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THE DECLINE OF PASTORAL
IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH POETRY
CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES
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H. R. TILLEY

THE DICLII1l OF PiSTOUL III EIGHTEBIITB CEllTURT EJIGLISH POETRY
o H. R. TUley. B.!.. (Sons.), B.Id.

Although pastoral bas had a long and vaned history
in literature, EngUsh poets baye beYer ~elt cOlllpletely at
ease with the genre. Renaissance poet.s 1Il0dit1ed t he
classical pastoral to suit their o\om purpoees. Spenser and
Milton bot h used pastoral ~or satiric purposes rather t ha n
saply a s a veh icle to exprell8 longings ~or a simpler Ute.
Both ult1mately rejected it. The native English tradition
stemm1ng trom t be "popular" pastorals and the myst.ery plays
eer-eed also to modify t he tore1gD tradition. Consequently
there 1s an element ot r ealism a nd lyricism in the English
Renah sance pastoral which dist1ngu1shes it f'r0lll. the pa storale
of the classical tradition. Throughout the Renaissance
pas t oral pu meatad a lmos t eYery to", ot literary expression.
During the eig ht eent h century, howeyer . a change
occurs in t he attitude t.owards pastoral largely as a result
ot the rather restrictive t he ory of tbe French cr itic Rapin
and his English follower Pope . The dhplacement !'rom r eali t y ,
inherent in pas t oral since Vi rg i l . now becomes extreme.
Addison , Philips. a nd Pumey stress t he ne ed for more realistic
de scription and an indigenous pastoral. Other poet s like
James Thomson appear to question the etticacy of the genre
a s a vehicle ot serious poetic express ion. and t urn to longer
de sc ript i ve- ref l ect i ve poems to express pastoral themes.

Abstract page 2
This study att8lllpts ec show bow English poets in the
eighteenth century either worked within the genre to transform
it into something more dynaa1 c aDd rtt al, or elae r ejected it
altogether as a serious poetic fo1'!l. Part of the reason for
the de cl ine of pastoral \li&8 the growing cons ciousness of the
i nvalidit y of poet ry which de picts shepherd s who are remote
from everyday reality. Other fa~ors contributing to i t s
decline were the new hU1ll&Ditarian i sm as found 'in the poet ry of
Gold smith, Crabbe, and Cowper, as wall a s a great er i nterest in
naturalistic description t han is normally found in the pastoral
poet ry of t he earlier part of t his century . The ridicule cast
Upon pas to r al by such writers a s Gay, Swift, Johnson , Gold smith,
and Richard Jago also tended to undermine the prestige of the
genre. The cul.m1nat i oD ot this changed at tit ude toward pastoral
comes tdt h Wordswo rth ' s -Michael-. "'rU.chael- 1s a pastoral poa
which is tree of pastoral conventions, is set i n the English
lake dist rict , and treats of the life ot the shepberd Miebael
i n a more realistic way t han shepherds ha d bee n dep i ct ed in
the traditional pastoral ot a poet 11ke Pope. But Word swor t h
beg an no major revival of pas to r al as a ge nre. By 1800 the
ge neral crit ical atti t ude t owards past or al bad hardened into
distaste. No maj or revival of the genre was poss i bl e .

'this thesis has been examined and approved by
11

iii
TABLE OF CONTEt~TS
Page
Preface
Li st of Abbreviations
i v
vii
Chapter
Background: Pastoral Poetry before Pope
II Pope to Thomson 36
III Ramsay t o John son' s Rambl er 74
I V J ohnson ' s ~ t o Wordsworth's "Michael" 104
V Summary and Conclusion 1 52
Bi bliography 158

iv
Writ.ing in 1798, Nathan Drake ad vises poe t s that if
pastoral poetry cannot exist without "shepherds singing and
piping f or a bowl or a croo k ," tohey should. "c ease t ~ ecepcse
it." This stat ement e pi tomizes the preva i ling a t t i tude towards
conve ntional pa storal in the lat t er pa rt. of t he eight e enth
century. The pur po s e of this study i s t o att empt t o exp lai n
why English poets be came so dissatisf ied with the pastoral
t raditionj to Indicat.e why, for exampl e , a critic of Dr .
J ohn s on I s s tatur e and discernment could sa y of Lyttelton I s
"Pr ogres s of Love" that "it i s suf f i ci ent blame to say that
i t is pastoral ll ,
The subjec t sugge st ed itself to me during a read i ng
of Thomson' s ~ wher e I saw echoes of Vi rg i lfa Eclogue s .
I t oc cur r ed to me that Thoms on was treating of pastor al themes
in a poem that was not , proper ly sp eaking, pa s t o r al. Further
reading led me t o believe that t he more s er ious writ er s of t he
s e cond half of the e ighteenth century t urned away hom past oral
t o d eal wi t h pastor a l themes in l ong er descriptive-reflective
po ems. I f ound also that among those writers who continued to
use the ge nr e after Pope t he r e were con certed e f forts to bro ad en
i t s s cope , t o ma ke t he gen r e mor e vigorous, more relev ant t o
llfe . For t his reason the material pr esent ed ha s be en t r eated
in chronol ogical order, so t hat the gradua l change of a t titude
towards pastoral can more readil y be seen.

The first acknowledgment of any st ud ent of pa st or al
mus t be to \i .W. Gr eg whose Pas t oral Poe t ry and Pas tor al Drama
(1 90 5) has proven a most val uable r ef erence wor k for my £irst
chapt er . I am equally inde bted to J . E. Congl eton 's compr eh en d ve
study of Theories of Pastoral Poet ry in Eng l an d . 168 1,.-1798 (195 2).
This book has proven invalua bl e as a ref e r ence work, an d in
cer t ai n ca s es where original s ou r ce mat erial was not av ai l able
t o me I have bee n obliged t o quote f rom his book . I hasten t o
add , however , that this study attempts s omething quit e different
from what Congleton does in his book . t'Jhe r eas he deals s t r i ct l y
with critical t heories a bout pa stor al, I ha ve attempted t o tra ce
in poe t ic pr act i ce the gr adual r ejection of pastoral by se rious
writers i n t he eight eenth century an d to show t he gr adua l
d ecl ine of the genr e as a vehicl e f or s er i ous poe t i c utterance.
Ref e r ence has been made to t he t he ory of pastoral on l y to
i ndicate certain trends whi ch were mak i ng t hemsel ves f elt i n
pract ice. No at te:o pt ha s be en made t o cove r t o the same extent
the critical material pr ese nted by Congl et on . I might add also
that no attempt has been made t o comment on all the past oral s
writt en during t his pe riod. Only t hos e poems whi ch se em to me
to i ndicat e a definite dev el opment i n poet i c pr a ct i ce have been
di s cus s ed i n any detail .
I wis h to expr es s my s i n ce re t hanks t o Dr. P. A. O'Flaberty :
my supervisor , whos e i nt erest and s ugg est i ons f or improvement
have been a gr eat enco uragement t o me. To Dr . E. R. Seary I am
g r a t efu l fo r his assistance in innumerable ways t hroughout my

vi
university career . I wi sh t o thank t he staf f of t he Uni ver s i ty
Ubr ary, es pe cial lY Mrs . K. Cramm, Li brarian' s Sec ret ary, and
Mrs. K. Beresford, Mrs . L. Garn er , Mrs . M. Lever, and Mrs . J .
Marti n fo r thei r unc ea s i ng eff or t s to provide the r e qui r ed
materials. Final ly, to Illy wife Ni na , f or t yp i ng this thesis
a nd e s pec ial ly f or he r under standing and he lp, I wish t o exp r ess
my app reciat ion .
H.R .T .
31 Mar ch 1968.

vii
LI ST OF ABBREVIA.TIONS
E . E .T . S ~
Early English Text So ci et y
A Journal of English Literary History
Journal of Eng lish and Germa nic Philology
Publicati on s o f t he ¥iOd ern Language Ass ociation
01 Amerl.ca
Studies i n Philology

CHAPTER I : BACKGROUND: PASTORAL POETRY BEFORE POPE
"pastorem , Ti t yr e , pinguis
pa s cer e opor t et av is , ded uc tum di c er e carmen . "1
(Vi rgil, Ecl ogue VI , 4-5)
1.
The l ong vogue of pa s t or a l poet ry s ugge sts that it i s
co nnected wi th a un i versa l i mpulse of t he human mi nd t o r et reat
f rom the s t resses and complexiti es of urbani z ed so ciety to a
s impl e r an d l ess demand i ng lif e close to nat ure . This des i r e
to e s cap e assumes many forms . For one pe rson i t may take the
f orm of a compl et e re t reat from so ci ety t o t he life of a he nnit ;
fo r an other it may take t he form of an extende d va cation t o the
seasho r e . Si nce physical e s ca pe i s not a lways possibl e , man
s omet i mes compensa tes fo r this by cr ea ting his own private
d ream wor l d _ an ideal wor l d to whi ch he can escap e , f or s hort
pe r i ods at leas t , in his imagi nation . Of t en man wr i tes down
hi s desir e f or wish- f ul fil ment , an d t hus he be gi ns t o mythologize
his desire for the i de a l wor l d. In literature , t his de s i r e to
e s cape may be ex pressed 1n many forms , fo r exampl e , ro mance,
fairy-tale, It/e ster n s t or y , adventure story, to name a fe.... .
Past or a l i s one of these f orms . Thi s universa l urge to ret ire
f rom t he he ctic in vo l vemen t in the complex wor-Ld of r ea l i t y to
an ideal wor ld of simplicity , i nnocence, a nd l ove is the ma i n t heme
of pas toraL
"A shepherd , Ti t yrus, should feed sheep that a r e f a t ,
bu t sing a l a y fine-spun ." Virgil , trans . H. R. Fai r cl oug h ( 1953) .
p , 4) .

J.1any wr i t ers have at tempted to define pastoral . The
t erm itself is derived frOID. the Latin word "Pa s t or " meaning
"a herdsman " or "s hepherd" , and Vi rgil's use of t hi s word in
his Ecl ogue s , a s may be s een from the foregoi ng inscript ion,
may have had some i nfluenc e on its being ap plied l a t er t o
poems whi ch deal mainly wit h shepherds who "fee d sheep [an d]
s i ng a l a y fine-spWl . " The term is applied also to t he
I dylls of 'n1eo critus Ord. Cent ury B. C. ) . Although Theo cr itus
i s con sidered the fir st pa storal poet, he is not s i mpl y and
purel y a pastor a l poet in t he s en s e t hat he wr i t es on pa st or a l
themes onl y . "Idylls " , the term a ppl i e d t o t he poe ms of
Theocrit us, i s de r i ved from the Greek word Et 8 0 S meaning " f orm ,
shap e , figure". As applied t o the poems of Theocritus it
origi nall y meant "little pict ures " , but because of its l ater
associ a t ion with pastoral i t is now de f i ned a s a "sho rt
descript ion in ve r se or i n prose of pi ct ure s que s c ene o r
incident, especial l y i n rustic 11fe, (o r an] episode suit abl e
for such t r ea t ment ". 2
Just as it i s important to di s t i nguish between t he
~ of Alexand er Pope and su ch i dyllic po ems a s J ohn
Dyer' s "Gronga r Hilll"l, Olive r Gol dsmi t h ' s Deserted Village ,
and Thomson 's~ , all t hree of whi ch have pa storal elements ,)
2 The Concise OXford Dictionary, ed , H.W. Fowler and
F . G. Fowl e r (1960) .
) By "pa storal elem ents" I mean passages or ep isodes
whi ch have a pa storal s et t i ng o r employ certain conv entions
consaon t o past oral , but which a re enc losed i n po ems which
s houl d , more st r i ct l y , be designat ed by s ome ot her term, e.g .
descr iptive-ref lect ive, meditative, etc .

so i t is important to distinguish be twe en those po ems of
Th eocritus a nd Virgil which may be consider ed pastor al poems
and t hos e which llIay ae e , The f ourte ent h i dyll of ' Theocri tus ,
"The Love of Cyn isca " , t hough ostens ibly dea ling with common
l i f e, en ds with a f l att ering a ccount of Ptolemy and what may
be a veiled r e quest f or his pa tronage. The seventeenth idyll
i s a panegyr i c of Pt.ol emy and, like wise , should no t be ca lled

