Early Augustan Virgil makes accessible a substantial text by a pioneer in couplet writing and in the theory and practice of translation, vindicating Pope's distinction when he enjoins his reader to "praise the easy vigor of a line,/ Where Denham's strength and Waller's sweetness join." The volume thus puts Denham's version of Virgil sympathetically into a context where it can be seen to make an important contribution to the development of the English Augustan style, thus making a case for the formative influence of classical translation upon the development of English poetry. It also makes a contribution to the reception of Virgil and will be of interest to readers of classical and English poetry alike. --Book Jacket.