Abstract
Dryden's translation of Virgil's Georgics amplifies Virgilian ideas of peace. Dryden is keenly attuned to the complex balance of conditions that Virgil's work proposes as the makings of a peaceful life: deep awareness of natural cycles, toilsome yet fulfilling labour, and distance from battle. The Georgics do not advise oblivion, nor do they place naive hope in a future without conflict. But they do propose a form of positively defined peace, which Dryden interrogates throughout the translation. Only one of the fifteen instances of the word ‘peace’ in the translation is a direct rendering of the Latin noun; the other fourteen appear in lines that Dryden has manipulated in order to make explicit the Georgics’ engagement with various forms of peace. This article discusses many of Dryden's interventions, and concludes that like their Latin counterparts, Dryden's Georgics offer no promise of total unity or stability. Questions of peace pervade Virgil's entire body of work; Dryden's translation reveals his awareness of these questions, while adding further uncertainties.
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