From “On Nature”

Never in the whole-holy-All is anywhere empty—

    and never can more come to be than is.

From nothing, nothing comes—

to die utterly away is impossible, unheard of—

wherever you push on eternity, eternity is always there.

Earth gives of earth, air of air.

In the no-world below many fires burn.

Aether’s long roots plunge beneath the earth.

Only those with roots densely tangled send up

their spray of scattered shoots, birthing blooms above.

 ... and so the tall trees lay their eggs, the wild olives first.

 ... and fig  juice curdles and binds white milk.

 ... and what is lawful for all is a thread pulled tight

through the wide aether, the boundless sun’s bright ray.

 ... saffron’s bright streak on linen.

 ... never to say there is in life only one path.

 

____

1

οὐδέ τι τοῦ παντὸς κενεὸν πέλει οὐδὲ περισσόν.

2

ἔκ τε γὰρ οὐδάμ᾽ ἐόντος ἀμήχανόν ἐστι γενέσθαι

τό τ᾽ ἐὸν ἐξαπολέσθαι ἀνήνυστον καὶ ἄπυστον·

αἰεὶ γὰρ τῇ γ᾽ ἔσται ὅπῃ κέ τις αὶὲν ἐρείδῃ.

3

αὔξει δὲ χθὼν μὲν σφέτερον γένος, αἰθέρα δ᾽ αἰθήρ.

4

πολλὰ δ᾽ ἔνερθ᾽ οὔδεος πυρὰ καίεται

5

αἰθήρ — μακρῇσι κατὰ χθόνα δύετο ῥίζαις.

6

τῶν γὰρ ὅσα ῥίζαις μὲν ἐπασσυτέρ᾽, αὐτὰρ ὕπερθε

μανοτέροις ὅρπηξι καταστῆι τηλεθάοντα.

7

οὕτω δ᾽ ᾠοτοκεῖ μακρὰ δένδρεα πρῶτον ἐλαίας.

8

ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ὀπὸς γάλα λευκὸν ἐγόμφωσεν καὶ ἔδησε

…

9

ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πάντων νόμιμον διά τ᾽ εὐρυμέδοντος

αἰθέρος ἠνεκέως τέταται διά τ᾽ ἀπλέτου αὐγῆς.

10

βύσσῳ δὲ γλαυκῆς κρόκου καταμίσγεται ἀκτίς.

11

κορυφὰς ἑτέρας ἑτέρῃσι προσάπτων

μύθων, μήτε λέγειν ἀτραπὸν μίαν