Pastoral poetry in brief

Characteristics

• Pastoral poetry is a very ancient genre of poetry.
• It deals with the loves and lives of shepherds and shepherdesses, and other such country folk. They live far from towns, and spend their lives singing, sometimes mourning the loss of a sheep or a fellow shepherd or a love affair that has gone wrong.
• The countryside is idealized, since writers of the genre are usually city people.
• It is simple and the poetic expression uses a set of conventions that has varied little over the centuries.
• Sometimes, it is used symbolically. Often the shepherd is a poet; his songs become his poetry.
• A typical theme is the corruption of city life, and, through this theme, political statements are sometimes made.

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