Pastoral Literary term – Meaning and Examples

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  Pastoral:

Pastoral is a mode of literature in which the author employs various techniques to place the complex life into simple one. Pastoral as a mode occurs in many types of literature (poetry drama etc.) As well as all genres(most notable the pastoral elegy).

• Terry Gifford Defines pastoral in three ways;

1. The first way emphasizes the historical literary perspective of the pastoral in which authors recognise and discuss life in the country and in particular the life of a shepherd.

2. The second type of the pastoral is literature that “describes the country with an implicit or explicit contrast to the urban.”

3. The third type of pastoral depicts the country life with derivative classification.

• Notable pastoral works in English literature.

1. A landmark in English pastoral poetry was Spencer’s ‘The Shepheardes Calender’. It was first published in 1579. Spencer’s work consist of 12 eclogues. One for each month of the year. It contains elegies, fables and discussion on the role of poetry in contemporary England. Spencer and his friend appear under various pseudonyms. Spencer himself appear as “Colin Clout”.

2. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia(1590) is a famous example of pastoral romance in England. It is filled with pastoral descriptions of the landscape.

3. The pastoral elegy is a sub genre that uses pastoral elements to lament a death or loss. Lycidas(1637) by Milton is the most famous pastoral elegy in English. It written on the death of Edward king, A fellow student at Cambridge University. Thomas Gray’s elegy on Country Churchyard published in 1750 is also a famous elegy.

4. One notable example of the 18th century walk is Alexander Pop’s ‘Pastorals'(1709). In this work pop imitate Edmund Spencer’s ‘ Shepheardes Calender’.

5. John Lyly’s ‘Endimion'(1579) brought the pastoral play to England.

6. Some Shakespeare’s plays contain pastoral elements, most notably ‘As You Like It’. The plot was derived from Thomas Lodge’s pastoral romance ‘Rosalynde’. The forest in As You Like It can be seen as a place of ideal pastoral life. Here life is simpler and purer.