"Thus surely bound, yet be not over bold, The slippery god will try to loose his hold: And various forms assume to cheat thy sight; And with vain images of beasts affright; With foamy tusks, he seems a bristly boar, Or imitates the lion's angry roar; Breaks out in crackling flames to shun thy snares, Hisses a dragon, or a tiger stares; Or with a wile thy caution to betray, In fleeting streams attempts to slide away. But thou, the more he varies forms, beware To strain his fetters with a stricter care. Till, tiring all his arts, he turns again To his true shape, in which he first was seen."
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The Works of Virgil (John Dryden)
The Works of Virgil (1697), began in 1694 and published by subscription, was John Dryden's most ambitious and defining work as a translator. The publication of the translation of Virgil was a national event and brought Dryden the sum of £1,400.
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