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A review by upnorth
The Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid of Virgil by Cecil Day-Lewis, Virgil
5.0
This was recommended in the newsletter of a farmer I follow on social media, and I'm glad I picked it up. It was a quick read, but can also be read in small sections.
I thought it was gorgeous, funny, horrifying, a nostalgic (for Virgil!) tour of rural Italy back when farming was very much manual labor. Observations of stunning specific beauty and philosophical remarks alternate with detailed descriptions of how to test soil using a sooty basket as a filter, how to care for bees, train a pair of oxen, breed racehorses, choose land for various kinds of crops. The only stretch that seemed dull to me was a passage of praise for the gods and his patrons. One of my favorite parts was his statement that Jove made life hard for the human race so that we would become creative (not because we were bad).
I thought it was gorgeous, funny, horrifying, a nostalgic (for Virgil!) tour of rural Italy back when farming was very much manual labor. Observations of stunning specific beauty and philosophical remarks alternate with detailed descriptions of how to test soil using a sooty basket as a filter, how to care for bees, train a pair of oxen, breed racehorses, choose land for various kinds of crops. The only stretch that seemed dull to me was a passage of praise for the gods and his patrons. One of my favorite parts was his statement that Jove made life hard for the human race so that we would become creative (not because we were bad).