Georgics

Created by Delma Mbulaiteye

Georgics Book 4 by Virgil (95-105)

Book IV of the Georgics, by Virgil, delves into the consequences of improper animal management through his description of a bee’s utopia in relation to the outside human environment. Dryden’s translation paints a picture for the reader and flows evenly with his use of a coupled rhyme scheme. McDonald’s is minimal in his translation and trims to the bare bones leaving little to question for the reader.

Dryden exclaims “they issue forth, And every knight is proud to prove his worth” (105) versus McDonald’s “yet the same nation and race will soldier on” (51). Both offer a vision of the bees as a collective, but Dryden places the action on the bees whereas McDonald limits that imagery of bees as an individual within a collective. Dryden’s attention to the individual bee highlights how, in terms of sustainability, we must lay the importance on the one bee as to not lose sight of what their loss would do to our society. McDonald’s translation leans on being historically accurate, but his lack of detail does not incite the same level of unease of a beeless Earth as Dryden’s where are taken through a battle preparation in order for the bees to bring life to the outside human environment.

The actions of bees and their necessity to sustainability are interwoven in each segment of Dryden’s perception of Georgics Book IV. The detail mirrors how as minute as bees seem, their loss would have catastrophic effects that rippled into our own lives. McDonald’s lessens the plight of the bees, detracting from their relationship with sustainability. It’s harder to feel aroused to change when he insinuates that the bees will go on regardless of our own actions. Dryden and McDonald reenvisioned Virgil’s Georgics with different emphases on imagery versus historical context, but ultimately raise the issue of sustainability with bees as the model for our own actions.

Works Cited

The works of Virgil containing his Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis : adorn'd with a hundred sculptures / translated into English verse by Mr. Dryden. Virgil., Virgil. Bucolica., Virgil. Georgica., Virgil. Aeneis., Dryden, John, 1631-1700.London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1697.

McDonald, Peter. “‘The Bees (Virgil’s Georgics: Book IV).’” TLS, 2007, https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/poem-week-bees-virgils-georgics-book-iv/. Accessed 19 11 2020.