The word 'pastoral' immediately paints a picture of the rustic countryside, with shepherds grazing their sheep and cattle on sprawling green farmland. But what does the word 'pastoral' mean in literature? Let us look at the definition and a few examples of poetry and books that fall under the genre of pastoral fiction to find out.
Pastoral literature
Pastoral fiction consists of works of literature that explore the relationship between human life and nature in rural environments. The life of shepherds in the countryside is often romanticised and idealised by the genre as being free from the corrupt and complex city life.
Romanticise: to describe something in an unrealistic and idealised way so that it seems far better and greater than what it actually is.
Most works of pastoral fiction are poems, although there are also books written in this genre.
Fig. 1 - An 1854 painting depicting pastoral life as described in pastoral fiction.
Theocritus' (c.300 BC - 260 BC) bucolics (Greek word for the pastoral poem) is generally credited for being the root of the pastoral genre. Theocritus' Idylls (circa 3rd Century BC) is his most famous work, which talks about the simple rustic life of shepherds trying to woo nymphs and shepherdesses by holding singing matches with their rivals.
The pastoral genre gained popularity, however, only after the Roman poet Virgil (70 BC- 19 BC) came along in later years to write more pastoral works, like the Eclogues (39–38 BC), which described the agrarian, political, and personal problems of herdsmen. The following extract is a translation of one of Virgil's Eclogues, in which he is lamenting the death of Daphnis through the degeneration of nature.
The Nymphs wept for Daphnis, taken by cruel death (hazels and streams bear witness to the Nymphs), when sadly clasping the body of her son his mother cried out the cruelty of stars and gods. Daphnis, on those days, no one drove the grazing cattle to the cool river: no four-footed creature drank from the streams, or touched a blade of grass. Daphnis, the wild woods and the mountains say, that even African lions roared for your death. (Eclogue 5)
Pastoral definition
To better understand the meaning of pastoral fiction, it is important to look at the thematic and stylistic conventions of the genre.
Natural settings
All of the pastoral fiction is set in nature, such as forests and the countryside. Vivid imagery is used to describe these landscapes of trees, mountains, farms, rivers and waterfalls. The seasons they are set in are usually summer and spring, when nature is in its best form.
The imagery used to describe these landscapes depicts nature as beautiful, idyllic, pure and far greater and mightier than humans. In most works, nature is depicted as being kind and giving to humans. However, there are works that depict natural forces as violent and angry, punishing humans for destroying the peace and purity of natural life.
'The Tuft of Flowers' (1913) by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) is a pastoral song where the speaker stumbles upon a tuft of flowers that had been left standing by a mower. The speaker feels a sense of camaraderie between himself and the mower who spared the flowers, and this eliminates his loneliness. This poem seeks to highlight the loneliness of the human condition, where humans can only be brought together by their shared appreciation for nature.
I went to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.
The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the leveled scene.
I looked for him behind an isle of trees;5
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been—alone,
Shepherds
The word 'pastoral' originally comes from the Latin word pastor, which means 'shepherd'. Therefore, it is no surprise that the central characters in pastoral fiction are shepherds and herdsmen. This is because shepherds are the closest link between humans and nature, as they live a simple life in harmony with the land.
Much pastoral fiction works focus on the sweet and innocent romance between shepherds and shepherdesses in the rural countryside. Shepherds are seen engaging in dialogue, song matches or even dancing.
The Shepheardes Calender (1579) by Edmund Spenser (1552- 1599) depicts the life of a shepherd through the 12 months of a year. Alongside descriptions of birds, flowers and harvests, each month also discusses aspects of the shepherd's personal life, his hardships and rituals that are compared to the seasons.
This is the epilogue to 'January', where the shepherd mourns his lost love for Rosalind.
IN this fyrst Æglogue Colin clout a shepheardes boy complaineth him of his vnfortunate loue, being but newly (as semeth) enamoured of a countrie lasse called Rosalinde: with which strong affection being very sore traueled, he compareth his carefull case to the sadde season of the yeare, to the frostie ground, to the frosen trees, and to his owne winterbeaten flocke.
Other mythical creatures associated with nature, such as nymphs, fairies, dryads etc., are also featured in pastoral fiction.
Fig. 2 - A painting of shepherds with their flocks.
Rural life versus urban life
Pastoral fiction was primarily written by and for urbanites who were exhausted from the dirt, hustle and bustle of big cities, where people were exposed to many crimes and immoralities. Hence, pastoral fiction was created as a form of escapism, where both the writers and readers of pastoral fiction could escape city life to reconnect with the natural world.
Pastoral fiction generally describes urban life and urbanites as corrupt, immoral and chaotic. In comparison, the peace and quiet of the countryside are depicted as being simple, moral and orderly. Pastoral literature relies on the idiom' ignorance is bliss' in the sense that they believe that because shepherds are less educated than city dwellers, they are generally happier.
As a result, many pastoral fiction works are meant to critique urban society and its politics and immorality.
Universal themes
Most pastoral fiction works are based on life, love and death - simple themes that are part of human nature.
A subtype of pastoral poems is the pastoral elegy, in which the poet uses pastoral imagery and settings to mourn someone's death.
Elegy: A serious, melancholic poem, often written to reflect on the sorrow of losing someone who has died.
'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' (1750) is a poem where Thomas Grey (1716-1771) uses pastoral imagery to mourn the death of the poet Richard West.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight,
Pastoral romance is also a subgenre of romance novels, where a romantic story is set in the countryside.
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1593) by Philip Sidney is a prose pastoral romance that takes place in Arcadia, a province in Ancient Greece. It combines elements of romance, comedy and tragedy in a single plot.
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