The Eclogues and The Georgics by Virgil

Continuing on with my reviews of classical poetry, I stumbled across the ancient Roman poet, Virgil. After reading The Divine Comedy I was intrigued to learn more of Dante's Spiritual Guide, Virgil.
The first point to mention about this poet's work is that any modern translation is only a rough adaptation of the original work due to the age of the text. Still, The Eclogues, a collection of ten pastoral poems prove an interestingly relevant read with their message of turning swords into ploughs. The odd phrasing and imagery of The Eclogues as well as cultural and religious references may throw the reader off at times, but Virgil's rustic narrative is relatively easy-going. The Eclogues are fairly short, only about two pages or so each, however their brevity is compensated by the poetic (and at times didactic) voice of the poet.
The Georgics are comprised of four books, each of about twenty or so pages. Virgil uses a combination of script-based dialogue and prose poetry to create a series of sketches denoting rural life in ancient Rome. The first book asserts Virgil's idea of agriculture over warfare and is summed up by the beautiful lines:

'Right and wrong are confused here,

There's so much war in the world.

Evil has so many faces, the plough so little.'

The second book includes Virgil's advice to farmers on wine, arboreal cultivation, yielding of fruits and the book concludes with a likening of farming to acts of warfare on the earth.

The third book of The Georgics addresses shepherds and horse owners as well as Virgil's warnings about diseases of livestock and the profound effect this has on the farmer.

The final book, and my personal favourite of Virgil's work, describes the maintenance of the beehive. The bees are likened to the Roman people, from the servile drones to the protected queen. Virgil satirises his native country and the notion of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, sweetness is to be found through the cultivation of honey not through bloodshed or glory. Again Virgil describes diseases which may afflict the bees, only this time the image is extended into a story describing a character called Proteus who is angry at the god Orpheus for the loss of his bees. The story develops as Eurydice, a mythological character is killed by a snake bite. This peculiar narrative is an allegory perhaps for losses and victories experienced not by the soldier but by the farmer. 

Although Virgil's works may seem daunting and obtuse to the modern reader, there are present many socially relevant themes, such as that of subsistence farming and pacifism. As with most classical texts, the reader would be well advised to consult the footnotes and translations in the appendix, however,Virgil for the best part of The Eclogues and The Georgics maintains the common language of man.