The Works of John Dryden, Now First Collected in Eighteen Volumes. Volume 15

John Dryden's translation of Virgil's Aeneid remains one of the most formidable achievements in English poetry, and this volume presents Book VIII in all its martial and mythic grandeur. Dryden rendered the epic into heroic couplets that combine Roman gravitas with Restoration wit, capturing Aeneas's desperate appeal for allies, Venus's supplication to Vulcan, and the forging of that legendary shield bearing Rome's future glories. The narrative pulses with divine intervention and mortal purpose, as the Trojan hero prepares to descend to the underworld and fulfill his destiny as founder of an empire. Walter Scott's extensive critical apparatus and biographical essay accompany the text, offering 19th-century scholarly insight into Dryden's method and legacy. This is not merely a reproduction of an early 19th-century edition but a window into how the English-speaking world once engaged with the classical tradition, reading Virgil through the lens of one of their own supreme poets.