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NATURE THE ARTIST by EMPEDOCLES

First Line: AS PAINTERS, MEN OF KNOWLEDGE IN THEIR ART
Last Line: SO BE ASSURED: THE MUSE DECLARED MY TALE.
Subject(s): NATURE;

AS painters, men of knowledge in their art,
Tint votive-tablets to a rich design,
And blend the various colours, quick to hand,
In harmonizing hues, now more, now less,
A mimic world, born at their touch appearing --
Trees in their likeness, man and womankind,
Beasts and birds, fish in the waters living,
And long-enduring gods, more great than all --
So too, -- let not deceit but truth prevail --
The generation of all mortal things
Born visible, a countless host, sprang forth
From elements compounded, less and more.
So be assured: the Muse declared my tale.



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