

Contractions, italics and initial capitalization have been largely eliminated, except where of real import. Initial letters of sentences have been capitalized, all accents have been removed. The editor would like to express his gratitude to library staff at Pembroke College, Cambridge, at the British Library, and at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, for their invaluable assistance.

About this text

Editions in the Digital Library

  • 1775: The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. York, 1775.
  • 1800: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1800.
  • 1800: The Poems of Gray. A new edition. London, 1800.
  • 1814: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. Thomas James Mathias. London, 1814.
  • 1816: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1816.
  • 1826: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1826.
  • 1836: The Works of Thomas Gray, Volume I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1836.