Between 42 and 39 BC, Vergil composed the first Latin pastoral collection, entitled Eclogues, and consisting of ten poems in the form in which it has come down to us. Vergil’s Eclogues represent the introduction of a new genre, the pastoral, to Latin literature, and recall the Hellenistic poet Theocritus who invented this genre. The fact that the Roman author inserts into the text elements from other Greek and Latin texts modifying them through innovations and changes (constitutes an attractive field of research. This book shows that Vergil’s dialogue with the earlier Greek and Latin tradition is not only typical of the way in which Latin literature was written in the 1st century BC; rather, it is also a dynamic literary method used to affect and define the character of each Eclogue.

Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19 B.C.), known in English as Virgil, was perhaps the single greatest poet of the Roman empire—a friend to the emperor Augustus and the beneficiary of wealthy and powerful patrons. Most famous for his epic of the founding of Rome, the Aeneid, he wrote two other collections of poems: the Georgics and the Bucolics, or Eclogues. The Eclogues were Virgil's first published poems. Ancient sources say that he spent three years composing and revising them at about the age of thirty. Though these poems begin a sequence that continues with the Georgics and culminates in the Aeneid, they are no less elegant in style or less profound in insight than the later, more extensive works. These intricate and highly polished variations on the idea of the pastoral poem, as practiced by earlier Greek poets, mix political, social, historical, artistic, and moral commentary in musical Latin that exerted a profound influence on subsequent Western poetry. Poet Len Krisak's vibrant metric translation captures the music of Virgil's richly textured verse by employing rhyme and other sonic devices. The result is English poetry rather than translated prose. Presenting the English on facing pages with the original Latin, Virgil's Eclogues also features an introduction by scholar Gregson Davis that situates the poems in the time in which they were created.

Originally translated and published in 1987, this volume contains a full text and translation of Giovanni Boccaccio's Eclogues, alongside textual and historical notes including an explanation of Boccaccio's life, his artistic achievement, and the sources and influences.

Virgil's great lyrics, rendered by the acclaimed translator of Gilgamesh The Eclogues of Virgil gave definitive form to the pastoral mode, and these magically beautiful poems, which were influential in so much subsequent literature, perhaps best exemplify what pastoral can do. "Song replying to song replying to song," touchingly comic, poignantly sad, sublimely joyful, the various music that these shepherds make echoes in scenes of repose and harmony, and of hardship and trouble in work and love. Available in ebook for the first time, this English-only edition of The Eclogues of Virgil includes concise, informative notes and an introduction that describes the fundamental role of this deeply original book in the pastoral tradition.

The Latin text with a verse translation and brief notes.

Giovanni Boccaccio is famous for his masterpiece The Decameron, but his Latin Eclogues are relatively unknown. David R. Slavitt’s English translation makes these important pieces accessible to a new audience of readers. Elegant and engaging, these pastoral poems address the great issues of Boccaccio’s Italy, including the political and military intrigues of the day. Boccaccio modeled his poems on Petrarch’s eclogues and, before him, those of Virgil and Theocritus. Slavitt’s impeccable translations are highly readable, while his editorial interjections both elucidate the poet’s intended meaning and frame the poems for the reader. These charming works offer wonderful insight into daily life in Renaissance Italy. A prolific and award-winning translator, Slavitt turns the Eclogues into vibrant modern English, capturing not only the words of Boccaccio but the flavor of the original language. The availability of The Latin Eclogues in English is a major contribution to the study of the literature and history of the Italian Renaissance.