John Dryden's 1680 Preface to Ovid's Epistles laid out three types of translation: metaphrase (word-for-word), paraphrase (sense-for-sense), and imitation (loose adaptation). His argument for the middle path of paraphrase, along with his practical observations on the translator's work, made this an early and clear discussion of translation in English.

This transcription begins where Dryden transitions from discussing Ovid's life and work to articulating his translation theory. I have transcribed this from a 1776 printing and retained as best I could the spelling, capitalization and punctuation of that edition. The book is available on the Internet Archive.

Ross Belot January 16, 2026

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