Adonis myth - with its l amen t a t i on f or the death of nature
an d r ej oi ci ng at t he resurrection of Adonis and the return
of Spring - these poems have become a s so ciat ed wit h pa storaL
Adoni s , t hen , ap pears frequently in pa s t or al . In Vi rg i l ' s
tenth eclogue be i s t he f a i r Adoni s who onc e fed s heep by rivers.
Mu ch later She l l ey write s his pastoral el egy for Keats under t he
name of "Adonais " .
What, then, i s meant by the term "pastoral" when applied
t o poet ry? W.W . Gre g ' s COfllDents on the es sentials of pa stor al
are worth noting:
An i nsistence upon the obje ct ive pa stor al s et ting
is of pr ime impo rtance i n understanding t he real
nature of pa storal poe t r y; i t not only serve s to
distinguish the pa stor a l proper tram the more
vaguely i dyllic f orms of lyric verse, but he l ps
us further t o understand how i t was that the
outwar d featur es of the kind came t o be preserved,
even after t he various necessities of sophisticated
society ha d metam or ph osed t he content a lmost be yond
recogniti on ... . What do es a ppear t o be a constant
element in t he pa stor a l a s known t o I i t er at ure is
the r ecognition of a contrast, im plicit or ex pressed,
bet wee n pa stor al life and some mor e c ompl ex type of
civilization•• • • Only when t he sh ep herd-songs ceased
t o be the outcome of unalloyed past or al conditions
did they b ecome distinct i ve ly pastoral. It is theref
ore si gni f i can t that t he ear lie s t pa storal poet ry
with whi ch we are ac quainted, what ever half articulate
experiments may ha ve pr e ced ed i t , was itself directly
born of t he con t rast between t he recol lections of a
~~~~~O:o ~l:~t a:o~t:~!e~~ ~i i~t ~~ iu: s O ~nt.~:nd ria . 6
Gr eg insists on t he llcontrast , implicit or expressed, between
pastoral life an d s cme more compl ex t ype of civi l ization" a s
the constant el ement in pas tor al. His i nsisten ce , also, on
6 \...w. Greg, Pa storal Poet IT and Pastor a l Drama (1 959) ,

the "pri.e 1Japort.ance" ot the "objeet11'e pastoral setting"
io enabling oue "to d1et1ngu.1ah the pastoral proper troll. the
1I0re Yaguely idy1l1c toraa ot lyric nne" IllUSt be borne in
lIiod when discussing this type ot poetry. For the purpoae
ot th1a study. thu.. pastoral poetry ILaJ' be t.ken to . eall
poetry which deals prilDarily with the 11y.. ot herd_en and
swains in • rura.l setting aIJi which contrasts. implicitly or
explicitly. the sUlple . innocent. ideal lite ot tbese herdgeD
with the more colllplez aDd otten corrupt r eality ot urban
society.
2 .
The qtl8lit1 or pastoral that bas been most ricliculed.
since the eighteenth century is its artlt1cia11ty ot tone and
situation. This artU'lcial quality 111 largely the reault ot
the recurrent use or certain dences or s1tuatiOD8 which. trOll
Virgil onwards. becolll8 a peraanent part ot the pa storal tradition.
As t1me goes on. the use ot theae "CODYBDtion'" i n pastoral
i ndicates a gr adual widening of the gap between reality and the
si tuatiOD presented in the pce a , The displacement or dinodation
between the real lite situation and the situation depicted in the
poe. i s eo great in t he earl y eighteenth century pas t or al. tor
exa!llpl e. that it is almost impossible to nnel any correspondence
betwe en tbe two.

ot theocritu..
th18 d1.sodaU,on 18 not Cc.lODlJ found 1D the IdYlls
The rural .ett1Jlg tor Th.ocr1tu. is Us
nati.... Sicil,. aDd. in that eetting h. gl'l'•• a Boanb.at real1e:tlc
portrayal ot the l1t. ot the Sicilian h.rc1amaD.
'ft11. i. not
so in VirgU'e Belopn. V1rg11'8 rural. world i. Arcadia. ID
Eclogue II. w.re b. 18 following Theocrltus clo.ely, hi.
aheph.rd. are Sicilian.
In Eclogue X, bow81'er. the S.ttillS
is lrcad1a,7 aDd all tbe Arcadians along with · Pan the god. ot
Arcadia" CODle ~ llIoOurD the du.th or Gallu. Ukewis. at tb.
end ot Eclogue IV. Virgil .818 that eyen it tbe god Pan were
to COIitead witb h1a in song. · Arcadia b.1Dg judg• • , Pan h1aa.U
would own def••t. This 18 no t the central region ot the
Peloponn.sus. hOW81'8r. but an 1aaginarr world suggested to
Virgil b,. a passage in Polybitll.
Polybiua ga.... an account ot
hi. ow. nat1'l'8 regioD. and stat ed that the Arcadians were. f ro-.
tbe da:ys of their infancY onwards. a ccustomod. to practise the
art of musical coot••ee, BruDo Sn.ll sagg.st. that "Virgil
came across t his pa ssage when he was COIII.pos1ng his sh.ph.rd
songs. the EcloSUB8. and at once understood it to reter to the
Arcadian shepherds; tor Arcad1a was shepherds' country and the
bOlDe of Pan. the god of the herdsmen. innotor of the Syr1u.
And so Virgil located the 11... . and t he poetic contests of hi.
suggests 7 krunJc~;I~U1'.p~r~:"'Sffi:fl:hto~Wi~~~) pJfo~:~ .
" 'I'heocritus who was born in Syracuse ba d writteA about the
herciSlleD ot his oWQ country. Maanvh11•• howe1'8r. Sicily bad
become a Roman pro ...aae e, apd her shepherds bad eetere4 the
serrice ot the big Roman 1.aPd1o~l!I. In this new capacity they
bad also made their way into Roman literature; witness Luclliu.s'
satire on hie trip to S1c11,.. But the,. could no l onger b.
lI.1at ak eo for the she pherds of song and 10....••

shepherds in Arcadia.,,8
Whereas in Virgil t.he situa tions depicted i n t he
eclogues begin a l r eady to show eviden ce of di ssociation f ro m
t he real sit uat i ons of eTeryda y life, this i s not so in
Theo critus . Theocntus deals with bo t h mythical and realistic
s ubject mat ter i n his Idylls, but he seldom int ermingles bo t h
of thes e element s in the one po em. Whether depi cting a
singing match betw ee n two s he phe rds on the Si c i lian hillside
o r t he ci t i zen s att e nding t h e Adoni s Fes tival, Theo cr i tus does
not i nt roduc e mythical figures into his s cene , except , perhaps,
as part of a s ong about a myth or f olk beUef. In dea ling with
myth, as he doe s in Idyll I, " The affliction of Daphnis", there
i s no intermingling of r eal pe rsons with mythical pe rsons such
as we find i n Virgil' s Eclogue X. I n Eclogu e X, Vi r gi l lament.s
t he death of his poet friend Gallus. He i nt e rmi ngl es t he
myt hical a nd the r eal by ha ving Pan a nd t he Na i a ds mourn Gallus.
a r eal person . Li ke wise , i n Ecl ogu e VI , Silenus sings a
mythologica l song of the creat ion of t he univers e. He sings of
muse s , nymphs, and god s, but int o t he mid s t of t he s e l egenda ry
f i gu res Vi rgi l places t he r eal pe rson Gallus, wan de r i ng by t he
wa t ers. of Perm es sus .
Virgil was not the f i r s t t o do thi s , howeve r . The
" Lament for Bion,,9 i ntermingles, i n a s imi l ar way . mythical and
S Snell, .2.2. ill. • p , 281.
9 This poem ha s be en attributed t r adit.ionally t o the
Syracusan poet Mos chus who live d aro un d 1 50 B.C . J .M. Edraonds,
£2 . cit., p, xxii , comment s as fo l lows : "Non e of Mos chus I extant
worksare really Bucolic ; f or t he 'Lam ent f or Bio n ' is certainly
by another band."

ealistic e l ement s . Nymphs mourn t or t he r ea l poe t Bi on .
Bi on is de pi cted a s the poe t -sh ephe rd and t his a s so ci at io n
may be t he or igi n of the poet - s he pherd figure i n pastor a l .
Th e poe t Bion ( c . 100 B. C. ) , fo llowing The ocritus , keeps hi s
" Lament for Adonis" i n the rea lm of pure myth. For t he s e
pagan poets , the myt hs f onn a bo dy of common folk- belie f . but
after Virgi l these myt hs are co ns i dered as part of a pagan
cu l t ure t hat has litt l e r eleva nce in a Chri s t i an wor l d . Yet
i n loiilton I e IILyc1 da s " the nymphs are called upo n t o t ell where
t hey wer e
when t he remor se l ess deep
Cl os e d 0 ' er t he head of your l ov ed Lycidas ?
(11 . 50- 51 1
This i nd i cates the breadt h of the di s pl a cement be t ween r ealit y
a nd t he s ituati on de picted in this sevente enth century poem.
The re is f Ul" ther evidenc e of di sp l a cement f r om t he r eal
s i t uati on in the ot he r e c l ogu es of Vi rgi l. I n Ec l ogue s 1 an d I X,
f or exampl e , the subject of di scus s i on be tw een t wo herdsmen is
the land r e - di str i buti on policy initiated by Octavian to provide
farms , i n Virgil ' s native pr ovince of Nor t he r n I t aly , for his
dischar ged veterans fo llowing his vict ory at Phi lippi i n 42 B. C.
Vi rg i l ha s his shephe rd an d goat he rd discuss t.he di sposses s i on
of f arms r e sult.l ng f ro m this ne w policy .
In stea d , howeve r , of
de picting t hem as f arm ers , a s in rea l life they we r e , Vi r gil
depi cts them as he rd er s of s he e p and goat s . Thus they a re , t o
s ome extent . di ssoci at e d i n t he s e poems f rom t he condit i ons of

actual life. In the other ec logu es t oo we find t his same
diss oc iat i on of pas toral po et ry f ran t he conditi on s of a ctual
lif e. In Ecl ogue III, f or exampl e , a singing mat ch be t ween
t wo shepherds has t o include a compliment t o Pol lio, patron
an d poe t , f or l ooking so ki ndl y on t he shephe rd I s wor k .
Li kewis e in Eclogue V Kopsus reject s M~~ a. lc as 's sugges t ion t o
s i ng to "Phyllis an d he r Loves", or "I n praise of Al COD" , or
of ecodr-ue Quarrelling" , in f avour of one of his own composition s
on t he a potheosis of Da phn ia. Some writers l O i nt erpret thi s a s
an all egory a bout t he recent deificat i on of Juli us Caesar and
a compl imen t , t herefore , t o Oct avian, nephew of Caesar. The
f ourth ec logue, whi ch introduces the conc ept of the gol de n ag e
to past.oral, is als o a compliment. to PoU io unde r whos e consulship
thi s new age will beg i n . The s i xth eclogue deals with t he
c r ea t ion of the universe - a matter wi t h which one would not
exp ect shepherds t o be familiar.
Thus i t can be s ee n t hat Virgil .int.reduces into t he
past or al at mos pher e his fri ends, hi s contem por aries , and his
pa t r ons under the guise of shepherds . Somet i me s his sh ephe r ds
discuss l ove . but mor e often they di sc us s s ome t opic of gr eater
impo rtance, c ay.~ ing an i nc ongrui t y be tw een t.he mat t.e r under
discussion and t he cba ract.ers by whom it is being discussed.
The seeds of i ts dest r uct i on , then, a r e a l r eady planted in t he
pa storal poet ry of Virgil. Later wri t er s , followin g Virgills
10 Previous t o 1800 , Daplmis was he ld t o be Caesar.
Se e D. L. Drew, "Virgil' s Fi f th Ecl ogue : A Defe nce of the Jul i us
Caesar - Daphnis Theory' '', Clas sical Quartoerl x , Vol . XVI {l922 },
!'P . 57-64.

10
example t employ t hese stock s i tuations or conve nt ions t o
discuss mat t e r s as varied a s the l ov e complaint of a shepherd
of t he go lden ag e or co r ruption i n chu rch and s t ate a ffa i rs.
This displ a cemen t between r ealit y an d t he s i t u a t i on de picted
in pastoral becomes broader as time goe s on . Th e inevitable
r e su lt i s t hat th e situation dep i ct ed in past or a l becomes 50
s t e r eotyped , e s pecially in the con venti onal eclogue of t h e
a a r ly eigh't ;;,;nth century , that a cons cious rejecti on of t h e
g en r e set s in . This dis pl a cement or di s s oc i a t i on of pa stor a l
f rom real life owe s much t o t he example of Vi r gi l l s eclogues .
To s ay only thi s of Vi rgi l, bcw ev er -, is t o g i v e an
unbalanced view both of his ability as a writ er and the full
extent o f his i nf luenc e on the later pa s t oral t radition . To
s ay that Vi r gil is les s r ealistic t ha n Theocritus , or that he is
wi l l ing t o use a pastoral setting whi ch is remote f ro m r ea lity,
is to sta t e me r el y what Virgi l i ntende d . He did not i nt end to
wr i t e d i rect ly about t he live s of shepherds. His intention , a s
has been sugge sted, wa s to write about mat ters of gr eat i mpo rt .
I f Vi rgi l presents us wi t h less insight into ch aracter , less
variety of pastoral i dea s and images t han Theocritus , he does,
on t h e other hand, pr esent ue wi th poems that a r e , stylistically,
g ems of lit eratur e . His eclog ues are ex e cut ed with a polish
and r e f i nemen t t ha t make t h em as different f rom the Idylls
as Milton ' s "lycida s" i s from Spens er's Shephearde s Calender .
Whil e Spenser 's us e of language may be said t o owe something
to the practice of Theo cr i tus, Virgi l provided past oral ,

11
up.dally pastoral elegy , with that .:ulted an4 Doble
8%pre1l81oDwhich Milton r ound 80 suited to the expreaaioD of'
hia thoughts on t he occ.s.810Q ot the deatm ot hi' two trieDds,
&d..ard nng and Q1arlee Diodati.
III doing; thie, Virgil set
tbe exaaaple tor the dlgn1tled expnaaloD of' grieft which
(though 1n lesser handa it suttered froll exaggeration and
sentlllentaUty) 1D tobe ha:1de of' Milton gaY. us one ot the
flDUt poems ot its trpe 1D the laDgWlge.
It can thus be seen
that Virgil' s 1ntluance was lIlore than ••re11 f'onaalls1D.g certain
eleneea which baYe since CODe t o be accepted a s cOD:nnt.loD8 ot
'the pastoral tradition.
Although Ill.UlY or tb, conTentioD8 wUl be dealt with later
1n conn,aiaD with indlrldual poe ts, a brier 11 8t of' the Il8.1n
coo'l'8DtloD8 will clarlf)' what is lIleant by this tent.
They
include t he unhappy shepherd, t he f'air shephe1"'de::II, tbe wanc1er1rlg
f l ock , the oaten pipe , the el ng1D.g match 8Ild the award.1ng: ot
prizes, the elaborate description ot prise., a third shepherd to
t end the herd. while the contest is on, an d the elaborate floral
descriptions which are associated mainly with pastoral elegy.
Other conventions more closely associated with pastoral elegy
aee the appeal to ZlJ1IIpha or ot.her companions at the dead ahepherd,
the - pat het.i c tallacy'" in which all nature is d epi ct ed a s
mourning the death of the shepherd, and, tinally, the deities,
~ h .~erda and others. who ...bit. the al'tl.1cted shepherd. These.
t hen, are the more common conTentions ot formal pastoral.
The poetic torms used by Theocritus and 1Ja1tated by Virgil
ha ve aleo be come traditional. in past oral.
First. there i s the

1 2
singing-match. This match may be rude bant er be tween t wo
shepherds, or di alogu e which may conc eal cont emporary ev enns
unde r a t hin veil of allegory..11 Secondl y . t he re is the l ove-l ay
eithe r of courtship or complaint, an d t hirdly, tl:::~re is the dirge
of the sh eph erd f or a de ad compan i on who was also a poe t -shepherd.
The s e , then, a re t he more common conv entiODS and poetic f orms
which have been associated with pa stor a l poe t ry s ince the time
of Virgil. Certain a spects of class i cal pastoral become very
pronounced i n l ater pastoral poe t ry.. This i s especially true
o f allego ry. Anot h er i nh erent aspe ct of the clas sical pa storal
i s i ts dramat i c quality. This pa rti cula r qua lit y provides mueh
of t he dynamic f or the l ate r prolif erat i on of past or a l themes
in drama. Again, t he na r r ati v e quality of certain classical
pa storals is adapted l a t er t o t he pa storal r omance. The
cl assi ca l pastoral, then, has inherent qua l ities which pro Vide
t he dynami c f or i t s fu t ure ada pt a t ion t o ot h er forms or literary
expression . Unrortunately , it contains as well the s eeds of i t s
own de st ruct i on i n i t s tender~cy to disso ciat e the s i t ua t ion
depicted in i ts poe try frODl the a ct ual condi t ions of Ufe.
The writing or past or al e clogues did not completel y
11 Thi s i s not common pract i ce i n Theocr itus a l though
J .M. Edmonds, .QE.. cit. , p, xvt , s uggest s that perhap:.: '_-leocr i t us
wrot e I dyll VII, "'TIii Harv est Home" , a s an a ppeal on behalf of
his poet - fri end Sotades who had b ee n i mpris oned by Ptolemy. The
s choUa pr ese rv e a traditi on t hat i n this idyll Simichida s is
The oc r itus himsel r .

1)
disa ppear du r i ng t he Midd le Ages , alt houg h lit.tl e of
significanc e has come down to us. 1 2 With t he r evival of
classical l i t era t ure i n the f ourtee nt h century, howe ver , there
came a r enewed i nterest i n pastor al, esp ecial l y t he Vl rg i l1an
pas t or al. During the Middle Ages and the Renaiss an ce per i od ,
Vi rgil , largely be ca use of t he s upposed prophetic qua lity of
his "Messian i c " ec logue , 13 was considered something of a
Christ ian even t hough be had lived in t he pre-Ch ristian era .
Pastoral be gan now to 1nf'luence drama and romanc e as well as
poetry, and its infl ue nce sp read outside Italy to Spain and
later t o France . Such was the dynami c quality of pasto r al
that its influence pene t rated a lmost every f orm of l i t erary
expression.
Petrar ch (1304-1374 ), Bocca ccio (1313- 1375) and Mant uan
(1448-1 516 ) are three humanists who in1'l uence the pastoral
t radition t o a considerable degree . Concerned a s they we r e with
man and hi s a f f airs, t hey looked upon pa s t oral not as a mean s
of escape .from the complexitie s o.f life, but; a s a u se.ful
instrument of s atir e on political , social, a nd ec cles i a s t ical
12 Calpurnius, Nemesian, Radbe rt, and Met el l u8 eac h
~~db~~g't~~7~~~8t51, t~ em~~~~~o:eo:~; a~~tm~fan~~:a~~~
i n We stphali a , who concluded his De Vita S. Adalhardi with a
past o r al e l egy which sh ows a mi xture ot' Classical an d b i blical
elements.
1) Writers o.f pastoral saw the possible correspondence
b et ween I saiah an d Virgills .fourth ec logue. Isaiah. prophesies
t hat. t.he Lord shall gi ve a sign and "a virgin shall con ceive ,
a nd bear a s on,and shall ca l l his name Immanuel" (7 :14) , and
he sh all eat. "butter and honey" (7 : 15 ). During his reign "t he
wol.f a l so shall dwell wit h the l amb, ••• a nd a lit tle child
shall l e ad t hem" (11 :6 ). Thu s by a nalogy t he t raditional
s hep herd t ending his .flock be come s ass ociat ed wit h the pa stor
o f Christ ' s £lock .

14
mattera. Tbey adapt.ed t.he Vlrg1l1an pastoral to suit the1r
own particular purposes. Conscious ot the sOl:lewhat deea.dant
practices within acclell1astlcal and political c1rclee, Petrarch
aDd. hill followers found. the pastoral eclogue to be a convenient.
'l'eb.1cle tor satiric attacks OD. church and state. In adapting
the Vlrgi11an eclogue to their OWll purposes t bowl'er, the
humanists increased. ita artificial quality by their emphasis
on the cODnnt.loDS. They stressed, also, the d1dact.lc and
.a..ll. gori(;u qualities ot Virgil. Petrarch declared, with entire
justice, that bis twelve Latin eclogues could be understood only
with. key. In the ec10guea ot Petrarch. Boocaecio, and especially
Mant\1&D, the Christian and pagan elements enat II1de by alde.
Mantuan's virulent satire exerted. an 1mportant infiuence all such
Engl18h 'ofrlters ot pastoral a s Uexander Barclay. BarDabJ" Googe,
and EdIIund Spenser.
SeTeral other cont1Dental la"iter6 who 1nt lu&nce English
pastoral should be mentioned brietly. S8.nna.saro (1458 ..1530)
wrote tl".e Latin Plec.ton Eclogues which 11I&1 baye proTlded the
inspiration tor Phineas netcherts PlacateI"!' Eclogues, and almost
certainly they attracted Milton since saon.azaro's first piscatory
e clogue le a lam.ent by a shepherd naaad. Lye1das t or th. drovoed
shepherdess, Pbyll1a. 'ftle 151.m11arity between the eircumstances
ot the deatbsin both poems suggests that Milton may bave known.
Sannaza.ro's eclogue. More important as tar as pastoral romance
is cODcerned 1s SannaZU'O's ~, which provided Sidney with
the idea tor bis pastoral romance of the sUle name and rsstored
to later pastoral the Vlrgil1an s et t i ng of Arcadia. Ot importance

15
alao to the deYelopaant at pastoral drama 115 Guarini'a
Il Pastor Fido (1590) tdUch was forandated tatoo Engl1sh tor
the .rirst till. 1n 1602 and during the S8'Y8uteenth cent\11T had
a considerable Togue 1D England. Guar1Jll'l!J play aernd aa a
model tor John Fletcher'a Faitbtul Shepherd.u (1610) . The
variety of subject and poetic tOt'll in theee works, then, indicates
tbe dJD.am1c quality ot pa st oral at tb1& t1me.
4.
The humani sts made the pastoral a Yehlel. tor criticism
ot t he r eal world and in do1.D.g this helped to det ena1.ne bow
pastoral would be used. by English writers in the Renalssan ce .
There la, however, Crom the very begl=-.ning a certain uneasiness
among EngUsh poeta vho write traditional pastorals. Altbou,gb
Shakespea r e does Dot wri t e pastorals in the t radi t i onal lIU1%I.1.ler ,
he conveys hie attitude toward. the pa storal world and the
CODTentiOQS or 'tradUlonal pastoral by his ridicule o! them in
As You Like It. Spenser and Milton both wrlte traditional
pastorals. but one can s ense their uneasiness with t h e genre
and a t endency to llodif'J' i t to suit their own purposes. The
two latter poets consider the concept ot the golden age ot
pl easure and ease as s omething to be rejected tor a more active
and virtuou s lite i n t he tallen world. They both ke ep pastoral
alive and dynamic be cause they modify it to treat ot mat ters
which ar e ot conside rable importance in t he lite ot man. When ,
in the early eighteenth century. pas toral becomes a vehicle

16
mai nly f or de pict i ng t he pl easur e an d ease of a golden age
whose exis t enc e many poets t hemse lves beg i n to doub t I i t 1s
inevitable t hat its effectiveness as a vehicle of poetic
expr ession sh ould be ca l led i nto ques t ion . For t hose writers
who take advantage of t he a l legorical element in pa st or a l t o
di s cuss matters of great impo rt cov ertly , the con ven tions of
t raditional past or a l a r e somet hing of a convenienc e . The
r emot e ne s s of the pas t or a l wor l d dep i ct ed i n su ch poems a s
Shephea rdes Cal ender and "Ly cl das " from the r~ ~l wor ld can be
over looked 501lle ~lhat , s in ce the subje ct mat t e r of t he s e poems
has a very r ea l co nnection with the life of the t imes. Even
in Spe ns e r , neverthe l e s s , there 15 some attempt t o l ocat e the
s et t i ng of t he past or a l s on the Englis h count ry s ide through
r e f er ence to l ocal place names. I n t he ea r ly ei ghteenth
c e nt ur y . howeve r , pa s t or al becomes s o bound up with conventions
an d "rul e s " that i t is no t onl y t he dissociation betw e en t he
s ituation of the poem an d ever yday reality that wor ks a gainst
the genr -e; the content of the convent iona l pa stor a l itself,
dep i ct i ng she pherds of t he gol den age "a s they may be conce Iv r d
t he n t o have be en" , is so shallo W' an d unr elat ed to life 10 t he
r eal wor-Ld, that the r e j ect i on of pastoral be comes i nev i t a bl e .
Anothe r i mportant i nflue nce whf ch modi fies the for eign
pa stor a l tradition a s t r e at ed by Englis h poet s is t he native
i mpulse o r tradition . This native tradition stems f r om the
mys t ery pl ays of the Middl e Ages and f r om the "popular"
pa stor al po et ry whi ch was part of the pop ul a r literatur e of

17
England before t he f oreign pastor a l tradition made its
app ea rance i n English literature . The realistic det ail of
the Second S!'!.enhe rd s ' Play , f or example, an d t he freshness
a nd variety of some of the popul ar pas tor a l s I influence to a
conside r ab l e extent t he future development of pastoral in
England. The "pastourella" motif also helped t o modify the
English pas t or a l and t o add va r iety of theme which i s not
found i n t he for eign pa st oral t r adition . The "pa s t aurelle" wa s
a lyric of co urtly or i gin which became popul a r in Pro ven cal,
France an d Italy dur i ng t h e fifteenth ce ntury. I t s influence
can be detected i n Robert Henr-yac n t s (1430 ?- 150 6) ttRobyn and
Ma kyne " and in some of the numerous pastor als i n England's
Helicon (1600). The r e i s, finally, the tendency tow ards
e ro t icism, unde r the i nfluence of su ch Fr e nch poe t s a s Saint - Amant
(1594 - 1661) , whi ch is ev i den t in the pastoral poetry of Thomas
Ra ndol ph . Ri cha r d Love lace, and Reber-t, Her r i ck in the s event e ent h
century . This t ende ncy can be seen e s pe cially i n t he libertine
extension of t he gol den ag e con cept of t he orthodox traditi on .
I n a dditi on to t he plenit ud e of nature and the abs enc e of pride ,
e nvy , hon our, an d su ch vices tha t we find i n the or t hodo x concept ,
there is t he emphasis on s ens ua l Innocence and the gratificat ion
of the s enses .
These , then , a r e some of t he infl uences an d modifications
which English po et s bring to bea r on t he fo reign orthodox
t r ad i t ion of past or al. They gi ve vigour and variety t o English
pa stor a l throughou t the sixteent h and s event eent h ce nt uries .
_ ...~

18
Some of the va r iety of pastoral can be seen f rom. a perusal of
t he literature of this period . Such divers e wor ks as Sidney's
~, a pa st or al romance , and Jo hn Fletche r ' s The Fai t hfu l
She pherdess, a pastoral drama, attes t to the dynamic quality
an d variety of pastoral literatur e at this time . BeCore t he
eighteenth cent ury, then , pastoral 1s alive an d dynamic.
f or all its vigour. certaln poets feel Wl98Sy writ i ng in t he
genre and often apologize f or doing so.
It may be that t he
empirica l bent of the English mind could not ea sUy accept the
dissociation between t he s i t ua t ion depieted in past or a l an d the
s i t ua t i on in real life.
Let us l ook now at how the three gr eatest writer s in
the English Ren aiss ance , Spenser, Shakeapeare, an d Mil ton
r egard, use, and modi.fy the t raditional pastor al.
Spenser
rejects the ease and pleasure of t he pas toral life. The
She ph ea rd es Calende r may be r ead as r e j ecti on of the pastor al
life in f a vour of t he t ruly dedicated life in the wor l d . 14
Spenser ' s humanistic be nt , l i ke t ha t of one of his models,
Man t uan , found the pa storal a conven i ent ve hicle fo r indir ec t
and ve iled cr i t i cism of contemporary affairs . Although Spen ser
is content to model ce r t a i n of his eclogu es on the earlier
pastoral tradit.i on (he does t.his in Il-larch " , -April l " , and
IIAugust ll , for example , where t.h e un r ea l world of pa storal
pr ovi des the set ting) he doe s not always f ollow t he f oreign
t radit i on . In the moral e clogues the s etting i s t he f allen
Yet
14 See A. C. Hamilton, "The Argument of apeneer oe
She ph eardes Calender ll , !!:S, Vol. llIII (1956) , p, 171.

wor l d of nat ure wher e polit ical and r eligi ous corruption
pro vides t he sub ject mat ter.
Spenser , in f a ct, makes some
19
im portan t con t r i but i on s t o t he development of pastor al. These
contributions i nclude the use of an artist i c framework - t he
cal endar - which gives a continuit y to the se r ies; an attempt
t o give past oral a rea l English s et t ingj the int roduction of
a variety of verse f orms and met r es; t he introduction to
pa storal of t he f abl e and its element of Chauc erian humour;
and, finall y, t he adapt ation of past or al t o English 5011
t hrough t he u se of a new t ype of l an gu age . Yet Spenser doe s
not a ppea r t o be cOlIlpletel y at ea se wi th pastoral as a poe t ic
f orm ev e n after he has made t he s e modifications t o suit his
own purposes. E.K . feel s ob liged to a pol ogize for Spenser 's
use of " t his kind of wryting" which i s "both so ba se t or the
matter , and homel y f or t h e manne r " . The r ea son E. K. gi v e s f or
Spen s e r 's wr i t i ng pastorals is that 'l'heocritus, Virgil, Mant uan,
and t he ot her pa st or a! poets wrote past orals first "to proue
t he yr t ender wyngs , be f ore they make a gr ea t e r n yght " . Is
Spenser l ook i ng fo rward t o that t ime when he can fo r ego the
" homely shepheards quill" f or t h e muse of h e roi c poe t ry? In
"Jun e" Colin s ays he "neuer l ys t pr esum e to Parnasse hy l l " .
and h e t hen a po logizes for his rhymes which he sa ys "bene rough,
and rudely drest".
In "Octobe r", ho wever, where Cuddie
"complayneth of the contempte of Poe t rie" . Piers ad vises him to
Abandon t hen t h e base a nd viler cl owne,
Lyft v p thy selie out of the l owl y dus t;
And s i ng of b l ood y J.1ars, of wars, of gi us t s ,
Turne t h ee to those , that wel d the awful. cro wns.
To dou bted Kni ghts, whose woundlesse armour rusts.
And he lmes vnbruzed waxe n dayly browne .
(11 . 37- 42 )

20
Significant l y, 1n "December", Colin s a ys
lnd It that whllome wont t o frame my pyp e ,
Vot e the shifting of the shepheards foote:
Sike f ollies nowe haue gat her ed as too ripe
And ca s t hem out, as rotten and vusoote.
(11. ns-nsi
Just as the whol e poem ebcve t he pro ces s of Spenser's finding
his vocat ion , his ep iphany to the wor ld, so t he poem shows
also his dedication t o the life or t he wor ld and a rejecti on
of the easy pa storal Ufe - both the ea sy life of the
traditional sh e pherd and the easy and cor rupt l i f e of the f a l s e
pa stors of t he church . I n " Januarie", the fir st plaintive
eclogue . Colin, "vnder whose person the Author se lfe Is
s hadowed" . is shown a s being unhappy in the simpl e pas t or al
world or i nnocenc e where the taithless Rosalind eludes him .
Hi s dissatisfa ct i on is sh own i n the breaking of his "oaten pyp e ".
The defeat of nature, as represented by the deat h and resurrect i on
of Dido in " Novembe r", however, s e ems to re assure Colin. In
"Decem be r " , he r e j e cts the l i f e confi ned to the stat e of nature ,
and i nstead of trying to pl ease the "rude Pan " of "Januarie", he
is now ded icated t o a g r ea t er Pan, Christ . Thus he rejects t he
pastoral Paradise 1 5 fo r a dedica t ed life in t he world;
Adieu delightes , that l ulle d me a sfeepe ,
Adieu my deare, whos e l oue I bought so deare:
Adie u Illy litt le Lambe s and Lcued sh e epe ,
Adi eu ye Wood e s t hat oft my wi t ne sse were:
( " De cember", 11. 1 51-154.)
15 U kewi se i n Fa e r i e Queene, Book VI, Spenser i ntrodu ce s
the gol den age setting an whIen t h e s he pherd Melibo e lives a
l i f e "free and f ortun a t e from all the t empests of these wor ldl y
seas " (Canto IX, v . 20) . Spen ser ultimately rejects t his ideal
pa storal wor l d , however , since i t cannot withst an d the brot al
atta ck of t he "Brigants" who "inva de" and "murder " the sh epherds.

21
Shakespea re, l ikewi s e . rejects the pastoral world
a nd he ridi cules its conventional sh epherds . His atti tude
toward pastoral is con veyed 1!1 his t reatment of the pastoral
wor l d i n As You Li ke It ~ The banished Duke in t.roduces t he
pastoral t heme i n his f irst speech: "Ar e Dot these woods/Mor e
f ree from per i l than t he envious court?" The For es t of Arden
i s not the pr e- lapsian golden world, however, since he r e
characters Ceel t he "penalty of Adam" I t he "i cy fang" and
" churlish chiding of the Wint e r 's wind" _ Shakespear e i ntrodu ce s
t wo re alis t s - Touch st one, the cou rt f ool, and Corin, t he ol d
shep herd - who provide "t ouchstones" agains t whi ch the otber
character s may be j udged . Jacques, t he melan choly mora l izer ,
c onsiders Touc hst on e "a material f oo l " yet is himself " ambi t i ous
for a mot ley coat". Touch ston e is " a material fool " - a man of
the s enses . On entering the For es t of Arde n, Ros a l ind complains
of he r weary spirits. Touc hstone care s not f or his spirits if
h is "legs were not weary" . This s ame sensous quality chara cterizes
his l ove a f fai r with Audrey. He is a realist and unlike Ja cque s ,
who r e fu se s t o r et urn t o court . or t he banished Duke , who is
living in t he For es t of Arden "like t he old Robin Hood of Englan d­
f leet ing "t ime ca r ele ssly , as they did i n the golden wor l d" ,
Touch stone l ongs for t he court-lif e . U ke Jacques and t he
banish ed Duke, he kn ows t he corrupti on, envy. an d tyranny of t he
co urt , but unlike t hem he does not s eek t o e s cape it, becau s e
he r ealiz.es 'that these t hings are pa rt of life and t hat he himsel f
has participated in them. I n Act VJ sc, IV t Touch stone says: Ttl
have trod a mea sure j I ha ve flattered a l ady; I ha ve been polit ic

22
with my f riend , smooth wi t h mine ene myj I ha ve un done t hre e
t.ailors" . He is a man of expe rience .
Old Corln 1s a nother standa rd by which t he pa storal
worl d and its inhabi tants are j udged.. Shak es peare pres ent s
t he conventional pas t or al l overs in Silvius and Phoebe. The
po rtr ay al of Si l vius , ho wever, h as be en influenced by t he
COUr1;ly l ove t r a diti on i n poe t ry. For Silvi us love 15 ma de
of "s ighs an d tears ", "faith an d servi ce" , "all puri ty, al l
t r ial, al l obs erv an ce" . Phoe be i s t he "proud disdainful
shepherdess". In Wi l liam and Audr ey , he pr e se nt s t he bu rlesque
counterpart of the c onventional l ove r s - Si l vi us and Phoebe -
t o sho w wha t r us t ics are r eally like. Wi lli am, who 1s said t o
have "a pr et t y wi t " , is pr act i cal l y s peechl es s before Tou chs tone .
Audrey is r ea l ly an i gnorant s he pherde s s who kno ws not the
meaning of "poetical" an d pro cl aims sh e i s "not a s l ut " ,
t hough sh e thanks t h e gods that sh e is "f oul " . Sha kespea r e
pr esents us with a thi rd unreal i stic l ove a f fai r in that of
Rosalind and Orlando. They hardl y be long to the past oral world
a nd ap pear t o be close r t o t he eve ryday world of r eali t y . The y
are both of the court , yet fo r a whi le they ac t like lit erary
s hepherds and sh epherdesse s . Or l ando "abus e s ou r young pl ants
wi t h carving ' Ros alind ' on their ba r ks; ba ngs od e s upon ha wth orns
a nd elegies on brambles, al l , for sooth, deifying the name of
Rosa l i nd" . Ros alind swoons when sh e he ar s he has been i njured.
Against t he se unrealistic l ov e affairs, Shakespeare s ets the
real iat i c , sens ual love-affair of Tou chs t one a nd Aud r ey .
Touchs t one takes \t/illiam' s s hephe rd es s f rom him . Unlike Silvius

2)
and. 'Il1111aa, To",ehetone bas DO Ulualoll8 abolR lOTe: "lIaD
hath hie des1re.; and ae pigeoDa bUl, 80 wedlock. would b,
nibbling". Be tak•• J.udny in -aniage sinee otherwi se they
· III.U" t 11'1'8 in baWlirr·.
By introducing Touchstone and the ol d shephe rd , Corin,
Shakespeare sh at t er s the paatoral ideal. Corin bas DOt the
perpetual youth o t the p!.et.oral lOYer S11Ylus, yet be baa
"lond ere DOV". His claye of sighing "upon a lI1dn1ght pUlow·
are past, &s are ell the "actlolls 1II.0at ric11culoul" that he ba a
forgotten. H1s controDtatloD 1d tb Touchstone p ro Tide . an
i nteresting iDsight into the relatioDship of the world of the
court and the world of pastoral. These two realists hue a
Elm grip OD U t , . Touchs t one'. retort thet Corle 1e damned
-tor DOt. being at court" does DOt stand up in the light of the
eOIllllOD seDse philosophy expressed by Con n . His philosophy
may have 1te Um1t atlons , but i t is 001; t o be degraded and. 1t
18 gro unded in .tact. He may DOt. know the maDDers o.t the court.,
but his final answer that he i s a "true labourer" who earns
what he eat.s, en.,.1es no man's ha ppiness, and 115 content with
his "harm': and that bis gr eatest pride is to see bis ewes graze
an d lambs s uc k, shows that he has DO illusions about 11t e. O.t
cours e be is not the conye.nt i ooal sh eph erd of pastor al, and . Just
a s the &.tk.e leaves the green 'WOrld to return t o the COUl"t , 16 so
16 Shakespeare also int.roduces pastoral into his later
play '!'he Wint er 's Tal e but t.his time wit hout th e explicit.
mockery of 1£8 conventions t hat is f ound 10 115 You Like It.
Implicitly, howeve r , he again expresses the same aititude t oward
the pastoral ideal by showing t hat i t IlU1st ultimat ely be
r e j ect ed .for the wrld or r eality - io t his case the court.

24
Shakespeare reJecta the conTentional pastoral figures tor the
more realistic Corin. Corin and Touchstone are the realists.
Touchstone 18 the only character who 18 really consciou8 ot
t1llle in the play, and it is time and reality that eventually
shatter the taelesa, ideal world ot pastoral.
MUton, too, ult,1&ately rejects pastoral and the
irresponsible lire of pagan joy which it representee ThiB
attitude 1s cODTeyed through his treat!!e!lt ~r the pastoral
world in -I,ycldu- (1637) a.ncl -Arcades- (1632). -I,yc1du- 19
a poelll not 80 lDuch about Edward King as about Milton b1Jaselt
and hi s reactioDs t o 11te. The tact tIB t King was something
or a poet and preparing for church orders, and that Milton
himself was a poet, and, as such, something ot a priest also
1n the s ervice of God, opened the way tor the allegorical
treatment or both as s hepherd s "nurst upon the self-same
hill".(l. 2)) The poem crystallizes the cODventions of the
whole pastoral elea tradition. Kiltonls use of traditional
past oral elegy with its conventions produces a certain
displacement between the situation de picted and real life.
Milton was anything but a herder ot sheep. Yet because ot the
biblical influence on pastoral that bas already been discussed,
t he poet-shepherd figur e caring for Chrbt'a flock b not as
remote from reality as he at first appears. Thus Milton' s
poem. like Spens er ' e Shepheardee calender, overcomes to s ome
enent these shortcomings of pa storal by dealing witb matters
of aome concern to man - corroption in ehurch and state affairs
an d the state of poetry. Mil t on ls Ill1x1ng of classical and

25
biblical el ements (Christ i an St. Peter an d cl a ssica l Jove)
1 s ccemcn pr ac t i ce i n Spe ns e r , t o o, t hough Dr . J ohnson deplo r e s
i t . In " Lycidas", howeve r , Mil ton appears to ha ve trouble i n
tryi ng to maintain a mood consi sten t with the pa st o r al e l egy .
He ap pe a r s t o be impatient wi t h t h e past or a l t r a di t i on and
e xp r esses hi s i mpa t ience by allowi ng r ealit y to sh atter t he
mood of the pa storal wor l d . The opening of the poe m is
t radi tional . The nymphs a r e qu estione d about their absen ce ,
and t he r e i s the pathetic f allacy of univer sal nature l amenti ng
the d ea th of Ly uLda s , This i s fo llowed by t he first digress ion
in whi ch real ity - Mil t on ' s own con c ern for po ets, poet ry, and
the clergy - breaks in upo n the past oral wor l d . "'.l l t on questions
t h e value of tendi ng the "home ly sl i ghte d Shephe rd I s t r a de " and
meditati ng lit h e t hankles s Mus e " . Si n ce t h e "b l ind Fury lat h t h '
a bhor r ed sh ea rs" might without wa rn i ng slit "th e t h i n-spun lif e " J
might it not be better to "s port wi t h Amaryllis i n t he shade "?
A hint of the so l ut ion of the basic t ension between this pag an
j oy of living an d Chr istian responsibilit y i s giv en ne a r the
e nd of t hi s mov ement when Phoe bu s says that " Fame is no plant
tha t g ro ws on mo rta l so i l • • • But liv es and spr ead s aloft • • •
i n Heev i ne , The Christian con so lat ion which comes at the end
of t he poem i s he r e anti cipa t ed .
The mood of the t raditiona l pa st ora l el egy r et u r ns at
"0 Fount ain Ar et hus e " J and t hen fo llows the pro ce s s i on of the
mou rn ers . Once ag ain, ho wev er , t he wor l d of experience breaks
in upon t he pa st or a l wor l d with t he entrance of St . Peter , "The
Pi l ot of the Ga l ilean lake", who s peaks t hrough stern t heological

26
realities and con demns t he f a l s e clergy who " cr e ep an d i ntrude
and cl imb int o t he fo l d" I and whose "hungry sh eep l ook up , and
a re not f ed ". Soon "the dread voice is past " a nd the poem a ga in
r eturns t o t he so mewha t shattered pastor al mood . Then f ol l ows
the t radit ional ca t alogu e of f l owers. 'These f lowers, which
IIstrew the Laureate Hearse where Lycid lies" , br ing, howe ve r ,
only i l l usory ease and "f als e sUI'Dlise" against the reality of
l os s. But present ly "fal s e su rmise" an d weepi ng a re replace d
by renewe d hope and a request f or the s he pherds t o "Wee p no
more" , since Lycidas i s now rtmounted high" t hrough the i nfluence
of " hila that walk'd the waves ". Here is the conventional
co ns olat ion in Christian and bibl i cal t er ms. Wher e a s , howe ver ,
"Epitaphium. Damonis" en ds with the song of ecstasy , " Ly ci da s"
returns a fter the quieter pa s sage of con so lation to the classical
pa storal s et t i ng where the "un cout h Swain" i s "warb ling his Doric
l a y". Milton 's a pparent impatience with the past or a l t r ad ition
thr oughout this poem, a s has be en point ed out , indicates tbat he
was no t completely at ease writing wi t bi n the genr e . I n f ac t,
there i s at l ea s t a hint of his r ejecti on of pa stor al i n t he
last line of the poem: " Tomorrow to fresh wccce, and Pastures
Perh a ps the "great task - Master" of Sonn et VII, written
five years earlier than "Lycidas", wa s now ca lling him to more
i mportant tasks in poet ry. J ohn M. \'ialla ce in an article on
Milton 's "Ar cades" - a mas que writ t en in the same yea r as the
s onn et _ states t hat t he main t heme of this po em is the "flight
f r om Arcadia ". The poem shows Mil t on ' s growing dissatisr.. ct ion

with the !dod of' world the pagan paradise of'f'ered.
wFor
Milt.oow, Wall a ce says, wt.he couY8rsion of' t.he pagan world,
not a coapraa1se wit.h it, was the only legit.1Jaate aia of' a
Christian. Dr. H8J1ilton has suggested t hat Spenser had a
dll1l ar i ntention in writing The Shepheard.; Calendn, but if'
the breaking ot Colin'a pi pes s".bolbea hia rej ect.ion ot the
pa storal mode in t a'for ot a more dedicated Ute i n t he world,
tbe aymbolla 18 Dot as clea r a s it i s i n the tinal song ot
'Arcades'.
'lbe shepherds are openly encouraged. to 'Bring your
Fl ocks, and 11'fe witb 118'
••• , and the maaque closes with a
succinct mythical alludoD whi ch clearly repeats the
invitation.wl ?
Thi s POeJll vas written t b e years bef ore WLyci das-,
an d ap peara to anticipate lUlton ' s re jection at pastor al in the
later po_.
Thi s uneas1ness with t.he pas t oral ge nre and the world
depicted in it is apparent 1n the writings of Spense r , Shak espeare,
an d Milton.
Spens er and Milton bot h modifY the foreign pastoral
tradition t o suit t heir own nee ds .
One phenomenon which
influences and enriches t he treatment of the convent i onal
pastoral i s a nat ive English past oral t r adition, owing little
or nothing to t he classical pastoral, which existed in English
l iterature as ea rly as t he f i fteenth cent ury.
It would s eem
convenient to t.r eat t his nat i ve impulse separately, and trace
it f'rOlD i t s beginning in t he Second She pberd~ Play (early 15th. e . },
17 John M. Wallacs , tIM1l ton's ' Arcade s"', 10 Mil t on:
Mode rn Essays in Criticism, ed , Arthur E. Bark.er (l96;r;-p:" 84..

This nati v e t r adition c an he said t o give past.oral so mething
28
o f t he quality that 1s a t t ributed t o t h e Idylls of Theocritua
- a spontaneity and f rAshness t hat are l ac ki ng in much of the
poe t ry of t he foreign pastoral tradition , pl u s a sense of
somehow being not too :far removed from r eal! t y . The Seco nd
She ph erds' Play f rom t h e Wakefield Mys t ery Cycle, for e xample.
i s suppos e d to center upon Chr i st's Nativi ty , but of t he ei ght
scenes in i t only the l ast two de al with t he Na t i v i t y . The
f i rst six s cenes give what is i n effect a burl esqu e ver si on or
the las t t wo. The pl ay owes nothing t o the ortbodox classical
tradition of pas'to ral . Tbe main infl uen ce working upon i t 1s
that of t he Bi ble t oge t her with the native comic i mpuls e .
These are combined to produce a farce t hat 1s unique i n ou r
literature a t this ea r ly date.
Malt's description of hi s wif e has an air of rea l ism
that i s not t o be found in t he orthodox f oreign tradition of
pa storal:
She 's sp rawling by the fir e; t hat ' s not hi ng new .
The house is full of brats. Sh e drink s ale, too.
Come good or i ll, that she will always do.
She eats f a st a s s he can,
And Poa ch year gi ve s a man
A babe or t wo t o scan.
Though I had much more money in my purs e , 18
She ' d eat and drink us(~~.t~~ ~:ltA9~t~i
To be s ure , she i s no ideal ized Galatea or Phylli s .
The na t i ve impulse can be seen in the "popular" pastoral
po etry of this per i od as well as in t he drama. In t he following
18 &. S . Loomis and R. Willard, eda , , Kedi eva l English
Verse and Prose (194 8 ) , p , 44 5.

29
anonymous poem of the fif'teenth century, which r es embl es t he
Second Sheph erds l Play i n theme, a n attempt i s made t o pres ent
a "real" English shepherd:
The shep ard up on a hi ll he s at t ;
He had on bym by a tabard and bya hat t
Hys tarbox, hys pype and , bra flagatj
Rys name was called Joly Jo l y Wat ,
For he was a gud he rdes boy .
For i n bya p~th~O~~d so mycb j Oy . 19
Here we ha ve not t he conventio na l shepherd that we expect to
find in tradi tional pastoral but a ttgud bardes boy " wi t h "by s
tarbox, bra pyp e , an d bys f lagat " .
Robert Henry so n (1430?-1506) has given u s i n his
"Robyn and Makyn e " an ex ampl e of nat i v e non- cl as s i cal pa stor al
i n a Scott ish setting .
Again t he r e is no appar ent influence
from the f orei gn tradit i on , but the t heme 1s one t hat recurs
throughout pastoral - t he l ove r complains of un requited love.
In this po em Robyn , t he shepherd, is loved by Makyne , but. he
does not return her l ov e until i t is t oo l ate. i'/hen he do es
ha ve a change of heart be expresses it in the same r ather
suggest i ve t erms t hat a r e somet ime s fo und i n the s au cy l ove ­
e nc ounter s of l ater pas tor al . Makyne , however, has already ha d
a cha nge of heart he rsel f a nd r emi nds Robyn of the t ruth of
"stories auld" :
The man that will nocht quhen he may,
Sa11 1 hait nocht quhen he wald.20
19 Frank Kermode , English Pastoral Poe t ry From t he
Beginn i ng t o J.1arvell (1952) , p, 50.
20 E. K. Chambers, English Pastor als [n.d .] J p , 4.

30
Hen r-yaont a poem is a ve r s i on of t he "pa st curelle" .
Br i efly , the "pa steurelle" deals g en erally with the poet or
a gent l eman who meets a sh epherd - ma i d (a rea l peasant) whi l e
he i s riding by and makes l ov e to her, some t ime s successful l y I
so me t ime s not . Of t en his action brings t he whole o f the g i r l 's
fam i l y agains t hi m. The "p asteur el l ell' mot i f reappear s in t he
pa storal ba llads whi ch are po pul a r in England i n the sixteent h
and s ev enteenth c entur ies . The native tradition influenced
Spens e r 's Shephea rd e s Calender a s wel l , as can be s een f r om
t he j a unt i n e s s an d s i mplicity of ex pr e s sion of t he following
pa s s a g e :
Perl got .
WH I ye .
Per .
Wi l.
Per.
iii!.
It f ell v pon a holly eu e
hey he hol lidaye • • • •
I sa w t he bouncing Bel l 1b one ,
hey he Bonthell,
Tripping ou er t he da l e alone,
she can trippe it ver y well:
(" August" , 11. 53 rr .)
Ni chol a s Br et on (1 545 - 16 26)
pro du ced s ome of t h e finest
pastor al l yrics of t he Engl ish Rena issance. Hi s Pa ssi onat e
Sh ephea rd a ppeared in 1604 . The t hi rd pastoral , dealing wit h
the contrast be tween the l i f e of the swai n a nd that of t h e king,
g i ve s son:et hing of the poeti c f l avour of the whole volum e :
'I,'h o can 11ue in hea rt so gl ad ,
As t he merrie countrie l a d?
t1ho v pon a faire g r e ene ba lke
May at pl ea s ur es s i t and wa l ke?
And ami dde t he Azur e sk i e s , 21
Se e the morning Sunn e arise?
21 Ni chol a s Breton , ~ , ed , A.B . Grosart (1 966) ,
Vol. I , p , 6.

31
Li kewise , his "Pbillida and Corido n" f sung during an enterta i nment
g iven t o Queen Elizabeth at El ve tbam i n 1 591 , 1 5 a de lightful
s ong and 1s a lit e r ary variatioD of the pastourella theme.
Chr ist opher Mar l owe's "Pa s s i onat e Shephe rd t o Hi s Love "
deserves to be mentioned because it de als with a C0lIll10D pa storal
t heme in t he l an guag e of ero tic fantasy so common i n El izabethan
poet ry:
Come 11ve wi th ae e J and be my l ove J
And we wi l l al l the pl ea su res prove ,
~~~~s~~;l=: ~eg~v:~~~~: ;::l~;~ ~~~S '
"The Nimphs reply t o t he Sheephea rd " . one of the numero us
imitations of Mar l owe ' s poem, i s equally interesting in that it
shatters the whole pastoral i de al with the answer t h at
r e f eren ce .
Time driv es t he flocks from field to f ol d ,
When Rivers rage , and Rocks g ro w cold,
~: ~;~o~~~~l:~~~~~~he~~:~eto come. 23
Michael Drayton I s pa s t o r a l s also deserve passing
His I d ea , The Sh ep h erd's Ga r land Fashion ed into Ni n e
Ec l ogu e s (1593 ) . 1 s modelled on the t r ad i t i onal eclogue and
shows t h e i nfl u enc e of Spe nser i n dict ion and i n ce rtain t hemes.
More i nt erest.1 ng , howe ve r , i s his later Mu s e s ' Elizium (1 630 )
which co ntains a mixture o f pa s t o r a l and f a i ry l ore. Something
of t he delightful lyric quality of t he s e po ems a nd t h e
pa r a disi cal qualit y o f t his imaginary half-fairy, half -past or a l
22 Endands Helicon , ed , Hugh MacDonald (196 2) J p, 19 2.
23 .I.!2..!S., p , 193 , signed "Ignoto" .

