Virgil

Kimberly Johnson

'I have seen the armies of wind clash uprooting plump grain left and right from deepest roots' 'Georgic' means 'to work the earth', and Virgil's poetic celebration of the land (29 BC) combines practical wisdom with exuberant fantasy and eulogies to the rhythms of nature. It describes hills strewn with wild berries, recommends watching the stars to determine when to plant seeds and gives guidance on making wine and keeping bees. Yet the Georgics also tells of angry gods, fierce battles and a natural world fraught with danger from storms, pests and plagues. At once a reflection on the cycles of life, death and rebirth, an argument for the nobility of labour and a passionate hymn to the Roman Empire of Virgil's times, the Georgics is one of the most extraordinary poems of the classical world. Kimberly Johnson's lyrical facing-page verse translation captures all the lush beauty and abundant imagery of Virgil's original, preserving its dynamic structure and dramatic poetic effects. This edition also contains a chronology, further reading, notes, glossary and an introduction discussing Virgil's life and the ambiguities and allusions in his work. Translated with an introduction and notes by KIMBERLY JOHNSON

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