Pastoral Poetry | Pastoral Form of Literature

Pastoral Poetry | Pastoral Form of Literature

Pastoral Poetry | Pastoral Form of Literature

Pastoral is not a literary genre but a literary form or technique or method of representation. Any literary piece belonging to this form or technique portrays unsophisticated country life, taking shepherd or shepherdess as its characters who roam about from pasture to pasture and breathe the atmosphere of carefree wildlife.

The credit of being the originator of this literary form or technique goes to Theocritus, a Greek poet of the 3^rd century B. C. He wrote poems using this technique in the restricted subject matter of shepherd life which is called Pastoral Poems. His pastoral poems represent herdsmen or shepherds singing in contests for prizes.

Later on Virgil, a Roman poet of the 1^st century B. C. wrote poems imitating Theocritus in this form and established the tradition of pastoral poems.

In the English language, this pastoral form of poetry was introduced by Edmund Spencer. He wrote Shepherd’s Calendar in 1579 imitating Virgil. Since then this tradition flourished in English.

Originally though the pastoral form was restricted to poetry only but later on, this form was spread to prose romance, and dramas also. For example, Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia is a prose romance in pastoral form. Fletcher’s The Faithful Shepherdess, is a pastoral drama. Even Shakespeare seems to use this form in his plays like The Winter’s Tale and As You Like It.

The credit of using this pastoral form in profuse goes to John Milton. He used this technique in his odes, elegies and even in dramas. His L’ Allegro and Il Penseroso are pastoral odes; Lycidas is a pastoral elegy; and Arcades and Comus are his pastoral dramas. After Milton, some other poets tried their genius in pastoral forms among which mention may be made of Arnold’s Thyrsis and Shelly’s Adonais. Both are elegies of the pastoral order. 0 0 0.

Pastoral Poetry

N. B. The article ‘Pastoral Poetry’ originally belongs to the book entitled ‘ The Laws of Literature‘ by Menonim Menonimus.

Pastoral Poetry

Books on Literary Criticism by M. Menonimus:

1. World Short Story Criticism
2. World Poetry Criticism
3. World Drama Criticism
4. World Novel Criticism
5. World Essay Criticism
6. Indian English Poetry Criticism
7. Indian English Poets and Poetry Chief Features
8. Emily Dickinson’s Poetry-A Thematic Study
9. Walt Whitman’s Poetry-A Thematic Study
10. Critical Essays on English Poetry
11. Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Novel: Return of the Spirit-An Analytical Study
12. Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Novel: ‘Yawmiyyat Naib Fil Arayaf’-An Analytical Study
13. Analytical Studies of Some Arabic Short Stories
14. A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Pre-Islamic Period (500 AD-622 AD)
15. A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Early Islamic Period (622 AD-661 AD) …

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