) 2
wor l d i s con veyed i n t h e f oll owi ng stanza f rom "The Thi rd
Ni mphall" .
Naiis . The Fa i ries a r e hopping,
The small Flowers c ropping.
~p~~~~=Wtg~g~~~~s .24
Greg comment s on t hi s po em a s f ol lows :
"The l-1us e s ' Elizium is in
truth the culminat i on of a l on g se quenc e of pa st or a l work . Of
this I ha ve alr e ady discussed t h e beginnings when dealing wi th
t he na t i ve pastoral i mpu l se ; and h oweve r mu ch i t wa s i nfluenced
at a l ater da t e by foreign mode l s it n eve r submi t t ed to t h e yoke
of orthodox t radi'tion, an d to t he en d retained much of its
freshnes s " . 25
So much f or t h e native pastoral impu lse i n Renaissan ce
po e t ry . The re we re , as has a l ready been s uggest ed , otber
i mportan t devel opments in pastora l whi ch will demand some
a t t ent ion .
The re wa s t h e t enden cy towar d er oticism, u nde r t h e
i nfluence of such poets as Saint-Amant. Thomas Rand olph in
h i s poem "Upon tcve Fond l y Ref us r d for Cons ci en ce Sa ke " (1 63g )
writes that conscience is "bu t a Bedl ams mi dnight theme" (1 . 51 ) .
Likewise in hi s "Pa storal! Courtship" (1638) Rando lph's swa i n
24 1>1ichae l Dr ayton , Wo r ks , ed , J.W. Hebe l (196 1 1,
Vol. III , p , 273 .
25 Gr eg , .Q.E.. cit . , p , 106 . A r at her di f f er ent and more
ambi t ious t y pe of pa st.o r a l whi ch deserves mention is 'oi l liam
Bro wne 's Br i t ann i a ' s Pa stor a ls (1613- 1616) . The poem has been
described as e~ ther a pa st or a l e pic or a vers i fie d romance . I t
contains some 10 , 000 lines , i s unfinished, and owes much t o the
forei gn tradition. Browne ' s na t uralist i c descr iptions o f t h e
De von coun tryside, howev e r , g i v e a n effect of r ealism similar
t.o t.ha t con veyed by Spenser in his reference t o Kent an d t he
"Ken t.Lah downes" in "Iulye " , "Sept ember", and "Noue mber".

