Pastoral: Difference between revisions
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A pastoral is "a deliberately conventional [[poetry|poem]] expressing an urban poet's nostalgic image of the peace and simplicity of the life of shepherds and other rural folk in an idealized natural setting" (Abrams 202). | A '''pastoral''' is "a deliberately conventional [[poetry|poem]] expressing an urban poet's nostalgic image of the peace and simplicity of the life of shepherds and other rural folk in an idealized natural setting" (Abrams 202). The name derived from the Latin word ''pastor'', shepherd. | ||
The name derived from the Latin word ''pastor'', shepherd. | |||
The adjective "pastoral" can be applied to other genres of literatures that take up the motifs of life in the countryside. | The adjective "pastoral" can be applied to other genres of literatures that take up the motifs of life in the countryside. | ||
Examples from the [[Renaissance]] include [[Edmund Spenser]]'s ''Shepherd's Calendar'' (1579, a collection of pastoral poems) and [[ | Examples from the [[Renaissance]] include [[Edmund Spenser]]'s ''Shepherd's Calendar'' (1579, a collection of pastoral poems) and [[Philip Sidney]]'s ''Arcadia'' (1581-84, a pastoral [[romance]]). | ||
In the [[Restoration]] period pastoral was still very popular. The tone got a bit more sensual (e.g., [[Aphra Behn]], "The Willing Mistress", 1673), was transposed to the city (e.g., [[John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester|Rochester]], "A Ramble in St James' Park") or was satirically transposed to the low and obscene (e.g., Rochester, "Fair Chloris in a Pigsty Lay"). | |||
==Reference== | |||
M. H. Abrams: ''A Glossary of Literary Terms''. Seventh Edition. New York et al.: Harcourt Brace, 1999. | |||
[[Category:Literature]] | |||
Latest revision as of 16:12, 14 October 2009
A pastoral is "a deliberately conventional poem expressing an urban poet's nostalgic image of the peace and simplicity of the life of shepherds and other rural folk in an idealized natural setting" (Abrams 202). The name derived from the Latin word pastor, shepherd.
The adjective "pastoral" can be applied to other genres of literatures that take up the motifs of life in the countryside.
Examples from the Renaissance include Edmund Spenser's Shepherd's Calendar (1579, a collection of pastoral poems) and Philip Sidney's Arcadia (1581-84, a pastoral romance).
In the Restoration period pastoral was still very popular. The tone got a bit more sensual (e.g., Aphra Behn, "The Willing Mistress", 1673), was transposed to the city (e.g., Rochester, "A Ramble in St James' Park") or was satirically transposed to the low and obscene (e.g., Rochester, "Fair Chloris in a Pigsty Lay").
Reference
M. H. Abrams: A Glossary of Literary Terms. Seventh Edition. New York et al.: Harcourt Brace, 1999.