Pastoral Poetry “Pastoral” (from pastor, Latin for “shepherd”) refers to a literary work dealing with shepherds and rustic life. Pastoral poetry is highly conventionalized; it presents an idealized rather than realistic view of rustic life.
Common Topics Love and seduction The value of poetry Death and mourning The corruption of the city or court vs the “purity” of idealized country life Politics (shepherds critique society or easily identifiable political figures) Eclogues (a dialogue between two shepherds)
Pastoral Elegy Expresses the poet’s grief at the loss of a friend or important person Praise for the dead shepherd Effects of death upon nature The poet’s acceptance of the inevitability of death and the hope for immortality
Famous Pastoral Poetry Christopher Marlowe’s “A Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Sir Walter Raleigh’s “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Carpe diem and immediate gratification of their sexual passions Love in the countryside will be like a return to the Garden of Eden There is a tradition that our problems are caused by having too many restrictions by society If we get away from these rules, we can return to the pristine condition of happiness If the nymph would go a maying with the shepherd, they would have the perfect life!
In quatrains Iambic tetrameter The shepherd invites his love to experience the joys of nature He hopes to return with the nymph to an Edenic life of free love in nature
The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd Raleigh argues that because time flies, we should not seize the day There could be consequences to their roll in the grass Time does not stand still; winter inevitably follows spring; therefore,we cannot act on impulses until we have examined the consequences
The nymph reverses his images Rocks grow cold Fields yield to the harvest The flocks re driven to fold in winter Rivers rage Birds complain Free love is impossible The seasons pass as does time Nymphs grow old, and shepherds grow cold