33
tells his Phyllis:
No danger in t h e se shades do th lye,
Not hi ng t hat wears a s t i ng , but I :
tt~h~~~t p: ~~~~ev~~ O:: k~~ ~;~ swell. 26
A sim ila r view i s expressed in Lov elace I e " Love Made in the
Fi rst Age " (16 59 ) :
The se nsuou s , l yric quality of Herrick's pastoral poems
owe s lit tle t o t he orthodox pa 5tor al t radition . In them we find
a mixture of pagan and Christian elemen t s. Underlying much of
h is poe t ry is a pag an, primiti ve awareness of t he ce l ebration of
na tural fertility implicit in the folk ceremonies marking the
passage of the se asons. This i dea of t he ce lebration of t he
f ertility of Nat u r e is not new , h owever, since it app ea rs also
i n I dyll VII of Theocritus . Pagan and Christian el ements are
mi xed in He r r i ck ' s "Corinna's Goi ng A-Jl.ayi ng " (1648) , a poem
whi ch deals with t he "carpe diem" theme. The poem a rg ues fo r
freedom to be come i nvolved in the nat ural l i f e-f or ce , L e.
for sensual freedom. Thi s na t ural l i f e - f orce ap pe ars a s a
f or ce beneath Christianity. It i s "a harmless f ol11e of the
26 Thomas Randolph, Poems , ed, G. Thorn-Drury (1929),
p , 110 .
27 Richard Lovelace , ~ , 00 . C.H . Wilki ns on (1953) ,
p . 147.

"
34
time,,28 ou t of whi ch ....e shall g ro w. The l yrieal ,
qualit.y of Herri ck ' s pa storals s ets them apart from t r a diti onal
past or a l poems .
Andrew Marvell (162 1- 1678 ) t reats pastoral i n a raanne r
v e r y d i f f erent from t h os e wri t ers di s cu s sed thus far . I n his
")flOwer " poe ms, TIThe Gard en ". and his "Nymph Complaining for t he
deatb of ber Faun" , a s trong Puritan s t rain is found _ an
empha sis on purity, virgini ty, and i nnocence. Marvel l s ees
man I s mor al wrongs a s a corropting f orce on unf allen nat ur e .
His garden is di r ec tly opposed to t he l1bertin l SIll of the gardens
of Randol ph and Lovel ac e . I n t he open i ng lines of "The Mower
Against Gardens,,29 he discu sses t he rel ati ons hip be tw e en art a nd
nature. Art i s the "vice " which "Luxuri ous man " has us ed t o
"s educe " and corrupt unfa l l e n nature "most plai n and pur e" . In
hi s poe m "The Garden " Marvel l de pi cts t he "ha ppy Garden-state"
a s an image of Eden befor e the Fal l. Unlike the liber t ine
ve rsi on of the golden ag e where t he gl orif i ca t i on of se ns uality
was a vital element, Marvel l conside r s that it woul d be like
ha vi ng two Paradises i n one "To live i n Paradise al one" . One
of the most complex of Marv ell's poe ms i s hi s "Nymph Complaining
f or t h e deatn of her Faun - . No a t t empt wil l be made t o interpret
its po s s i bl e meanings. Frank Kermode cceeent e a s f ollows on
p , 69.
p , 42.
28 Robert Herri ck , Poeti cal Works , ed , L. C. . ..rtin (1956) ,
29 Andr ew Marvell, ~ , ed , Hugh MacDonald (1952 ) ,

st a rt. ". 3 0 There is a new start a s s ha l l be shown in the next
35
t. he complexity of t his poem: "Thi s poem probabl y represents
the furthest a nd most mysterious de ve l opment of English pa storal
po e t ry . I t was impo ssible 'to go further ; t here had t o be a ne w
ch ap ter . Unfortunately J i t m.eans the beg inning of a gradual
reje ction of pa storal throughout the ei e;hteenth ce nt ury. This
chap t e r has a t t empt ed t o s how how pa s t or a l poet ry g radua lly
move s a way f rom d epi cting the world of r eality and i n s o do ing
causes a di s s oci at i on of pas t or a l from the conditions of real life
which becomes most pro noun ced in t he e i ght een th century. Pastoral
remai ns a very dynamic ge nre up t o this time, however , f or s eve ral
rea s ons: first , i t dea l s wi th mat ters of some i mport i n t he l i f e
of man and in t his way off s ets the displacement factor scmewnat; j
eeccn dfy , its influence s preads into all fields of literature
an d i t thus r ema i ns a dynamic fo rc e ; and , t hirdly, t he native
t radit ion gives a vari ety and vigour t o t he ort hodox past oral
t r adit i on whi ch s av es it f ro m becomi ng s t i fled . In t he next
c entury, howeve r , the genre becomes so bound up wi th "rules" and
ccnventacns , 50 r emoved f rom r ealit y , and a s a r e sult s o inane
i n i t s trea t me nt of s ub j e ct mat ter , t hat certai n poe ts tur n
a way from past o r a l pro pe r t o l onger medi tative poems i n whf ch
t hey give expression t o past oral t he mes .
~ .
I,
j
30 Ke rmode , 2£ . ci t . , p, 253.

36
CHAPTER II: POPE TO THOMSON
"Who ( s ai d the Nymph) would sing of bleat1~g nocks,
Or hanging Goats that browze on craggy Rocks,
When ancient Bards hav e rifled all the Store,
And the draln'd Subject ean aff ord no more?"
(William Diaper,~ 11. 268- 271 )
i ,
During the first quarter of t he eighteenth c ent ury
English pastoral poetry, for the first time in its history,
is s t ro ngly influenced by a t heory of pas t oral whic h emphasizes
t he importance of rules fo r poet i c ccn posltion derived f ro m the
practiee of 'lbeo critus and Virgil. In orde r t o understand t his
ne.... att itude tow ard past oral, an attit ude which caused poe ttl
l atter i n th e century t o cho ose other mode s of exp re ssi on tor
their pa storal themes and l ongings, we must. t urn brlefiy t o
the pastor al theories of the Fr ench critics, Rene Rapin (1621-1687)
and Bern ard Le Bovier de Fontanelle (1657-1757).
Rapi D started h1s lit erary ca r eer by writ.ing his
Eclogae Sa crae . which wer e pUblished i n 1659. His -D1ssertat.1o
de Carmine Pas t ora11 " was translated under t.he title "A. Treat.ise
de Carmine Pastorali" and print.ed with Thomas Creec h's t rans l ation
of Theocritus's Idylliums 1n 1684 . Rapi n ba sed his theory of
pastoral on the poems of Theo crit.us an d Vi r gil , while the
c r i ticism of Aristotle and Horace gave him guidelines f or l aying
do wn its rules . In t he first part of his essayI he de fines
pa storal as "t he imit at ion of the Action of a Sbeapard, or of
. .~

) 7
one t aken under t.ha t Character- . l It shou ld r en ect the state
or innocence, sincerity, pea ce , eeee, aD1 plenty ot t he golden
age. and t hus avoid the mean and ugly. In 'the second part ot
t he essayr he discus s es the rom and matter ot pastoral.
- F01"ll- 11I81' b. narratiTe , dramatic, or llli%ed.. but he th inks the
mixed lUJ1l1er ot imitation lIlore proper.
should n....er venture upon a lotty subject .
The pastoral poet
LoY. 1s a very
s uit able s ubj e ct; t or pas t.oral, hut it must be pure and iDnocent.
The "MaDDers- l1kew1e8 should be suitable to a shepherd or the
golden ag e - neitber too clown1eh Dor t oo courtly.
t h ere are three things 1n which the whole character ot a
pastoral b
The
RapiD says
contained: ·Simplicity ot '1'hought and '%pression:
Shortness of Periods rull of s ense and sp i r1t: and the Delicacy
ot a most elegant r arlsb ing and unat1'ected neatness-. 2
The third secti on ot his dissertation is a discu8 s1 on ot
rules t or writing pa storals.
Follow1ng Ar1atot lels example in
tragedy and ep1c, Rapi n decides to gat her trom Theocri tus and
Virgil the niles t or pa storal.
These are mai nly a repetition
ot what be bas alr eady discussed. The "Matter" should contain
the action or a shepherd , and only one sim ple st ory is
permiss1ble.
The · Fom" or mode ot imitation i s either dramatic
or narrat1ve f or is a Ili%ture or both. The poem may begin with
an invocation. "Expres si on" mus t be "pur e and lambent", avoi di ng
1 Quot ed in J.E. Congleton, Theories or Pastoral Poet"
in England : 1684-1798 (19 52), p , 50.
2 Congleton, 2E. ill. f p, 59.

38
both the "abject an d de sp i cab l e " an d also t he "dazling".
Pastoral s hould be written i n " Her-odck " measure , but this
meas ure shoul d not be so "strong " and "soundi ng " a s i n epics.
Sho r t descriptions an d frequent comparisons e r e prope r to the
country and t o t he ch a r ac t e r of a s he phe rd . The "Manners" of
Vi r gil 's g ol d en a ge sheph erds a r e pr ef er r ed t o t h e harshnes s
a nd lewdne s s of t hos e of The ocr i t us . Conc erni ng "Sent ences " )
t hey should not be weighty or philosophi ca l since t he only
philosophy s u i t able f or past oral i s s u ch a s i s found i n p ro v e r bs
and old say ings .
Rapin's "Trea t i s e " , then , 1s t he first cri t i cism of
pastor a l which a s s ume s t hat it is possibl e t o lay down a
s ys t emat i c s et of rul e s t o gove r n the genr -e, In establishing
t hese rule s , Vi rgi l i s the preferred raodeL, Rapi n doe s , howev er ,
consult ot he r sources fo r authority, s uch as the "Scholiasts"
a nd "ColJll:len tator s" . As we sh a l l s ee, Rap in t s i de a s about pastoral
exert a considerable i nfluence up on Pop e and a l so upon Pope I s
f r iend s Tempi-e , Chetwood J Na I sh , and Ga y .
The se cond impor t ant Fre nch c ritic t o influence English
pa st or a l theory in t he e i ght eent h ce nt ury was Font ene l l e .
?ontenelle di f f er ed f rom Rapin i n his views on pa s t or a l , and
his t heor i e s were supported by su ch \..r i t er s a s Addi s on , Ambrose
Phi l i p s t 'rickel l , and Purney . His "Di scours s ur La nature de
Lreg I cgue" {16SS > was t r anslat ed i nt o English by one ul-Ir . Mot teux"
under the t i t l e "Of Pa s t or a l s " in 1695. He r e f ut e s many poi nt s
set forth by Rapin, an d he r elie s sub jectively on "the Nat ura l

Light or Reason" rather than on the object1n authorit y or
the anciente. Fontenell' reasons that since it is IlLUltS
39
nature t o wish tor hap piness an d eaa e , then t he qui etness and
l eisure or a shepherd's Ute appeal to hie l asy nature.
man does not relish the state or absolute laziness.
some "agitation'll 1s needed, but it must be such &S 1Ia,. b.
But
Theretore
reconciled. to the kind ot la.1D.e811 that pos ses ses man, and that
18 to be round 111·to.,..·. Therd 'ore pastoral poetry IBUst pr es ent
concurrently t he two strongest passioDs. Laziness and LoT8.
Font8Delle retuses to deduce his theorr from the
authorit y of t he ancients e
CODcern1ng · Characters" of pastoral,
h e says t hat t hey should be U ke neither t he priJl1U .,.. nor t he
modern she pherd, since the pr1lll.1tlv e had. not t he leiaure t o grow
polite and the "real" modern sh epherd 18 t oo poor and dejected.
He con siders ploughman, reaper8. fishermen. and huntsmen
unsuitable for pastoral since their l ives are t oo hard. Pastora1 .
t h eret'ore, should expose only t he tranqu1l11ty and innocence or
a she pherd1s life. whil e concealing its meanness and misery.
Love is the only appropriate "Matter" tor pastoral poetry.
Regarding "Expression". Fontanel l e recommends a mean between
clownishnes s and af'feetoed exp ression .
similes t hat are "worn thread ..bare lf
He r e j ects both the
through 1.m1tat ion ot Virgil,
and the cl ownish proverbial sayings whi ch "real" shepherd s
continually use. Lastly. "ac t ions" rather t ha n "reflecti ons "
sh ould dOlllinate the pas t oral s ince. again, it is more appropriate
to the character of' a sh ephe rd .

~o
Congleton summarizes t he basic d i fference between
Rapin a nd Fontenelle thus:
'nle contrast bet ween RapiD and Font enelle J considering
the prox1.m1t y of their da t es t 18 st r iking . The basic
criterion Rapi n uses is the Ancients, "whose very
doing • •• 18 Authority enough, " and from t heir wor ks
he deduce s his theory t which is t heref ore essentially
object ive . Fontanelle i gnores t he Anci ent s completely
and de vel ops his t heory on premises t hat are subje ctive
and psycho l ogical. Rapi n t ests hi s idea s by the works
of t he Ancients; Fontenelle tests t h e Anci ents (a s well
as the Mod erns) by his i deas . )
Dryden also ex erted a n influence on e ight ee nth cen t ury
pastoral po et ry t but hi s influence lie s not 80 mueh in his
theory of pa stor al as i n his t ranslation of Virgil' s ~
(1 697 ). He s eems to f ollow ne i ther t he theori e s of Rapi n no r
t hose of Fontenelle . I n t he "Dedication ,,4 t o his tra nslat i on
of Virgil he prai s es his master's "Genius" but, unlike Rapin ,
does not blind l y wor sh i p him. Dryden notes that Virgil "rais'd
h ims elf above that humble Stile i n which Pas t or al de lights".
The "humbl e st i l e " i s, f or Dryden , more proper fo r t h e education
a nd co nve rsat i on of sh epherds . He s e ems t o prefer 'rh e ocr i t us
a nd s ays that he "may just ly be pr ef er r ' d a s t he Origi na l ,
wi t ho ut injury t o Vi rgil, who modestly contents hims elf with
s e cond pl a ce". He mentions Spen s er as "a third poe t in this
ki nd , not inferiour t o the t wo f ormer", a nd whose "Sh-cph",r d ' s
Kal enda r • • • i s no t to be mat ch ' d in any Modern Langu age " .
J Congle'to n , ,22 . cit. , p , 70 .
4 J ohn Dryden, Poems , ed , James Kinsley (195 8 ) , Vol . II,
p , 869.

Tbu~ , like Fontenelle, he s ees the beauties of classica l pa stor a l
but i s not blind t o what has bee n achieved by the modern writers
in the genr e . In fact, he r efers t o Fontenelle e e "t he living
Glory of t he Fre n ch" . Dryd en 's translation of Virgil ' s
~ i s a fairly lit e r al rendering i n SlIlooth and elegant
c ou plets. It conta i n s much of the po etic diction t ha t we f i nd
i n eighteenth cen t ury pa s t or al: the s t r eams and f ountains are
usua l ly "crystal"j t he pl a i ns and r oc ks "neighb 1ring", and t he
wa t ers and f loods ei ther "neighb ' ring" or "running". Howeve r
the smoothness of the versification and the e l egan c e of
exp r e s s i on make them worthy models f or the young aspiring poe t .
As we turn t o a dis cussion of Pope , we sh all see t hat
i t was largely t he i nfluen ce of Rapin 1s "r ules" a nd hi s con ce pt
of pastor a l a s r emot e a nd artificial t ha t led Pop e t o f ormula t e
his own "rule s" f or writing pastor al an d t o put them into
pr a ct i ce i n his own pastoral poems. This Pope does with a
conside rable deg ree of succ ess , and, con sidering his own theory
of pa s t or al, it would be less than just to judge him a ccord i ng
ee stan dards whi ch he did no t r e cognize , even if we know t hat
f or pa st or a l as a who l e t he path which he f oll owed was disast ro u s .
His pa storals are artificial , r emove d from realit y , and for this
r ea s on t he y were ridiculed by l a t er pa s t or al writ er s . Hi s
influence on pa s t or al in t he f irst half of the eight e ent h cent ury,
howeve r , i s central and power fu l. He enlisted the a i d of such
wr i t er s as Swift and Gay to ridicule the more r ealisti c pa st or als
of Ambrose Phil ips , and s uch a display of talent wa s too gr e at
f or those oppo s ed to Pope . He was to los e out in the en d , not

ecaus e he f ailed i n what he set out t o do in pastor a l , but
because what he set out to do wa s a lmost cOCIpletely alien to
the empi rical bent of t he English mi nd . Poetry was ex pected
to "hold t he mirro ur up to nature", and empirical r ealit y
could not be compl etely debarred f rom it. But the urge to
expres s i nn er yearnings, to e scape f r om o ne 's i mmediate involvement
i n life , has t o f ind expression a l so . Certain writers of
t he first qua r t e r of the e i gh t e ent h ce ntury we re cont e nt to
e x press t he s e "feigne d" l ong i ng s i n hi ghly conventional pa s t or a l s
l i ke Pope ' s be cause t hi s fitted their ability . Othe r po et s of
gr ea t e r abi lity, whether they wer e disc ont ent \'fi t h the conventi ona l
pastoral mode or s imply fe l t that more realistic de t ai l sh ould
be br ough t i nt o past or a l , turned away from t he conventional
pa stor al t o other modes of poet i c expressi on su ch a s s e a - e cl ogue s
or the l ong er meditative or descr i ptive -reflecti ve poem .
2 .
Althoug h Pope t e "Discours e on Pastoral Poet ry" wa s first
publish ed i n 1717, he claimed to have writ ten it i n 1704 when he
wr-ot-e his Pa st or a l s . Since the~may be taken as Pope I s
d emons t r a t ion of theory put i nto pr a ct i ce , i t i s convenient t o
l ook at his theo ry i n t he light of what has be en s a i d a lrea dy
to see the extent to whi ch Pop e was influenced by t he rigid
neo classicism of Rapi n an d the rationalism of Font ene l l e . Pope

43
is, of course, familiar with the critical theories of both
these writers, as well as with those ot Dryden. His professed
design i s to "comprize ..oo.. the subst an ce of those DWlaro us
dbsertations . . .. without ODlUUog any of their rulu".5 Rapi n
ba s the greatest .trect on Pope , although Fontenelle is echoed
in a rew passages of the "Discourse".. When Pope says that
ttwbat 1s inviting in t his so rt of poet ry pr oceeds Dot 80 much
f'rom the Idea ot that business , as of t he tranquil1t.y of a
country 11fe", be 1s f ollowing cl osel y a s 1m11a r passage of
Fontenelle.. He likewise folloW' s Fontenelle in saying that the
delight of pa st oral poe t ry "consist s in exposing the best aide
only ot a shepherd' s lit e , and in concealing U. mis eries".
These concepts were arr1:"ed at by Fontenelie , not by looking at
the pr acti ce of the ancients, but by following the "natural
l ight. of r eason".
Rapin's t.heory, however, is derived froID. t he pract.i ce
of 'l'heocritus and , in parti cular, VirgU. I n stating t he rules
b y whi ch Pa st.oral ought to be j udg ed, Pope says t hat t.hey must
be derived from those in whom that art is found in perfection.
The pr acti ce of Tbeocrit.us a nd Virgil .. "the onl y undisput ed
au thors of past oral- .. serv es, t herefore, as the model . Pope's
defini t ion of pa stor al and his com:nents on t he various components
of pastoral. 1f compar ed wi th Rapi n's comments. will be found to
be almos t a repetiti on of Rapi n's ideas. Pope defines pa storal

44
t hus :
A Pastoral i s an imitat ion of t he a ction of a
sheph erd, or one considered under t hat character .
The fo rm of t hi s imitation is dramatic , or na rrative,
or mix'd of both; the f a ble simple. t h e manners not
too polite no r t oo rustie: The thoughts are pl ain ,
yet admit a little quickness and passion, but t hat
sho rt aIld f lowing: The exp ression humbl e , yet as
pure as the l anguag e will af fo rd; neat , but not
florid ; easy, and yet liv el y . In sho rt, t he fable ,
manne rs, t houghts , and expressions. are fu l l of t he
g r ea t e st s i mplici t y in nature.
Although all of t hes e ideas are very close t o RapiD's , Pope
does manag e t o avo id t he contradict ion inher ent in Rapi n I 5
comments on expression. Rapin s ay s t hat expres sion sho uld be
"the pur est whi ch the l anguag e will afrord" and a t t he same
time be in a dial ec t "peculi ar to the Country". 6 Pope states
s i mply t hat t he ex pression be "humble. yet as pure a s the
l a nguage will a l'f ord" . In fact h e l ater crit ici ze s Spenser ' s
use of "old English an d country phrases" s i nc e they were eit he r
" entirely ob s olete , or spo ken only by peo pl e of the l owest
co ndit ion" .
Pope ec hoes Rapi n in say ing t hat the complet e cha r a cter
of past.o r a l cons i s t s in "s implici t y , brevity, and delicacyn .
Aga in, his comment s on the proper ch a r aet. e r of t he shep herd are
close t o Rapin's) but the process by which h e arri ves at t his
co ncept i s more cl osely allied to the r a t i onalis t i c proces s of
Fontene l le . "I f we would cop y Nature", he write s . "it may ba
u s e ful t o take t his Idea along wi t h us . t ha t Pastoral is an
image of wha t t hey call the Gol den Age. So t hat. we are not t o
>
1(
1 , .
j
6 Quoted in Congleton, .2E,. ill.• p , 58 .

