The coolest Georgics subpage ever (name pending)

An interesting aspect to consider of literature is its own sustainability or longevity as a read text. How long lasting can any one piece of writing ever hope to be? I think that one aspect (amongst many) which allows for literature to endure through cultures is it’s perceived artistic value. This artistic value separates, say, a grocery store coupon flyer from A Catcher in the Rye. Sure, the two have their contemporary merits, but only one will survive the test of time and continue to hold value. This same principal applies to Virgil’s Georgics—a text which no longer carries quite the same informational value as it once did. There are certainly more modern agricultural texts which convey a knowledge of the land more appropriately than Virgil. Therefore, it should be of no surprise then that it is the more artful of the Georgics translations which remain popular, and by proxy, relevant. Dryden may very well be one of the most artistic of these translation endeavors, therefore sealing his spot in the literary canon centuries later, surpassing in popularity even modern direct translations of Georgics.

This is evident when comparing Dryden’s translation to a text such as H. Musgrave Wilkens’ A Literal Translation of the Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil. As you can surely ascertain, Wilkens attempts to provide a direct prose translation of Georgics, and the differences are quite noticeable. Something as plain as “Ceres first taught mankind how to turn the earth with iron share” (Wilkens, 41) is direct and comprehensible. However, Dryden turns these words into beautiful flowing meter, “First Ceres taught, the Ground with Grain to sow,/ And arm'd with Iron Shares the crooked Plough” (Dryden 219-220). Dryden’s artful rendition lends this passage a certain gravitas. Ceres—the Goddess whom this first book is centered around, becomes more of an actor in Dryden’s passage. She is a dynamic entity whose presence flows onward after her first teaching throughout the rest of this passage. Wilkens, conversely, doesn’t give the same life to Ceres as Dryden, instead placing her more in a historical frame.

There is evidence of this earlier as well, when Wilkens writes, “Mysia ne’er glories so proudly in her tilling, and even Gargara marvels at her harvests” (Wilkens, 39). This direct translation conveys this information—but it is information conveyed formally, almost as a news report. Dryden, on the other hand, treats this passage as a moment he is recounting in a narrative voice which calls upon more emotions. “Hence Mysia boasts her Harvests, and the tops/ Of Gargarus admire their happy Crops” (Dryden, 149-150). Dryden is far from dryly recalling events—quite the opposite. In his interpretation of the text, the crops become happy, and the Gods boastfull—true emotions, aspects which readers are more easily able to connect with.

To summate briefly, literal translations are merely not as accessible or necessarily appealing to modern audiences as more artful renditions. Dryden’s attempts to breathe new life into this centuries old work were fruitful precisely because he takes creative liberties. Dryden launched Georgics back into public consciousness centuries ago and remains relevant today because his writing stands on artistic merit as well as informational.

Works Cited

Georgics. Translated by John Dryden, quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A65112.0001.001/1:18?rgn=div1%3Bview.

Wilkens, H. Musgrave, translator. Literal Translation of the Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil. Longman, Green, and Co, 1873, Google Books, books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZghPAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Georgics&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJ9LTAk7HWAhWMIcAKHSeZCEs4ChDoAQhVMAg#v=onepage&q&f=false.