Pastoral
A poem idealizing rural life, shepherds, and the countryside.
About the Pastoral
A pastoral is a poem set in an idealized countryside, traditionally peopled by shepherds whose songs, loves, and conversations stand at one remove from the corruptions of court and city. The form prizes simplicity, ease, and a deliberate distance from urban concerns.
Structure
No fixed form. The defining feature is setting and convention: rural landscape, shepherd-speakers, ample leisure, often a singing contest or dialogue between herdsmen. The pastoral elegy is a major subgenre that uses the convention to mourn a fellow poet.
A pastoral has no set meter or rhyme. It is defined by its setting and conventions: an idealized countryside, shepherd speakers, songs and dialogues.
A Short History
- 3rd century BCTheocritus writes the Idylls in Greek.
- 1st century BCVirgil's Eclogues give the form its Latin shape.
- 1579Edmund Spenser publishes The Shepheardes Calender.
- 1800Wordsworth's Michael brings in real rural lives.
- TodayIts spirit lives on in nature poetry.
Famous Pastorals
- 01"Eclogues" (ten pastoral poems)Virgil
- 02"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"Christopher Marlowe
- 03"Lycidas"John Milton
Questions About the Pastoral
The things people ask most, answered in a sentence or two.