45
describe our s hepherds as shepherds at t hi s day really are ,
but as t hey may be ec ncedv rd then t o hav e been". In demandi ng
t hat c ha ract e r be i n kee ping with s he phe rds of the golden ag e ,
Pope i s closer to Rapi n t han to Font enel l e , who r ej ect s bot h
go lden age and modern she pherds . But the pro ce s s by which
Pope arrives at t his concept once agai n reminds one more of
Fontenelle. The subject of ea ch ec logue i s to have "some
pa rti cular be auty in itsel!", and sh ould not be r epea t ed in
t he other eclogue s . The var i ety of s cenes or prospect in
pastor a l i s obtained "by f r e que nt compa r i sons, drawn f rom the
most ag reeabl e objec t s of t he country; by i nterrogations t o
t h i ng s i nanimate"j by be auti.ful, bu't sho rt, digressions and
by "elegan t turns on the wcrde , which r ende r t he numbers
extremely swee t and pl easing" . Havi ng not. i ced Pope I s s t.ress on
IIGolden Age sh epherds " and s cenes drawn f rom "the most ag r e ea ble
ob jects of the coun t ry " , i t i s ea sy t o see why he l ate r a t tacks
the s omewhat more r ealistic e l ements in Philips 's~ .
liAs for the number-a themsel v es ", writ e s Pope , "that t hey a r e
proper ly of the he r oic measu re J t he y s houl d be the smoothest ,
the most easy a nd f l owing imaginable". By "heroic measure", of
co urse , Pop e means r hymed iam bi c pent ameter, but i n his u s e of
t hi s term he is echoing Rapdn , These are the rul es by ·.d1i ch
Pope fe lt that pa storal s hould be j udg ed . I t is to Pope' s
credi t that within t.he rules set down he a chi eved great success .
He dep i ct.s golden ag e sheph erds among "the most ag r eeable ob ject s
of t he country" , and the most outst and ing qua l i ty of his
~ i s t ha t they are lit he smoothest , t he most ea sy an d

f lowing imaginable".
In the remainder of t he "Discourse" Pope discusses t he
maj or pastoral poets. He favour s Vi rgi l over Tbeocrit us since
the f ormer ex ceeds "in regu l arity an d brevity, and fal l s s hort
i n nothing but simplicity an d propriety of style". i'ihi le
a l lowing " considerable Geni us " i n Spen ser , he ce nsures him f or
t he Lengtih of his eclogues, his use of allegory and his
discus sion of matters of religion in a pa eccr-aj, st yl e , and his
employment of "lyric measure". He cens ures also the ca l enda r
d esign since " t he y ea r has not that variety in it to furnish
eve ry month with a particul a r deec r-tpe tcn , a s it may every
s eason " . Pope ends his "Di s cour s e " wi t h the comment that his
f our pa storal s «cce pr-ebe nd a l l the sub j e ct s which the Critics
upon Theocrit us and Vi rgi l wi l l allow to be fit f or pa s t oral " .
As shall be s een present;ly, such rigidity an d con finement; t o
rules a r e a l i en t o t he sp i r i t of most English writers. To
maint ain su ch a theory could end only in its be ing cha l l enge d
and rejected. Pastor al had not be en t hu s confi ned by ru les at
any time previ ous t o this in England . It had achi ev e d a t a-eeendoue
variety i n exp re ssion . cha r a ce er-, s ce nery, subject matter,
l a ngu age, and meter from i t s beginnings i n t he early native
t radition. Now f or t he f irst time i n English literary history,
a very important and influential poet l ays down r ather r estricting
rul es rega rding the writing of pastor als. Although holdi ng a
g r ea t r espect for t he spirit of cl a s s ical writi ngs, the Englis h
t emperament is, by i nsti nct, averse t o any s ort of r ule s which
c ould be deduced from the practice of t h e an cients. The empirical
-~

~7
s t.rain in English poetI')" could not. be stifled by theory.
eonfilct. waa 1Devitable.
It. broke out shortly arter t he
A
publication at Pope's and Philips's pastorale in Toas an t •
Poetical Miscellanies (1709).
3.
The first thing to Dote about both Pope's and Philips's
pastorals is t hat they are cont'entional. They contain many
imitations of Virgil and Tbeocntus in fo rm and subject matter.
Fop;:; cla1JDs that his Pastorals? "have as much variety or
deacriptloD. in reapect of the seyeral eeeacne, as Spenser's".
Additional variety 16 added in that "the se veral times of the
clay are absen'd, the rural employments in eac h eeeecn or t ime
or day. and the 1"\11'&.1 scenes or places proper to such employments-.
there is, also. some regard tor the "ae'Yeral ages ot man, and the
ditterent passions proper to ea ch age". Philips has no such
design tor his~.S Pope 's "Spring- is set ~ a ·Vally·
in the morulDg and i s a conTent i onal singing match between two
shepherds; Philips's Sixth Pastoral 1& also a singing match
be tween t wo shepherds and both of these poems f oll ow t he pattern
of similar pa storals of Virgil and Theocritus . Pcpe se ·Summer-
7 Ale:u.nder Pope . !2.!!!!. pp; 123 tt;
8 Ambrose Philips, ~, ed , M.G. Segar (1937) . pp . 5 ff.

i s set by the "River' s Side" at noon, and, 11ke Philips's
First Pastoral, is a conyentional l oye cca pl aint in na rrative
f ora. Pope ' s "Aut uam" i s set on "a Hill" a t sun set and ·c ontoaina
the "Rural lays" at two s hepherds, Bylas and AegoD; one "mourned
a £aithless", the other "an ab sent". loye. Philips ' s Second
Pastoral CODta inS the complaint at ODe sheph erd CoUnet t o his
trien d Thenot about t he "blasting St orms at CallUllDY" and the
"Slander" of "Unt oward Lads" who "make mock of all the Ditties
I endlte". Pope 's "Winter " , in keeplng wi th t he se ason at
death in nat ure. l s a conve nt lonal past oral elegy "to t he memory
of Mrs. Tempest" and is se t ln "a gron " at Ill1dnigbt . Philips's
Third an d Fourth Pas tor als are both conve ntional pastoral laments.
Tbes e three pastor als cont ain the conve nt i onal pathetic tall a cy
ot nature mourning the sh ephe rd 's 108s. Pope's -Winter" and
Phi lips I s Thi rd Pas toral have t he trad i tional consolation pas sag e
near t he end ot each poem. Philips' s Fi f't h Pas t oral is a
pan egyric to "Young Colin Cl out; wo well could pi pe and sing".
Ostendbly t hes e poems are n ry s1.lll1lar in t OnD and
subject matter. The smooth.f'lowing. polished COup16t8 ot Pope
sh ow the superior poetic skill whi ch he pos se s sed. and whi ch has
gained to r his t our pas t or als a lasting place 10 liter ature.
The re are gr eat er dif ferences thaD t.M s : however . between t.he
pastorals ot thes e t wo poets. While the pastor al poems of both
writers are conYent i onal , those of Pope are more clos ely imi t ative
of Virgili a eclogues t han th ose at Pb111p s. lft'her ea s Pope 's poems
r etlec t hi s neo-cla ssici sm, Philips I S re flect his t endency 'to
i ntroduce more r ealistic and more "English" si tuations i n the

::a.nner ef Spenser, whom he quite orten imitates in diction.
exp ressi on , and pastoral names. Ths loys compl aint of Pope 's
· Summer ", whi ch is set in the gol den ag e , contains 811 app eal
to a "loY ely Nymph" t o come "and bleas the s U ent Hours":
Hov di r r erent is the rollowing appeal of Philips's First
Pas t or al where Lobbin urges his lo...e to come an d "11'l'e a
Shepberdess":
o COile, rtI'f Lovel Nor t hink th' Employment mean,
The Dams to milk, and little Lambld.na wean;
To dri.e a...Fi eld by Morn the f at' Ding Ewes ,
EI er t he vartl SUn drinks up t he cooly DeYs .
Ill. 8)-86)
This 18 not a picture of the gol den age when nature pro vi de d
all.
Lobbin's shepherd ess bas work t o do and all things do not
. f l ourish" where she turns he r eyes.
Pope makes no attempt t o de s cri be the f eatures ot
"Daphne" in his pas toral lament. He does give a rather vagu e
picture of Sylvia in "Spring· :
Sylvia's 11ke Aut umn ripe, yet mU d as May ,
tolore bright than NOOD. ye t fresb as early Day,
ET'n Spring dis plea ses, when she shines not here,
But blest v i th he r , 't1s Spring throughO(il~ h~l~:Y.
The cadence ot these lines is bea utiful and soothing, but the
picture of Syl via i s r ather vague. Pope , of cou r se, di d not

50
1Jl.t end to paint. a reuletic picture. He .....8 deacribiug SylTia'a
beauty in the kind at ci1CtiOD that was both tallil1ar and
p16 a=1~
to his readers, and which conveyed a general feeling
that would be readily understood. Bu:t in doing this, Pope wa s
in tact breaking away troll a t.radi't1ou ot n aliaa alread y
establiahed in English pastoral poetry. Compare the 'coregoing
passage with the following passage t ro m Philips' s Third. Pastoral.
where he laments the death ot libiDo and describea the scene ot
his death:
In yond er gloomy' Grovs stretch'd out he l ay,
81s beaut.eous L1IIbs upon the dampT ClayI
The Rose s on hi. pallid Cheeks decay'd,
And o'er his Ups a lirtd Bue d1eplay'd .
(11. 41-441
Philips uses poetic diction quite as frequently as Pope (t or
8X8Jllpl e . pallid Cheeks " and "11.,.1d Hue" ) , but t he "dampy Clay "
is a fresh image and the last two lines convey a more definite
pi ct ure t han the ODe evoked in Popela linea.
Whereaa Pop e I a diction and exp r ession 112. the~
are bot h elegan t an d in ke eping with the character or "Golden
Age" shepherds, Philipsls expression s hows the influence or
Spenser and i n t a ct gin s a more realistic rendering of'
sh epherds as they ac t uaJ.ly are.
Pope 1n~se , 40 gives
ironic praise to the following passage from Philips's Fourth
Past oral:
o woeful Dayl 0 Day of woel quoth he;
And wofu1 I, who live the Dafli~ 47~k)

Pope, with t ongne 1n chee k.
ealls this pa ssag e "extremely
51
elegant"i but one can easily se e the resemblance, both in the
repetition and. the diction, to Spenser's Sbepbeardes Calender.
Philips uses such word s &8 "bight", "e ndUe". "trow· in consci ous
i.aaltatioD or Spenser t or the purpcee or a eh1e rlng the same eUect
wi t h language t hat Spenser aiaed at an d which Tbeocntus was
supposed to have achieved by following the Doric dialect.
From this brier analysis one can see thllt the original
pa storal urge to express t he desire t o es cap e from present
tnTahemeats 1s replaced, i n Pope, by the deaire to try cne t e
"tender wings" 1n the lowest ot poetic genres , after the manner
ot Vi rgil.
The opening lines ot Philips's First Pastoral give
a hint. at least J ot t his desire to " quit the city Throng/To
meditate in sbadu the Rural Song " . Whether Pope realized it
or Dot, Philips, like Spen ser, imit ated the spirit of t he ancients
rather than their wor ks . The situation8 or Pope' 8~are
highly 1.lll1tatiYe of s imilar situation s in Vi rgil , and he r efers
to t he same nymphs and gods t hat are found in Tbeocrltus and
Vi rgil. Philips makes reference t o "Nymphs·, but i nstead of
using t he pagan mythology of the ancients he imitates rather
t he s pi rit of 'Iheo critus in that he u se s Englis h f'ol klore and
l ocal proverbs.9 When. f or t he sake or r idi cule, Pope quotes
atter di:p~i:e~fa~~~e~~· "~~eil~n~c~~:;~s~~!o~;~2!nAt~:~~ ls
:t:c~;;:l,~f'c~~id~ ~~ii ~~ ~t~:n~:~i~~al~~~e~.t~r!~~::=nd"~e
would ban thought i t impossibl e f or thi s lind of Poetry t o ha ve
s ubs isted v1thout Fawns and Sat)Ts, Wood-Nymphs and Wat er -Nymphs ,
....i th all t he Tribe of' Rural Deiti es . But we s ee he ha a ginn a
n ew Li t e , and a more nat ural Beauty to t his way of Yriting by
Subs t i t ut ing in tbe Place of these Antiquat ed Fables, the
su perstit ious Mythology whi ch pr evails among the She pherds of
our own Country". Addison' 8 preference t or mor e realistic
past or als in a l ocal setting can be i nf erred from t his pas sage .

tour passages ot pronrbs from Philips pastorals 1D~
52
Ho. 4D he appears Dot to real1le that this 18 a s much part ot
the tolk beUe! ot the English as the -rths e eee a part ot
the tolk: beliet ot t he Greeks.
This is al:o one ot the &spect:s
or PhilipS'1li~which Gay burlesquea 1D The Shepherd's
!!.!!.
Pastoral 1a DOt.tor Pope what it ha d Donaally been t or
earlier pastoral writers.
It 1s neither a vehicle tor virulent
s at i r e nor a vehicle tor the expression ot the desire to escape
from lul'o1l'ement 1n city l1f'e.
It is tor him a place to try
his poetic talents. Pope is f'ully aware that urban liCe Is
real litej he knows t hat LondoD 15 where decisions are made
and society is moulded.
depi cti ons or tural lite outside pastoral.
Pope,
Thi s cons ideration always tempers his
The country, f or
1s Dot a mean s ot e scape , but rather a place wher e one
may occasionally pursu e "SUcce s si ve St udy I E%er cise and Eas e".lO
Hia "Windsor For est" is a "topographical" or "l ocal" poeza in
tbe tradition of John Denhamls "Cooper is - HiU· and John Dyer's
"Grongar Hill". In t bb poem. Pope expresses hi s attitude to
rural lite:
10 A aomewh@.t;. silqH a r attitude to rural life is exp r es sed
by John Pomfret in The Choice (l700). Pomfret states that if
Heann would grant ~ght ebcoe e my method how to live .00
Near some fair Town I'd have a private s eat " . In his "little
Garden" he would have " 8 ' si l ent Study placid 000 with all the
noblest Authors grac ' d". In these Authors, he say s ,
lid always t ake my Morning Exercise :
For sure no minutes bring us more Content I
Than those 10 pleasing, useful St t n =s 3~j~' . ~
Pomfret also wrote se veral past orals of lit tle intrinsic interest.
His "Past oral Essay on the Deat h of Queen Mary " (l694.) i s a
conventional pastoral el egy 0

53
Happy t.he Man whOIll this bright Court approve,.
His SOT'reign faTours, and his Country lons;
~:yH:~h~a::. t~h:h~.s:::e~~t~:;lrea.
Whom humbler J018 or home-telt quiet please,
SuccesalYe Stud.y, Exer cise an d Ease.
Ill. 235- 240)
I n bis "Epistle to Mias Blount, on her leaving the Town, alter
t he Coronation- (1714.).
Pope express es a s1mllar urge to be
away from the town, but una time vit h rind, realistic detaU:
So when your sl av. , at sOlie dear, idle t1Jlle.
(Not plagutd with headachs. or the want of rhimeJ
Stands in the streets, abstr acted from the crew,
And while he a••s to s tudy. thinks of you :
Just w en his fancy point s your sprightly eyes,
Or sees the blush ot so n Parthenia rise,
Gay pat. JJrT s boulder, an d you vanish quite ;
i:i:e~~lb~~ih :\:~~O~b~IT~urr:w7Y sight;
Look sow' r . and hum a tune .. as you may now.
(11. 101-50)
This , however. is Dot pastoral .
This kind ot concrete detail
g iving t he appear an ce of rirst hand obs ervat lOI1 does not appear
in his pas t or als. They are much less real i stic. much more
artif i cial.
Thomas Ti ckel l t s s eries of arti cles on pastoral in t he
Guard i an l l r aised Pope's i re and resulted i n a battle or wits
11 Numbers 22, 23 . 28, 30 &. 32 . All or April 1713.

54
between t.hese tw o s pokesmen for their respective t heo ries.
Tiekell espous ed t he rationalist position of Addison J Philips ,
a nd Furney and disturbed Pope by virtually neg l e cting t o pay
a ny attention to his~ while praising t ho s e of Phi lips .
Not 'to be outdon e, however , Pop e t urned t h e tabl e s on Tickel!
and Philips by praising ironically,12 i n~No . 40, t he
pass ag es whi ch Ti ckel l h ad quoted t o prove Phili ps ' s g en i us .
The g en er a l theory out lined by Ti ek ell was d er i ve d mainl y f rom
Fontenelle, with cons i derable mod i f i ca t ion t o suit t h e English
taste and temperament. Brief l y the theo ry ou t l i ne d i s this.
Tic kel l agrees , i n gen eral t wi th Fontenelle that "the first
r ac e of men " we r e ha ppy, but t hey were also "rude witha l, and
uncul t i va t ed " . In writing past or a ls , t herefore , he advis es
that "the tranquillity of t ha t life a ppe ar f ull and pl ain, but
hide the me anness of it i repres ent i ts s i mplici t y as cl ea r as
y ou pl ease , but co v er its mi s ery" .l) I n ~ Nc , 23 ,
Ti ck el l dis cusses t he a ppro priate charact er, mann ers , a nd
e xpres s ion of the sh epher d . Simpl i c i t y, h e find s, i s n e cessary
in the character of shepherds . They may ha ve "g ood sense " and
even "wit" , provided I1their manner of t hi n king be not t oo
1 2 I t is interesting to note that Pop e had g i v en reserved
praise t o Phi lips ' s Pastoral s befo r e Ti ckell t 5 Gua rd i an papers
h ad aroused h i s j ealousy . I n a let ter t o Cr omwerraat.ed
28 Oct ober 1710, after point ing ou t s eve r al aho r-t.eomi.ng s in
Phi lips ' s poems , Pope writ es: " I n t h e ,:"hole , I agree w1t h ~he
~:~~ ~~~a~h a r i~eI h:en~~ ~~~~e~i~~~;~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~i1eis ~~~ :b le
of writing v ery nobly" . See Alexander Pope , Corresponde nc e , ed ,
George Sh erburn (1 950 ) , Vol. I, p , 101.
13~ , No. 22, April 6 , 1713 .

gallut. or re:tiDed-. Shepherds -are not. allowed. t.o make
deep re:tlect.ions" e:zcept. "where t he thought i s so obYlous,
that it. seems to come easily to the mind". Then Tickell quotes
a pa ssag e from .Ambrose Philips's First PastoralU, to show his
-admirable 1JIlproTement. o:t Vi rg il and Theocritws". Pope was
evidently enraged to :tiDd t hat the quotat.ion to i llus t r at e an
"admirabl. improyement" upon Virgil and Theocritus was taken,
not :tro= his own pa storals, but f ro m t hos e of Philips. Again,
in keeping witb th'l!l s pi r i t of the ancienta. Tiekell stresses
the imponance of superstition and proverbial sayings to t he
character an d speech or a shepherd. emee , he 8ays, "we find
the works ot Virgil and Theocritus sprinkled rlt b lett-handed
ravens, blast.ed oaks, witch-crafts, evil efes, and the like.
And I observe with great pleasure that ou r English aut hor ot'
t h e past.oral s I haYe q,uoted hath practbed this s ecret with
admirable j udgment a • I S This. ot course, i s one of t he aspects
of Philips ' s ~ which Pope induced Gay to ridicule in
his Shephe rd 's Week. Tickell elevates Theoeritus above Vi r gil
a s a pastorai writer in~ No. 26, and . in No. ) 0,
expresses the more normal English independence of thought by
recommen ding "this our i s land a s a pro per scene t or pastor al " .
He then proceeds t o ridicule the conv emi onal past.or al and to
u pbraid "our countrymen" who "h ave so good an opinion of t he
Anci en t s l
and think so modestly of thems elves, t hat the
14 (11. 79-82)
15 ~, No. 2). April 7 , 171).

56
generalit y of pastoral-writers haYe either s'tolen all irom
t he Greeks and Romans, or so ae rYUely imitated t heir manners
and customs. as makes t hem very r i di culous". Tie kell ridicules
the modern practice of imitating Ule "theology" of the ancients
by r eferring to "left-hand ed ravens", "blasted oaks, withering
meadows and weeping deit i es", and maintains i nst ead that "that
part on l y is t o be r etained which 13 universally known, and
t he rest to be made up out of our own rustical superst1tiOD of
bobt hrusbes . failW, goblins, and witches" . Tiekell con cl udes
th18 pape r with praise of his "countrymen Spenoer and Philips"
f r om whom "t hese nll8S are drawn". In Ticke1l 1s final pap er
in t he seriee 16 he deeae Philips the "eldest -b orn" ot Spenser.
Tiekell's theory, then. is almoR directly oppos ed t o that of
Po pe . He favours Philips's pastorals and 1s against Berv ile
imitation of the ancients. He r i dicul es the conventions of
pa storal in theory as Swin had begun 'to do in pract i ce .
Pcpe t e essay in t he Guardian l 7 j ust ten days l ater
intensified t he conflict. Writing anonymously, he ironically
turned the passages already quoted by Tickell f'rOlll. Philips t s
pastoral to his own advantage i n ridi culing Philips. He
ridiculed Philips's "ant i quated English", his "cho ice of' names
pe culiar t o tbe Count ry" , his introduction of' "Wolves in England",
and "his roses, li11es and daf'fodils", which all "blow in the
same se aso n" . Hi s censur e of' Philips I s use of' "proverbs" has
16~ , No. 32, April 17 , 1713.
11 ~, No. 40, April 21, 1713 .

57
been comented upon earlier . Finally, Pope places himse lt in
a more f aYourable 1igbt by best-oriDg pr aise ironically on
PhiU ps 's - elegan t di ale ct , which ajeee might proY" h1m the
el dest born ot Spen ser" I and by comparing hh putorals witb
a pastor al ballad composed in the -Somer set shire di alect " .
His ridicule of Phi lips 18 so ciev&3tatlng that t he reader 18
i nclined. t o agree with Pope t hat what b. himsel1' has given us
in his~18 " so.lll8t hing better".
Gay's Sbepberd '8 Wee k (17].4.). written at the request
of Pope . and perhaps ot SwU't , 1S lfaS intended by Pope to be
a burlesque of the r ealistic pastorals of Phili ps . Actually t
t hes e putorals t urned out to b. t ru er to t he English
countryside and more in keeping wi:th the spirit of pa stor al
than eitber Pope ls or Philips's. Gay's us e of realistic
de tail and English t ol klore and superstit ion is quite i n the
sp i rit of the pastor a1s of Theoc r i t us . Swift, t oo , did much
18 Swift i n a letter t o Pope da t ed 30 Augus t , 171 6 ,
ment i ons a ce rtaI n "ingeniou s Quaker ••• who wri tes ve rses t o
hi s mis t res s , not very correct" and says t hat "i t gi ve s me a
hint t hat a sett of Quakeroopastorala might su cceed, i f our
friend Gay could fancy i t • •• • I believe further, the Pastoral
ridi cule i s not exhaus t ed•••• Or what do you t hi nk. of a Newgate
pas t oral , among the whores and thieves t here?" Pope ,
Corres pondence . Vol . I . p , 360 .

to discredit. past.or a l , and i n 1711 wrote "A Town Eclogu e ,,19
in which some of the more (to him) ludicrous conventions ot
t he cla ssical pastoral ar e parodied. . Gay's burlesque intenti on
i s n ident. in the ironic t one of his Pro eme 20 to the Shepherd1s
~. He says that "no Poet. •• • hath hi t on t he right s imple
Eclogue af'ter the true ancient. guise of Tbeocritus, be f ore t.hi8
min e att.empt". His professed aim is "to describe aright the
manner s of our 0lfD. honest and l aboriou s pl ough- men" . He is
aware of the "rout an d r abblement of crit i cal gall1mawtry •• •
ot late day s " concern ing t he golden ag e . His purpose is t o
set forth "a rat he r liTe1y landscape" ot his own count ry , in
which "thou wilt not find my shepberd es s es i dly pi ping on oaten
r eeds. but milking the Kine, tying up tbe sheaves, or if t h A
bogs are as tray dr1Ting th8lll t o t heir st.ye s " . I t is f airly
obrlous t ha t the int ende d object of ridicule here in Philips .
The language of his shepherd s is "such a 8 i s neitbe r spoken
by t he country maiden nor the courtly dams; nay , not only such
as i n the present t1m.esis not uttered , but was neve r uttered
i n t imes past; and, if I judge aright, will neve r be uttered in
times future". He borrows some of his pastoral names from
Spense r , as well as t he idea of the weekly ea1endar. He poin'ts
out , howeve r , th a't be has omitted "SUnda y or the Sabbath, ours
being supp os ed t o be Christian shephe rds, and t o be then at
19 This poem is discu ssed i n Chapt er Three where Swi ft
is dealt with more .fully.
20 John Gay, Poetleal Works, ee, G.C. Faber (1926),
pp. 28 ee,

59
ch ur ch worship" .
Somet hi ng of t he anti - pastoral . bu r lesque t one o f Gay ' s
Sh e oh e rd. 1 s \'fe ek ca n be seen in the f ollowing pa s s ag e s :
Sha ll heavy Clumsllis with me compare?
Vi ew this , ye l overs, a nd l i ke me despa i r .
Her b'Iub be r-ed lip by smut ty pipe s i s 110 m ,
And 1n her br eath tobacco whiffs are born .
( " ~'1e dn e s d ay " . 11 . 37 -40)
He r name itself suggests t ha t s he i s anything but the dainty
nymph we wou ld expe ct to s e e t r ipping lightl y o t er- the green .
The f ollowin g se ct ion i s mea nt t o carry t o absurdit y t he kind
of r ealism attempted by Phili ps:
Thus Ma rion ....ail1d he r eyes with Tea rs brimfull,
\'ih en Goddy Dobbins b r oug ht he r cow to bull,
i'li t h ap ron b l u e , t o dry he r Tea r s sh e sought ,
Then sa w t he cow wel l e er-vt d , an d t ook a groat .
(" Tue sda y" , 11 . 10) -1 06 )
I t i s do ubt f ul whet.h er Pop e hi.lDsel f e s ca pes pa ro dy in
c e r t.a in l ines of Gay 's past.o r a ls. The line s from Pop e ' s " Sumner"
quot ed ea r l ier and beginning "i,'here - e' er yo u walk, coo l Gales
sh a l l fan the Glade , " ( 1 . 73 ) se em t o b e pa rodi ed by Gay in the
f ollowi ng line s f r om "Tuesday ":
... .lhen-e'er you e owt d I f o l low'd wit h the r a ke ,
And have fu ll of t been s un - burnt for t hy s a ke .
(11 . 61-6 21
Likewi se a similar passage in Gay ' s bu r l esque pastoral e l e gy
_ "Fri da y " _ seems t o pa r ody the lines of Pope ' s "Summer " :

60
Where-.'er I gad. I Blou••lind sball viewJ
Woods, dairy, barn and mows our pa sa i oD knew_
When I direct lIlY .yes 'too yonci:: ~'1.
Fresh rising sorrow curdl e s 1n my blood••••
Sometimes this crook drew bal.el boughs adown,
And stutt'd her apron wid, with nuts so brown;
Or when her reed1Dg bogs bad m se'd their way,
~'W~~~~ ~~:t~;:a:~ ~~ea ~ ~~8I l:~ve.
And whistled all the way - or told my love.
ur, 41 £t.)
Such l ow treatment of a solemn topi c would Dever be allowed
by Pope, and in f act up t o this time bad Dot been pel"ll1tted
1n any pastoral elegy in English.
The sublimity ot an elegy
like aLyci da s· now become s degraded by a burlesque pastoral
intended only to r idicule the genre. The re is lit tle wonde r
that se r i ous poets beg an to turn away trom pastoral as a s erious
poetic genre.
"S11enus".
Gay's "Saturday" 18 modelled upon Vi rg i l's sixth eclogue,
The si t uat ions depicted in both ecl ogues are very
simi lar, exce pt t hat wher eas Silenue sings of the creation of
t he uni verse , Bowzybeus sings of l ocal s uper stiti on and folklore :
Of nature' s l aws his carrels f'ir5 t begun,
Why t he grave owle can never f ace the SUD..
For owl es, as swai n5 cbe er-ee , dete~ t he light,
And only sing and seek their prey by night• • • •
How Wi l1- a- Wisp mis-leads night . faring clowns ,
O' er hills , and sinking bogs, and pattl~ ~8S~O~ ;
This passage is, of course, in the sp i rit of t he IdYlls of
Theocritus i n that it depict s f olk-belief. The burlesqu e intent
can be s een , however, f r Olll t he opan1ng stanza. The f irst thr ee
lines gi Tes t he expectat ion of a -loftier" t heme, but. t he f ourth

61
i s s omewhat bathetic :
Subl i mer s t r a i na , 0 rustick Mus e , pr-epa re ;
Fo rg et a -whi le t he barn a nd dairy's ca re;
Thy homely voice to loftie r numbers r a i s e .
The drunkard's flights requir e sonorous l a ys ,
\'litb Bowzybe us ' s ongs exalt thy ve r -se ,
Whi l e r o ck s and woods the various note s r eh earse.
(11 . 1 - 6)
21
Gay pub Ldah ed five more "Eclogues" in~
Se ver al Occa s i ons (17 20 ). The se are entitled "The Bi r t h of
a SqUi r e" , "The Toi lette" , "The Tea - Tabl e " , "The Funeral",
and "The Espou sal: A Sobe r Ecl ogue Betw e en t wo of t he Peop le
ca l l ed Quak ers" . They are al l i n the "town" e cl og ue t radition
and are a mixtur e of sati r e and burl esque . " The Espo usa l " wa s
s uggest ed by Swi f't in 1716 . Its opening lines a ppear t o be a
b u r l esque of Virgil ' s First Eclogue, whi ch in Dryden's
translation be gins thus:
Be nea t h t he Shad e which Beechen Bough s di ffuse J
You Ti ty' rus e nt e r t a in yo ur Silvan xu ee ,
(11 . 1- 2 )
Gay 1 S op en i ng l i ne s r un t hus :
Benea t h Ule sha dow of a beaver hat .
Meek Ca l eb at a silent me eting s a t e .
(" The Es pous a l ", 11 . 1-2 )
Gay ' s bu rlesque of pastoral , then , must be s e en as h avdng an
i mporta nt influence on the attitude s of wr i ters t o this genr e .
Pop e . on e of the most important a nd i nfluential writers of t he
21 Gay , 2£. cit., p . 131 tr,

62
ag e , pe rsuaded Gay to un dertake 'this task, an d he had as well
the full support. of that oth er g r eat writer, Swift , who had
already written a burlesque past o r al and would do so a gain.
Swift an d Gay had beg un to ridi cule t he conventional pa storal
i n practice in muc h t he same way t ha t Tiekell had in t heory.
6.
Many l es s in£l uential writers than Pope and Gay
cont inued , however, to wri t e e clogues . Parnell, a member of
t.he Scr i blerus Club with Swift, Pop e , Gay , Arbuthnot, an d
Je rvas, wrote t wo ec lo gues : "Hea lth" and "The Flies ".
are mor al a nd didactic.
Both
Bot h dispense with t he traditional
s he pherds and Arca dia, an d a r e not really conventiona l pastorals.
Pope , i n a l et t e r t o Pa r nel l in 1717, pr ai s es h i s " st ory of
Pandor a, and t h e Eclogue upon Healt h " a s "two of the most
be autiful t hi ng s I eve r r ea d _. 22
More i mportan t than Parnell f rom the viewpoint of the
de ve lopaent of past or al t he ory a nd practice are "i 'lilliam Di ape r 's
Ne rei des : or . Sea -Ec logues (1 71 2) and Thomas Pur-ney t s Pas torals
(1717 ) al ong with his Full EnQui ry into t he True Nat ure of
~ (17l7). Diaper tri es t o present ne w sub ject matter
for pastoral. I n hi s ~ he uses many of the conventions
22 Pope , Cor respondence I Vol. I I p, 396 .

of pa st or al poe try, a nd he take s Theocrl t us as his chi ef
model . Following the example of Theocritus , Sannazaro , and
Phineas Fletcber , all of whom wrot e pi s ca t ory ec logues or
63
idylls. Diaper s ets out t o expand the s cope of pastor al still
further .
He wants to exp1 019 t he possibility of writing about
t he sea in past o r a l po etry:
i ~ ; ;;lr ;; ~he aM~b: :J ~~a~ h:h;e~e:~;l;:t
i n a gre at measur e nnt ouch t d : And those who
have made some Attempt s t ha t way I ba ve only
given us a f9W Plscatory Eclogue s , like t he
~r ~~ e Co~~;: :-S~~h:~T:;W:~~t::Pl~~h~es~~ . 23
Thi s att empt to i ntroduce new subject mat t er i nt o pastor al is
a cl ear re ject i on of t he ideas of Pope . Dia per al so al l ows
great e r f reedom of ve rsification i n pastoral t han i s permitted
by either Pope or Philips. Doro thy Broughton makes the
f ol l owi ng comparison:
A supe r f icial r elat i onshi p between Diape r 's
Se a Eclogues and the Pa st or als of Ambr os e
PhJ.lIps a r ise s from a common cho ice of ec l ogue
form a nd treatment , expressed in the he roic
couplet . But Philips's vers e i s more formal
and conventional t han Diaper's. Whi l e
impecc.ably corre ct and vying with Pope 1 e f or
ea ocebn e a s , Diaper's couplets are treer and
more va ried in the us e of t ripl ets , halfl
i ne s and a lexandrines than is ccnraon for the
period . His technique recal ls Dryden's r at her
t han t hat of any of hi s own contempo rar i es .24
23 William Diaper, Complete " or ks , ed , Dorot hy Br ough ton
(1952 ) , p, 16.

Anot.her interest.ing el ement. in Di aper 's pastorals i s first.-hand,
realist.ic descript.ion or men and scenery. His eclogues do not
depict. t.he golden age. His ;;haracters haYe t.o vo rk t or a
l i ving. an d he orten writes wi th his ey e st.ea di l y fixed upon
the object before him:
The Cod. (delici ous Food!) Mu.llets and Soles.
And sh i ning Mack lrell swim f or us in shoals.
Su ch Fare the vealtby Cith en vU.l prize ,
bin when they stink, (long kept) and we des pise.
While on sow1r Herbs the Shepherds poor l y t eed .
Or sa pless Cheese. and. Cru sta of Mouldy Bread; •••
All do not lon in clotting Fields t o sweat ,
Where clay1e Fallows clog tbe labouring Feet.
(!!!:!!!!!.!. se, XII. 11. 48 rr.)
Here . then . we have an able writer wiehing t o write pas toral
but unable t o accept tbe rest rietbe doctrines of t he French
cr i tics and Pope . Di aper eee e t he ne ed t o rejuyenate past or al,
give it somet bing new t o do.
Befor e the end of t he century many
more poets would attempt to do the same but . l a cking the
authority of a Pope or Swti't. their efforts would end 1n failure.
In 1717, t he same yea r that Pope published bis "Discourse
on Pas t oral Poetry " , Thomas Purn ey publish ed hi s Full Enquiry
i nto t he True Nature of Pastor al. Purney's theories are closely
allied to those espoused by FonteneUe . Addison. Philips. and
Tickell. "The most compleat kind of Pastoral" . he writes , "is
t hat which most beautifully draws the pre sen t Life of She pherds,
and r ai s e s Pity or Joy . by t he fo ur Parts of Pas tora l , Fabl e,
Characters. Sen timents and. Languag e" . 25
The "Fable" D ould be
25 'Ihomas Purney , A Ful l En~lrr into t he True Nature or
~ (1717 ), ed; Earl Wasaermanl:948 ), p, 6 .

65
"im plex", i t should hav e e nough s co pe so that 'there would be
ample opportu ni ty t o portr a y ch a r a cter , engage the emotions ,
and convey t he moral . Here we can s ee t hat Purney wished t o
e levate pa storal t o a dignified pos i t i on s i mila r t o t ha t held
by ep i c and t ragedy . Regarding "Cha racter " , h e writ es tha t
"Since Simpl ici ty and Tende r ne s s a r e unive rsal l y allow'd t o
constitute t he very soul and essence of pastoral " , then t he
"So ft-Sex " s ho uld be i ntroduced as well a s men . To preserve
this s implicit y those "Pass i ons or Desir e s , which engage t he
bu sy a nd act i ve part of mankindj as Ambition, and the like n26
must be av oided . The sh eph erd I 5 circums t ances must reflect
neither t he "Gold en Age " no r t he mi seri e s of ac t ual country
lif e , but r a t her t he "agreeable Sen timents of our own Country
{by descr ibing i t, but omitting all that i s not de l ight f u l in
it ) II. 27 To a dd more t o t he probability , the poet May "a ent.Lon
sev er al places in t he Count ry , which ac tual l y a re t o be f ound
t.her-e; and will ha v e s ev er a l opp or t un ities of giving his Storie s
a n Ai r o f Tru thll• 2S The IISentimentsll include bot h IIImages" and
IITh oughtsll . The on lY imag e s fit fo r pa s t or a l are t he beautiful
and the g l ocmy . The thoughts s hould be in harmo ny wi t h t he
"State of Lifell being presented . TIle IlLanguage " sho uld be
"ener-vated " by t h e use of 1I0l d wor-ds " an d eeomp oun d words ll mixed
wi.t.h "mono sy l l ab l e s " , "tender ph r ases" and "b ea utiful turns".
26 Purney J 2£ . cit., p, 2 13.
27 .!ill., p , 25.
26 IB.!.!!.

66
Purney' e opposition to the rulea preecribed tor pas toral by
Pope and his .followers is apparent in his refusal to look to
the models ot Theo cr i t u8 and Virgil a nd in his inclination to
depe nd rather on his own common sense. His pref ere nc e of
Theocrltus t o Vi rgil, an d his res pect. Cor Spenser and Phllips
prol'lde elear erldence that he taTors a less rigid approach
than Popel s to tbe writing ot pastoral. He states emphatically
that "our Language is 1ntlnltely the f'lnest of any in the world
tor pas'tor al,,29 and , contrary t o what the "rules - critics say ,
"there may be 8e Yeral sorts ot Pastorals-)O Tbere is a strong
empirical bent 1n Purnsy' 8 t heory as well a s a clesire to dignify
pastoral.
Pur081 wrote t our pastoral poems. His tlPaplat: or,
LayS a nd Innocence" an d his "Lallet: or, The Tende r Shepherdess "
a ppeared 1n Pastorals a.f'ter t he Simpl e Manner or TbeoCritU8
(1717).31 "The Bashf'ul Swain" and tl'Beaut y and Simplici ty"
appeared in tbe same y ea r . The title of the s econd pa s t oral,
tl'Lal1et", indicat.es the new prominence he was giving to the
" Fair - Sex " . Purney is indebted to both Spenser and Gay . He is
i ndeb t ed to Spenser for his u se of archa1S111s and dialect word s
and t o both Spenser and Gay fo r t ha t. air of reality n th which
h e de sc r i be s h1s scenes. Pamey is even less offended by the
coarser a spect s of country life than Gay . His descriptions
29 Purney , 2£. ill., p, 69.
30 Ibid., p. 71.
)1 Thomas Pumey, ~, ed , H.O. White (193) ) , p, 1.

are lively and vigorous and apparently based on first...band
observation:
4 CaTe there is by Idlehl11.
I e know t he Place where She pherds loll:
There Fauney of't en goes , I gueas.
To hear t he Lark, or t oy wit.b Lass.
A SWeetbreer dainty o' r e i t spreadj
'lhat Roses bore. and east a Shade .
Abie it ran a Rivo l eti
Painted with Sky and Flowers so sweet .
To this the 11lly-finger'd Lass,
501'1; wailing, pointed as di d paea,
May seem sh e wish t d t o se t in thI Cave
Her Love m.1.ght thither hap t o rove.
(" Lallet " , n , 259-270)
67
Here the description of the cave with the "sweetbreer" shadi ng
it and t he r efiectl on of t he "Flowers· and. ·Sky" in the "RlTolet"
present a viT1d and distinct image to the reader.
Furney's style
1 s OD e of utter simplicity. His pas t orals a re free or much of
the poetic diction of his day . and his style 1s at times so
down to earth t hat i t becomes i ns i pid and mean:
Sooth 1s be, but to kbs1ng be's so ghen J
He' ll kiss till be's odd, and t ben kiss t o come even .
He'll kiss at the Hedge, and be'l l kiss at tbe Gate;
He'.ll kiss 1f tbe chattering ~~;:l:~;, Pfi:et63.l 66)
Purney t then, was striving for "simplicity" and
"t enderness" in pastoral t hat. would aro us e "pity or joy" b, means
of a "Fable " witb a "Moral ll • He was convi nced t hat English was
t he f inest of any language i n the wor ld f or pastoral and tba.t
t he set t ing of the pastoral should be the English countryside .
And so we have another minor wri t er attem~lng to count eract

the influence of Pope and. inject new life int o a genr e whose
prest,1g . was t ast being und ermined .
68
7.
It would appear that other .....r i ter s of greater poetic
genius t han Purn ey had s 1.milar thoughts on past oral but were,
perhaps. dominated by the neoclass ic t heory of pastor al whose
most l nnuentlal ~pokesman was Pope. Such a poet was James
Thomson (1700-174.8))2 Some ot his early poems were pastorals,
an d certain se ction:!! of 'Ihe Seasons (1726-) O) indicate t ha t he
may have origi nally intend ed it. t o be a pastor al pcea, A
passage ot t went y-e ight lines in ·Spring- w ich des cribes the
go l de n ag e of the t r aditional pa s t oral was retained 1n all
edi t lons £rom tbe first 1n 1728 to t hat of 1738j but it was
wit hdrawn in 1744 . There are numero us pas sages t hro ughout
The Seasons whieh indicate t he influe nc e of t he traditi onal
past oral.
'I'homson I IS ear ly poems deal wi th pas toral subjects. His
"Pastoral Bet ween Thirs1s and Corydo n upon the Deat h of Damon" is
)2 Some indication of t he influence or Pope on Thomson is
gi ven in the £ollowing comment by J. Logie Robertson: wThere is
s ound criticism in the judgement or J ohnson that in the pro cess
or improvement -; The Seasons los t somewhat or their original race
o r fiaTour. The s cottIcIsms, too, were expressive . And the
keenness or his col our-sens e, whi ch he had i nherited from his
country ' s ballads , became dulled i n dere r enc e t o t he t a st e or
:~~ e J~n~~r:t:~~~~ ;onJU9~~0; ~ od. Complete Poetical Works,

a t.radit.ional past.oral elegy. but. his poem "or a Country Ufe",
published in The Edinburgh Miscellany (1720) , 13 a m1n1at.ure
sketch of The Seasons.
It i nd icates Thomson 's love at t he
rural retreat an d s ket ches brief'ly the employments. the jo ys .
a nd t h e bard.sh1ps of' the di f f er ent seasons . It i s not. l ong
enough t.o include tbe kind of moral reflect.ions on this type of
life t.hat we find so extensively i n The seasons. Even t hough
this poem is void of' any of: t he convent.ions of: pas t or al. i t.
ne vertheless 18 in the t.rue spirit of pa st oral. as t.he open i ng
l i nes indicat.e:
I bate the clamours ot the SIllOky towns.
But. much admire t.he bliss of rural clowns;
::~ :~m~~~:e°in;~~~e~~: IT~:~ ear.
Ill. 1-.)
The poe::. cont.ains much of the di cti on s o common in eighteenth
century poetry.
There i s a certain amount. of ge ne r alized
des cripti on in it but, like The Seasons. i t has paesages t hat
are much more naturalistic and much les s gener al i s ed t.han the
kind of: de scriptions we find in the conventional pastorals .
The tolloring passag e from "Of' a Country Ufe" i s an attempt.
t o describe at first hand t he ease and t ranquillity of a country
l i f e in somewhat realistic terms:
You. on the banks of sof"t meandering Tweed.
:May in your t oi l s ensnare the wat ery breed.
And ni cely lead t he artifi ci al nee.
Whi ch , when t.he nimble. wat chful trout does s ee .
He at. t he bearded hook will briskly spring;
Then in t hat i nstant twitch your hairy st r ing.
And. when he's booked. you. wit.h a cOQstant hand.
May draw him struggling t o t he fa tal land.
(11 . 51-60)

70
Although t hese l ines con t-ain such exampl es of poe t i c dict ion
a s "meanderi ng", "watery breed" and "beard ed hook ", they
ne ve rtheles s pr esent a vi vid and r ealistic picture of s omebody
t r outing on t h e banks of t he Tweed . Aga in Thomson a t t eD1pt s to
g ive "a l oca l hab i tation" to his poetry _ a point which Purney
stress ed in his Full Enquiry. A s i milar de s cr i pt i ve pass age i n
" Spring " bea rs a clos e r e s embla nce t o the passage just quoted
a nd conv eys t hrough t he u s e of co ncret e d i ction a fair ly
definit e picture :
i'lhile yet the dark- brown wat:~wat~st ~~ et~i! e ,
To t empt the trout . The well_di ssembl ed fly ,
The rod fine -tape r ing wi t h elastic sp ring ,
Snatch ed from t he hoary st eed t h e f l oa t i ng l ine ,
And all t hy slender .....atery stor es prepare .
But l et not on thy ho ok the t ortured worm
Convulsi ve twis t in ag onizing folds ;
\'Jhi cb , by r a pa ci ou s hung er s wallowed dee p ,
Gi ve s , a s you t ea r i t f ro m t he bl eeding brea s t
Of t he weak helpl ess un complaining wretch ,
Har sh pa i n an d hor ro r t o t he t ender hand.
(11 . 382- 393 )
I n h i s use of words like "dark-brown water " , I:l;ortured wom/
Convuls i ve t wi st " and "tear", Thomson i s finding the word s t o
fit t he descr iptio n r a t he r than maki ng t he de s cription f it. t he
words - he is being empi r ical in his descript i ons .
The Seasons i s not a lways t his vi vid i n i t s des c r i pt ive
pa ssages . Many of the pa s s ag es i n "Summer" de sc ribing t he s wain
are mor e l iterary t ha n real i st i c , but i t mus t be conc eded t hat
Thomson , i n t his descr iptive-reflective poem, is striving for
s omet hi ng more concrete an d realist i c to replace t h e so mewha t

inaipid. and art.lficial pastorals written in close 1m1tatlon
of Virgil. The poem 1:5 not what could properly be ea11ed a
pa s t oral poem, but it doe s hli\ve pastor al elements. Many
71
passages appear to be imitation s of traditional pastorals, for
ex ampl e this passage in "Summer" wher e
t he mower , sinking. hea ps
O'er h1m the hum1.d bay, with flowers per1'uJDedj
And eearee a chi r pi ng grasshopper Is heard
Through the dumb mead.
Ill. 44l.-447)
Yet t here are other secti oDs whi ch de scribe more re alistically
the sWlID.ertoils. For example :
Thomson, £ollowi ng Addison . Phili ps , an d Tiekell, does Dot
i gnore t he supe rstitions and t olk- Iore of t he country side
where
At t he fall of eve the f airY peopl e th ro~,
In VIlr10US games and reyelry t o pa s s
The summer night , a s Tillag e st ories t ell.
But t ar about they wander fram t he graTe
or him whom his ung ent le f ortune urged
Agai nst his own sad breast t o 11ft t he han d
or impious violence. The lonely tower
Is also shunn ed ; whose mournful chambers hold,
So ni ght-struck ran el"=;~ , thJ . YiMi~6~jst.
The cl osing lines ot "Autumn" i ndicate, as do s o many ot her
passages t hroughout t he whol e of The Seas ons , ho w important the

72
pa st.o ral
t beme Ls t o Thomson a s be writes t his poem:
This is t he lire which t ho s e who fret in guilt
And guilty ci tie s Dever knew - t he life
Led by primeva l age s uncorrupt
When ange18 dwel t. and God himsel f I wit h Manl
(11 . 1348-1351 )
The Sea so ns 1s not a pa storal poem. I t should more
proper l y be ca l led a de s criptive - ref lective o r a medit ative
poem. It does, however , contain many pas tor al elements , and t
what 1s more importan t . i t indicat es a new deve l opnent in
at t i t ude of poet s t owards th e writing of pastoral . Becaus e of
the i nsipidity a nd arti£l clality of t he c onvent i onal pastoral,
a nd the domi nan t posi t i on of' Pope a s cr itic and poet . some
wr i ters dUring t his per i od and many more in the mi ddle an d
l a t e r decades of the century tended t o look to ne w modes of
ex pression f or pas t oral themes. Ambr ose Phi lips at tempted to
introduce an a i r of realism into his~ j Gay , in his
a t tempt to burl esque the genre , produ ced ev en more r eali s t i c
past o r als t han Phili ps , but unfortunatel y i t was with the
e xplicit intention of casting ridicule a t t he genr e . In 'this
he was jo i ne d by Swift, a nd , for t he f irs t time in its history,
t he English pastoral wa s used a s a weapon agai ns t i t s el f . Pope
wa s s o i nfluenci al t hat Purney 's theories were practically
i gno red an d Di a per 's Sea Eclogues exe rted. ve ry little i nflue nc e .
It i s almost as if a certain apathy t owards pastoral had s et i n
among t he more important writ ers. Thomson , after some ea r ly
attempts at wri ting past orals, t urned to a more ambi tious fo rm

73
end pou r ed b1s thoughts, whi ch eontaine d mu.ch that is normally
considered matter for pastoral, into it. Thoae crities who
demanded more realism, less artificiality, local setti ng and
les 8 1.m1tatloD of 'the ancients were tem porarily o.... rwhelated,
but as we sh all eee in the tollow1n.g chapters , th e infiueDce
of the neoclassic doctrine began to wane as t he cent urr mOTed
0 n ,

74
CHAPTER III : RAMSAY TO JOHNSON' S RAMBLER
' Better the t oi l ing swain, ob happier fart
Perhaps the hap piest of t he sons of men1
Who vigorous pl i es the plough, the team , or ca r ,
Who boughs t he fiel d, or di tches in the glen,
Delves in hi s garden, or se cures his pen :
The t ooth of avarice poisons not his peac e;
He uoeeee not in sloth's abhorred den;
From vanity he has a full re lease;
And, rich in natur els wealth, be t hi nks not of increase.
( James Thomson, castle of Indolence. Canto II, St an za LV)
r ,
Throughout the second quarte r of the eight eenth cent ury
t bere are more f requent attempts t o broaden the s cope of pas tor al
i n subj e ct matter, character , s et t ing, expression, and form, as
wel l as a r eject i on , by serious writers, of the rules of
conve nt.ional pa storal. Conve nt ional past or a l s are still being
written by t hose whose talents are be st suit ed t o write i n the
imitative an d artifi cial manner so charac t eristic of many of t he
pa stor als of the ea r l i e r period. Pop e's t heory of pa st oral exe rts
the gr ea t e s t influence on this type of writer . Those who find
t he neo cl a s s i c theo~ of pa s t oral t oo r e st r i ctive eithe r turn
away fran past oral or else attempt innova t i ons within the gen re
i n an attemp t t o make i t a livelier, more app ea ling poet i c form.
Allan Rarasay (1686- 17 58), a native of Scotl and, wrote
s eve r al pa storal poems i n t he ve rn acular, the most important of
whi ch i s his pa stor a l dram a The Gentle Shepherd (1 7 25). In
wr iting pa storal drama, Ramsay is me r ely expanding that dramatic

75
quali'ty which is characteristic of pa storal. Having shepherds
conver s ing or caapeting in a singing-match 18 a feature of
pa st or al floOID theoerlt us ODward. In The Gentle Shepherd t he
cent r al characters are Path. the gentle s hepherd. and Peggy I
the shepherdesse Ramsay employ s the concealed identity motit t o
bring a ha ppy ending t o a 10Te aftair between t heee two young
l OTers. A't t he beginning or the poem, Patie ' s true identity 1s
conce aled. but he is later f ound to be t he son of the newly
returned -laird·. Sir Wil liam Worthy . As a lowly shephe r dess,
Pe ggy is considered below the stat l on of Pat h . Fortunately ,
Peggy's true ident i t y is r evealed also. She is fo und to be Si r
William's Deic e who was stolen away e e an infant by an ol d woman
when her death was -threaten'd by an uncle's wire".1 '!'he drama
ende happily wi't h the promise of t he f orthc omin g marTiag• •
Ramsay ' s Gentle Shepher d , coll1ng at t!l1.s parti cula r t i me,
is another example of the attempts on the part of different poets
to i ntroduce variety of bot h cont ent and fo rm i nt o pastoral.
Flet cher ha d, of course , produced 'nle Faithful Shepherdess, lfb1ch
i s a pa storal drama, but since thi s was not a "copy of th e
ancient s" it can be assumed that it did not measure up t o the
standard of pastoral demanded by those who looked to the anc ient s
fo r autbority.2
1 Act V, se, iii, 1. gg.
2 'l1le neoclassic attit ude t o this type of composition
i s ap t l y expreeaed by Pope i n his "Di scour se" : "Tasso in his
Aminta has as far excellld a1l the Pas t oral writers, as in his
areriii'alemme be has outdone tbe Epi c Poets of his count ry. But
a s this pI ec e seems t o bave bee n t he origi nal of a new sort of
~~~:ld:~~d p::t~r~p~~;d{hei~n~~ :~{~ . ~t ~::~t p ~~m~~l ~ . b~ 21.

76
The traditional pastoral theme is e:a:pressed in !!!!!.
Gentle Shepherd by Sir WllUu &8 be vieW's the "ruins " oC
his "once Cair seat" sh only a.tter bis return:
The "thrice happy lite" 18 not that of t he gol den ag e shepherd,
howltver. but of cne living in the peace and tranqu1llity of t he
Lowlands of Scotland.
The connrs.tion betve en Pet ie and Peggy
i n Act II, Scene lv, Is typical of the r ealistic detail that
sets The Gentle Shepherd apan; f rom t he conventional and
artlf'icial pastoral so common earlier i n the cent ury :
Peggy. When Cl rst thou gade vi' shepherd s to t he hill,
An' I to milk the ewes f irst trr' d my s ki ll,
To .bear a leglen was nae toil to me,
When at the bught at e'en I met lf1 ' t hee .
Patie. Whe n corn grew yellow, an ' t he heather - bells
Bloom'd boony on the muir an' rising r ellS
g~r ¥1~~Id°t~~l~i: ~.~~~;:S rl;~ ·~o;~~:.:d l
me
(Act I I, se, iT, 11 . 52-591
The vivid dat.all in passages su ch as t his sug gests that the poet
was writing from fir st-band knowl edge of t he Sc ~ttish cOWlt ryside,
not at t empting to visualiZe an ideal s et t ing in di s t an t Arcadia.
In keeping with t.heir humble chara cter, Ramsay's
shephe rds t alk of m :tchcrart and sup erst i tionj but t hey s peak. of
loca l supers t i t i ons r ather t han of t hose f ound in the an cients.
And, ag ain quite r ealisti cally, the noble Sir William.is made

77
to discredit such folk beliefs a s notions ot
the clouded mind ,
Tha t I s , thro l want. of education , blindl
(Act V, Sc. r, 11. 53-5 4 )
Thus there 1 s an originalit y and i nde penden ce in Ramsay' s wor k
that is unu sual in much pa st oral poetry of t his period .
giving his past or al "a l ocal habi t a t i on·, Ramsay makes his work
a ccord more with t he rationalistic theory of pa s t oral as s et
f orth by Philips, Ti ckell , an d Addi s on than with t ha t he ories
exp ressed by Pope . I t gives an i ndication of the di r ecti on
whi ch pastor a l was now t aking towar d a less restrictive, less
artificial mode of expression .
In
2.
That Mos es Browne tried t o rid pastor al of s ome of i ts
r es t rict i ons is made evident in t he title of his Pl acatory
Eclogues : An Essay t o i ntroduc e New Rul e s . and New Characters
into Pastor al. To which i s prefix'd, a di s course in Defense of
this Undertak ing (l729) . Although he mentions "New rule s",
Browne is r e ally closer t o t he t hinking of t hos e who ad vocated
a rati onalistic approach t ha n he i s t o the "rules" crit.1cs.
I n his "Essay i n Defence of t h e Pi s ca t ory Eclogue", he l a she s
out at the "a r bitrary, humours otlle pedant ry of Scholiasts and
COtllIllentators " who a l low t he "characters of Shep herds" to be

78
"tbe onl y subjects or pastoral", an d who "allow but sev en or
Vlrgilts Eclogues, and t en of t he IdylllU1118 to be purel y
pastoral"_ RapiD, be say8, has rollond the "ge neral bWDOur"
of pedantry "but be changes , Fr enchman 11ke t and is so volatile
in opinion - attlnn and denies i n the same breath , and uses
such freedom or conjecture. that his argtlIIIeDt will carry less
authority".)
Using Theocrltus an d Virgil as his example,
Browne turn s the argument of t he "rule s" critics against these
critics themselves.
Be re futes neocla ssicism with cl a ssici sm:
So that both t'rCllll. Theo crltus and Virgil 's
authority and practice , let but the manners
of t he speake r s be adapted t o the simplicity
and purity or the golden age ; l et them hav e
but leisure t or their muses, and t he country
f or their r esidence , a nd whetber they are
~.~=i1 ::tlh:.e~~·["SI Fowlers, &4:. it
Although Bro wne r es pect s Theocritu8 and Virgil and a ccepts the
golden ag e origin of pastoral, he is not in sympathy with the
"rules" crit i cs. Like Ramsay he inclines rather toward t he
rationalistic or common se nse approach.
Browne wishes to broaden the scope of subj ect matter
and t o add variety to the types of characters whieh ~y be
depicted in pas toral . In addi tion t o the shepherd , he se es no
r ea son why "an angler singing of rivers , the breed , haunts , and
nature or fish ; or a Fowler at his pl ea sant , artfUl recreation,
J Moses Browne, S l!!lf" SPOrts : in Ni ne Pise.t orr Eclogues ,
Jrd. ed ; (l 77J ) . p, xx,
4 llli., p, xxiv.

sitt ing un der a greeD shade and wat ching his nets" IIl1ght Dot
b e "a dapted to Eclogue" 80 a s t o "acquire ge ne ral esteem, 8 8
well f or their ea sy inst ruct ive philosophy. as entertaining
var1ety " .5 Regarding l anguage, Browne haa f ound -by the
79
Dialogues ot hi s Anglers . how pro per l y t hey would su i t with t he
innocent , buafole. nature of Eclogue ll • He disagrees with the
"Legislators of Pastor a1" who ordinarily expect
"low and
clownish" phrases from their swains. Af't.er r emind ing his readers
that "888100 . Moses . and David" were aU shepherds. he statea
that .....e should Dot ••• imagine i t is dedat.1ng !'rom their
ch araeter a to make them clvil an d ingenious. and tor f ear of
drawing the. courtier s. paint t hem 8S s avag es : t he golden mean
is t o be observed. a nd, 1£ in some places I bave made my Swains
(it may be t hought) a litt.le too well bred f or natives of the
country, it is be cau se I judged my s ubject. not strait.ened . nor
t.he speake rs limited to all the slavish torms the pastoral
critics have required". 6
Thus i t. can be seen t hat Browne is very much dilSpleased
with the narrowness and restrictions of the "rul es " crit i cism.
He wi shes t o introdu ce nov el elements into past oral . a nd he
thinks that the l anguage should not. be always "l ow an d cl owni s h"
but ratber shoul d be in keeping with the character being
presented. His "Ess ay" 1s ano t ber example of t he growing
dissatisfaction with the conventional and artificial pastoral.
5 Browne, 2R,. ill., p , xxix.
6 !2!!!.t p , xxx!Y.

80
I t also r e pr es ent s a .further attempt t o broaden t he sc op e of
past oral a nd may be considered part of t he ge ne r al t e nden cy
a t this t ime t o re-int rod uce variet y or both content and fo na
into t he genre.
Browne ' s Pl acat e", Ecl ogues, unf ortunat ely, do not
live up to the expectations created by the "Ess ay ". For th e
most pa rt. t hey are drea ry and insipid. Seve ral of them deal
i n some de t ai l wit h t he va r i ous species of t rout and thei r
haunt s an d habit s . To a read er not particularly interest ed i n
angling this s oon be comes bo ring, and t be e clogues have little
el s e to r ecoDIDend t hem. There are nine eclogue s i n all , deal ing
consecut i vely wit h the f ollowing t opics : "Angling Seasons: or,
The Wea the r "j "Ni ght-Fi shing : or , The Noct urnal" j "The River
Enemi es "; "'n1e se a Swains"; "Renock's Despair " ; "The Angl ers
Songs" j "The St r i f e " j "'!he Fowlers" , and l astly , "The Compl a i nts :
0:", The Friends·. Near t he end of the "Es s ay " he explains t hat
f i sherme n, "if t hey can be l awfu l l y used" , must be us ed "s pari ngly ",
since , " fo llowing their l aborious employments on the main" , thei r
l i ve s would not normally ha ve the ease and tran quillity associated
wit h t his t y pe of poem. He has us ed t hem "but onc e in t hese
Eclogues • • • to s ee how a mixt.ure of cha r a ct e r s , an d a designed
variety o f SUbje cts would app ear, and ag ree with this so rt of
wr i t i ng " . He ha s " but one Ecl ogue with Fowl er s , all the rest are
t ak en up with shepherds o r rural pe r sons , and ang lers". ?
Althoug h dealing ostensibl y wi th "angler s " t some of
the s i t ua tions pr es ent ed in thes e ec l ogues fo l low the patte r n
7 Browne, .2,2. cit. , p , xxxvi .

of the traditional eclogue .
81
In Eclogue I two anglers relate
t o a herdsman "the ID.connn1ences from long Dro ughts and l and
Fl oods, t he Si gns aDd chang es of Weat ber , se aecne best tor
this Recreation, and the Methods of SUmmer and Wi nt er Angling " .
Following t his the berdSlll8D, in the t radi t iona l manner , "makes
eaeh a sU1tal::l e Present" .
In Ecl ogue VI, t wo Angl ers ·sing,
a l t ernatel y I ••• on SUbje ct s whi ch s eem to oc cur most sudde n
and accidental without Order or Design" a1'ter which they ar e
"s ev er all y cOlIIDended , and rewarded f or t heir Skill". In
Eclogue VIII two swain8 likerls e sing alternately, an d Eclogue
VII is a traditional singing·lll8 t ch b6t ween a "s he pherd" and a
"FiSher".
Eclogue V, "an amorous soliloquy of a slight ed swain",
1 s a r ather ins i pi d and artificial l ove complaint employing
pa t hetic :fallacy i n t he m8DDar of pastoral elegy.
Brown e describes several English rivers, but i t is
questi onab le whether the de:;eriptions given in the eclogu es are
derive d £rom. f irat - hand ob s erYat ion or from Walton 's Complea t
Angler t o whi ch h e often refe r s .
One of the few passages which
sugg est first-band observation is t he followi ng s ection from
Eclogue II, des cribing t he urly morni ng a ft. e r sunrise:
Now sparkling d.ew-d ro ps glisten on the grain,
And coolly breezes fan the healthsome plain .
"The pl ow-b oy o ' er the furrows whi stles blithe,
And. in the mead the mower whet s his scythe " .
Shri l l horns alarm t he s portsman f rom his dream ,
And the bells tinkle on t he new"f~~:\Z.'~'5 2)
As bas already be en suggest ed , Browne ls chief importance
lies Dot so much in his Piscat ory Eclogues as in his at tempt to
- - - - --_ . _ - -----~

82
i nt.roduce Dew subject matter and nel( characters into the genre
and in his more reasonable attit ude towards t he language o£
pastoral. He succeeds in this alm t o some extent i n t hese
eclogues, but the qual ity or his veeees rarely rises abon the
mediocre and he is thus not a very good model f or l at er writers .
).
Switt began writing burlesque ec l ogue s in 1711 and t he
devastating ef'teet of hb ilaUric att ac ks on pastoral een hardly
be overestimated. He did more than any other single writer t o
br i ng disrespect upon the ge nre. Betore dlscuaslag his three
bit ter ly u t iric poems published i n 1734, we s hould l ook at "A
Town Ecl ogue " (1711) ,$ the f i r s t !:J£a type known as burlesque
or anti-pastoral poems written to expo se t he arti fici alit y ot
conventi onal pas toral. In this eclogue PhilliS, "8 poor heedless
maid", 1s baving a "S~ cond Babe" wos e s upport she expecee
Corydon to sha r e . The opening lines have an air of pastoral t
and 'the characters have pastoral names ; otherwise t he poem has
not hi ng distinctly pastoral in 1't . The f ollowing pas sage
indicates t he to ne of Swift's burlesque and satire:

8)
Phillis is hardly the nymph of Pope's "summer· whose 1'IIry
presence eaue ee 'tr.es t o "crowd into .. Shade· and "bluehin.g
flow'rs" to rise. Her condition, too, is a trUl"" less di gnified
that ODe woul d expect of a nymph of the gol den age of "llmoce nce ".
Swift aga1D l ashes out at col1'1'enti onal pastoral i n ~r8 e
poems published i n 173,.: "1 BeauUtul Young Nymph Going to Bed".
"St r ephon and Chloe", and "C&ss!Dus and Peter".9
Her e are the
two opening line s of "A Beaut H 'u.! Young Nymph Going to Bed":
Corinna. Pride of Drury-Lane,
For whom no Shepherd. sighs in vain.
(11. 1-2)
Corinna 18 clearly no Arcadian damsel, and Swift ' s description
or he r 1s very dU t'erent f rom the t raditional descriptions of
nymphs and shepherdesses :
The Nymph , tho' in this mangled Plight .
Must e"try Morn her Limb s unite.
But how shall I describe he r Art s
To r ec ollect the 8catter '
d Parts?
Or shew the Angui sh , Toil, and Pain.
Of gath'ring up herselt again?
The bashful Mus e will never bear
In such a Scene t o interfere.
Corinna in the Mom1Dg d b er:i' d ,
Who eeee will spe w; who smells, be poison ' d.
• (11 . 65-74)
9 Swift, .2E,. ill., Vol . II, pp ; 580 ee,

"Strephon and Chloe" deale wi.t h t he sudden awakening
to reality of the inexpe rien ced and i nnocent St r ephon on his
wedding ni ght. In the opening lines of the pcea , Chloe , t he
nymph and bride, is de sc ribed i n terms appropriate to a goddess .
Following t he wedding , St rephon is "perplextd" about bow he
sh ould "demean himself the Wedding..Night". To St r ephon, sh e
was 11ke "a Goddess dy t d in Grain" who
StrephoD. however . is made more awar e of the truth about her
when be finds ber urinating in a "Vessel" in bed .
The scene
suddenl y changes, an d stark r eality sbatters St rephon' s dream
world in much the eaae way that SWift wishes t o sha tter the
artincial dream wor ld of conventional pas toral:
The l1tU e Cupids ho T'ring ro1md ,
(As Pi ctures prove ) wi th Garl ands crown'd.
Abasht at what t hey saw and heard,
Flew ott. nor evermore appear'd.
Ad1eu t o ravishi ng Delights.
Hi gh Rapture s , and romantlck Flights;
To Goddesses so hea v'Dl y sweet,
Expiring Shepherd s at their Feet;
To sil ve r Meads . and shady Bow' ra.
Drest up with Amarantm~ n)~~b~i
Strephon finds that the "Scent " of her urine is not as "heav tn17
swee t" a s be expected trem "beav' Dly Chl oe".
II'Casslnus and Pet er " is wri t t en i n t h.e same vein ot
sat i r e and burlesque. I t is called "A Tragical Elegy" bu t can
,.,
---- ~--_._----

85
be taken, to some extent, a s a burlesque of the pastoral elegy.
The tra41tional pastoral elegy 18 a lamentation f'or the dea t h
of some cl.ose tr1end or r. u ov poet i n a past oral setting.
best. example 1n English is Milton' s "Lyci da s". To mention
"Lycidas" in the s ame context as "CaBslnus and Pet er", bowever,
13 t o descend f rom t;he su blime to t h e ridiculous . Cas slnus and
Pet e r a re "Two College Sophs at Cambridge Growth". Cass l nus has
diseovered sometbiD.g con ce rn ing his beautiful nymph Cadi. that
bas driven bim to dist raction .
The
She halll cODlDitt ed " A Crime t hat
abocks all hUlllall lti Dd" , and he bids farewell to h18 f riend
Peter thus:
Yet. ki nd Arcadians, on my Urn
'!'hu e Elegi e s and Sonnets burn,
And. on t he Marble graTe t hese Rhimes,
A MoGwaent t o af'ter-Tbtes :
" Here Casey lies , by Caella slain,
"And dying. neve r told his Pain.
Ill. 7)-78)
Ve know howne r that the distress f'elt 1s out of' all proporti on
t o t he " crial. I'.
Swift, in addition to sati.ris ing t he s e t.wo
young . special Wit s", s ee ms i n t.his poelil. e e be ridi culing t.he
inanity an d i nsipidity of many of t.he l ove eomplaint.s of past.oral .
pa st.o ral .
Svift 'lli t.alent. wa s well suited to t.he burlesque ot
He spent. hi s life de nating t.he myths whi ch man had
ereated a bout. him s elf c c pr ot ee t himsel f against reality. He
knew tbat the prim1tive gol den age was only a dream, a nd he
direct e d his etrorts toward s sh at t.ering that d ream. Swift knew
that a nymph. far f rom being "Venus -like", emalin.g "Ambrosia
from witbin", was likely t o be "a f ilthy l.fat e" who "'mUst either

86
void. or burst". He stripped the veneer orf the pastoral dream
world and showed us a rotten core. Hencefortb Arcadia baa
about it, in the IIlinds ot many s er ious writers , a 8t1gma trom
which it never t'Ully recovers.
~.
William Col11na' s Persian Eclogues (174.2)10 represent
a fUrther attempt t o bro aden the s cope ot past oral. Collins,
like Pop., attempts to ghe unity of time to his pastorals.
The f irst 115 e8t in a "Talley" in the "Morning"; t he s ec ond in
the "deeart" at "K1.d-day" ; the third in a "forest" at "Evening",
a nd t he f ourth OD a "mount ain" at "Midnight " . The eclogues
are d 1d a~lc i n int ention . The tirst , "3e1 m ; or, the Shepherd's
Mor al" . 1s eee i n a valley nea r "Bagda t " and us es oriental names ,
but otherwise has little to distinguish it from ot her didactic
e clogues written i n t.be traditional manner. In U Salim, the
poet -shephe rd , i nfo1"lll.s t he "Persian Maids· that "'Tis Virtue
makes the aatee , wher e 'er we dwell-. At t he end oE hie "Lay",
Sel 1m relates to the mai ds t he vari ous trVi l"tues" an d i nforms
them that "These are the Vi rtues t hat must lead t o Love" (1 . 68 ).
The se cond ec logue introdu ces "Ha8san; or , t he Camel
driver", who endures t he "s corehing sand" of t he desert to s eek
10 'lb omas Gr ay and Willlam Collins, PooU eal Works of
Gray and COllins, ed , A.L. Pool e (1926) , pp , 2u6 n.

"The golden Ore" . Collins employs the s i t uation of Tbeocrl'tus1s
Id yll It and Virgil' s Eclogue VItI i n r everse . In Thaocn tus
and Vir611 tbe sh epberd ese is trying to wor k a magic spell to
bring her l o? er ba ck to her again, and tbe refrain 18 re peated
at'ter ea ch incantation.
Here , bowe?er, it i s Hassan' s own
desire for f ortune t bat has drawn him away from bis Z&ra, whose
"breaking H"".rt 1II.plorid in vain" .
by Hassan wbo r egrets the day he decided t o leave.
The re train i s repeated be r e
The pastoral
tbem e and the didactic i ntent are both evident from t he f ollowing
pas sage:
~:c~~:p~~ ~::rtb~h:n~g~e~~n~f~ :\~o~;eure ;
'I'hey tempt no Duarte , and no Griet s they tind;
Pea ce ru.les the Day. where Reas on rules the Mind;
Sad was the Hour and l uckless was t he Day ,
When tirst from Schiras' Wall a I ba t . ~5~7b )
Tbe t bi rd eclogu e , "Ab r a ; or , tbe Georg ian Sult ana ", is
int ere sting because i t employs tbe "pa s t ourelle" situa tion,
whi ch is so cOlllDon in Preyeneal l o?e lyri cs and t he earlier
pastoral ballad. In this eclogue t he Gre at Abbas .. the Sultan ..
he ar s the "rural Maid" wbile riding by and s eeks her l ove :
Great Abbu chanc'd that f at ed Morn t o str ay ,
By Love conducted ·from t he Chace avay;
Among the vo cal Vales he heard her Song,
And sougbt the Vales and echoing Grov es among :
At length be f ound , and woo' d the r ur al Mai d,
She knew the Monarch , and with Fear obey'd.
Be nll'f Youth 11ke Royal Abbas mov ld ,
And ev lry Geo rg i an Maid like Abra 10v'd.
Ill. 19-26 )

The uae ot "vocal" vales and "echoing" groves i ndicates t hat
Collins has Dot rid hims elf of the poetic diction so common
in this pe r i od .
The e cl ogue is i nt eresting, however, Dot
o nly because of the use of Eastern names, but also because
i t
r epres ents a r etarD t o the type ot situation depi ct ed 1n
earlier pastoral ballads . It is therefore not part ot t he
orthodox pas toral tradition and i t i ndicates a bro adeni ng,
ooce ag a i n, of the scope of pa sto ral.
88
The fourth eclogue, "Agib and Secanderj or, the
Fug i t i ve l " , 1s set in a lD.oun'tain in · eireassia". "rwo Brother
Sheph erds " . Agl b and Secande r , are neeing from t heir Tartar
captor s . Oo111n8 is certainly not dep ieting the wor ld of
golden age shephe rds i n this e clogue;
1na t ead he ducrlbes a
wor ld whose eas e and peace have been shattered by the harsh
r ealit y of war :
No more the Vi rgiI18 shall del1ght t o r on.
By Sargis' Banks or 11"\If8I1' e shady GroTe :
On Tark1e ' s Mountain catch t he cooling Gale .
Or breathe the Sweets ot liy's now' ry Val e :
Fair Scenesl but ah no more with Peace poe se ee ,
Wi t h Eas e alluring. and with Plent y bles".
No 1Il0re t he Shepherds whit 'D.1n.g Seats appe ar.
Nor tbe kiod Products of a bounteous year;
No more t he Dale with snowy Blos s OlDs crown'd,
But Ruin spreads her baleful Fi res around.
Ill. 43-52)
Thi s is the last eclogue ot the eeries. and it may not be
assuming t oo lIluch t o say t hat Collins he re indicat es his own
a t titude toward the world of pas t oral. which canno t rithstand
t he "Ruin. and the Waste ot War " (1 . 60) .
Be may be saying
that " he ideal world of pastoral must be sha t1;ered once 1't is
confronted by r eality.

89
The di da ct i c 10't8Ot1 00 and co nven:t l ona l dict ion mak e
these pa storals fairly typical eighteen t h ce ntury po ems. Their
importan ce t o the development of pastor al lies 1n Collins's
attempt t o broaden the s cop e of t he genre by experimenting with
an oriental s et t ing and orient al characters. Again we have a
movement alf8Y from Pope, a new attempt to r evi ve a dyin g genre.
The reversioD to a s ituation common to the ea r lier pastoral
ballad i s also an intereating development. No dou bt the
revi val of interest 1n t he ballad itself during this period
account s t o some deg r ee f or thi s pheno menon .
Wi lliam Sbenstone (171Jt,..1763 ) may be exp res sing his
attitude towards conventional pastoral in his short poem entitled
"On Cer'tain Pastorals " :
So r ude and t uneless are thy lays I
The weary audience vowf
~S ,~~: ~~; ~~~~:W~:J~t sings,
His "Colem1ra, A Culinary Eclogue" (1743 ) is another bu r lesque
o£ past or al. Damon, the "swain". complains of his re ject ion by
11 Alexander Chalme rs. The Works of t he English Poets
(l810) . Vol . :IIU . p. 301 .

90
Colem ira, whose
han ds outshine the fir e , an d redder t h i ngsj
Her ey e s a re blacker t han the pots s h e br ings .
( 11 . 19- 20 )
The t one of the whol e ec logue i s co nve yed i n t he f ollowin g
s t anza s :
" But thou, my Fair l who never woul ds t ap prove ,
Or h ea r t he t end er st ory of my l ove;
Or min d, how burn s my r agi ng breast , - a butt on _
Perhaps art dr eami ng of - a br ea ec of mut t on" .
Thus said . an d wept t he sad de sp ond i ng swain,
Rev ealing to t he sab l e walls h i s pa in:
But nymph s a re free wit h those they sh oul d deny;
To t hos e t hey l ove, mor e ex quisitely coy .
(11. 65 -72 )
Shen stone , like SwH't, i s cl ea r ly ridi culing the unreality of
t he pa s t oral wor l d . Col em1 ra i s not t he da inty nymph wi th
milk-whit e han ds , but i s r a t her a ki t che n ma i d whos e rough
ha nds "outshine the fire , and redde r t hing s", an d who s e mi nd
t u rns mor e on "a breast of mut t on " tha n on a "tende r story " o f
l ove f r om a "d e spond i ng swa in".
His "Pastoral Ode t o t h e Honourabl e Sir Ri cha rd Lyt tel ton rt
( 174-3l is r eally a pan egy ric t o Si r ili cha rd i n a pa storal s et ting .
Complimen t s a r e paid t o Si r Ri chard's wi f e a nd s eve r al worthy
g en t l emen . I t is an insignificant poem, bu t at l ea s t there i s
n o attempt in i t t o bur l e sque the pastor a l mode . More i mportan t
t o t h e dev e lopmen t of pa s t or a l i s "A Pa s t oral Bal l ad " (1 743 ) ,
wr i t t en i n f ou r parts . The po em cons i sts of f our eclogues whi ch
show the progr ess of a swa m t e l ov e f rom. "anguish" at h is nymph 's

91
departure to "d1s"ppol..Dtment- when she f'ails to return. The
four eclogues are entitled "Absence", "Hope", · Solicitude" and.
"Dhappolntment·. Dr. JOhn80D said of t his poem: "r canno t
but regret that i t is pastorali an intelligent reader . a cquaint ed
with the scenes of' real Ufe , sickens at the mention of the crook,
the pipe , the sheep. and the kids. which it 18 not necessary t o
bring forw ard to notiee, for the poet 's art is eerece.tce, and he
ought t o shew the beauties wit hout t he grossn es s of a country
lU. · . 1 2 One cann ot help t hinking, how-eur . that Johns on is
he r e expressing bis natural cUsl1ke t or pas toral 1n general ,
sln ce he goes on to quote tb~y-sl% l ines from t his poem wit hout
adverse critici sm of t hem. John son says of the first twelve
lines which he quotes t ha t "if' any mind denies its sympat hy I i t
ha s no a quaintance with l ove or nature".I )
Alt hough this poem ha s the orthodox pastor al situation
of the swain complaining of bis unrequited l ove , and is also
didactic, i t nevertbelue has qualities whic h represent a
definite change from t he t ype of conventi onal pas to r al so
cOIlIIDOnly round earlier in t his centoury . Shenstone's use or
anapestic t rimet ers, rhyming a b abc d c d in eight-lined
stanzas, indicates a move away from t he heroi c couplet which ha d
been the chief met re used in pastoral since Dryden . In this poem
also Shenstone sh ows a good deal of poet i c compet ence in his use
of a met re whose tripping quality has a tenden cy to degenerate
12 John son, ~ , Vol . II, p, 411 .
13 !!!!S.

i nto doggerel .
Fin ally. there 18 an empirical strain in
92
t his poea, an attempt at detailed realisUc description , whieh
aga1D represents this noticeable progres8ive change in attitude
away frOID artificialit y toward a more realistic treatment of
pastoral t hemes.
Commentlng on t he ca r e wbich SheDst one t ook of his
"grounds· at teeeceee , John son says that -The pleasure of
Shenst one was all i n his eye". 14. The fo llowing des cript i on
h'om wHope" may help contini th1B st at ement . and indicate as
well that here Shenstone may be giTing his r eader a brief'
gl1mpse of his Ut.tl. es t at e :
Hot a pine i n my gro ve 1s t her e se en.
But with t endrils of woodbine is bound:
Not a beech' s mor e beautiful gr eeo ,
But a Sweet -bri er 80tllo1. o08 it around:
Ill. 9-121
The el ement of r eali sm and his innovat ion in metre are the
qualities i n Shens tone' s poems whi ch deserve attention and whi ch
indi cat e fur1;.her this slow change in att i tude toward s pa s t oral
poetry . In add ition to this it may not be t oo far- f etched t o
see in t he title If A Pa stor al Ballad lf a renewed int er es t i n t he
native impulse t hat was such an i nt egral part of much sixteent h
century pa s t oral. During the period under discussion the
ball a d was attracting much attention, and Shenstone gave
valuable aid to Bi sho p Percy in t he preparat io n of his Rel1gues
of Ancien t English Poetry (1765).
14 Johnson• .Y:!!!. Vol. II, p , 406
~
I

93
In 1744, Joseph Warton 15 publisbed "The Enthusiast:
or, the Lover of Nature" .. Thi s i s not a pastoral poem, but
it does cont&1n pastoral elemente and i ts elevation ot "Nature"
ab ove "Art" in both social and aesthetic as pects shows an
important dnelopmsnt in the attitude to the doc t r i nes which
dominate poetry in gener al, and pastoral poetry in parti cular ,
up to this point in the eigb,,;eenth century. The poem opens
i n a way characteristic of mu

94
Can l ent d esign 11ke Nature? Mark where Thames
Plenty and pleaeure pours through Uncoln'a meads.
Can the great artist. though with taste supreme '
Endu'd, one beauty to this Eden add?
Though he, by rules unf'etter'd , boldly eecme
Formality and metbod. round and square
Disdaining, plans irregularlY great.17
Ill. 47- 53)
War t on' s picture or "Yon ahepherd idly atreteb'd on the ro de
rook-
(1 . 66) is a traditional pos e of t he sh epherd in past oral.
His picture of' "the first ot men" deals with the traditional
golden age them e ot pa st oral and bears resemblance not onl y to
Lucr et i us , as Warton I e note i ndi cates I but also t o the
descr i pt ion of the golden ag e in Vi rg i l ' s f ourth eclogue:
Happy the £1rst or IDen, er e yet contln'd
To smoky cities; who in sheltering gro ves ,
WanD caves, an d deep-sunk valUes liVid and l ov'd,
By cares unwound edj what the SUD. an d shower s ,
And genial earth untillag'd. could pro duc e .
They gather ' d gr atetul •••
Ill. 87-92)
Warton's primitivism is different, however, from t hat of the
neoclassic view and t he r ationalistic view alike. In An Essay
on t he Geni us and WritingS of Pope (1756) Warton rebukes those
who , because t hey supposed t he beaut ies of' Tbeocritus "too great
a nd abundant to be r eal, re f erred them t o t he fictit ious and
17 A.D. Lovej oy i n "On tbe Dis crimination of' Romantieismslr
~~H:-n ~;::s Romanti~ ~~sa ~:c=::s E~ :at seIna~r ~i C; :mit :~; as
follows : "I t was no far cry f rom this to t he re j ection of the
rules in the drama, t o a r em si on against the strai t - l a ced
r egularity and symmetry of the heroic couplet , to a gener al
turn ing from convention. £ormal1ty. method. artifice . in all
t he arts".

imaglnarr scenes of a golden agee , 18
95
Warton ret'utes this view
becaus e . he says, ''1011e climate of Si eily was delicious, and
t he face oC the country various and beauti ful : i t s "al118 8 and
its precipices, its gro t t os and cascades, were sweetly interch
ang ed , and its nowara and f ruit s were lavish and luscious.
The poet de scribed what he saw and f elt; and bad no need to
bave recourse to those artificial ass ambl agea of pl ea si ng
objects J which are DOt to be found in nat ur . ·. 19 1'bis
substit ut i on of cultural pr1mit1T1sm (reterence to present day
pr1mi t iTe sodeties) for chronol ogi cal Pr1m1t1rlsm 20 i s evident
i Ii "The Enthusiast" a s well. Near the end ot the poem, when
Virtue with her "1mmortal train" I s about t o "fo rsake Britannia's
I sle" I War t on writes:
Oh, who will bear me then t o wes t ero climes,
(SInce Vi rtue leaves our wretched l and) to fields
Ye~ unpollu~ .d with Iberian swords: • • •
Where Happiness and Quie~ s1~ ent hron'd.
Wi t h sim ple In dian swains, that I may hunt
The boar and t iger t hro ugh saYannahs wild,
Throu gh fragrant. deserts , and through (tl~;3f~~:)?
The des i r e to be borne "~o west ern cl1llles • • • Wit h simple In dian
16 Jos eph Warton , An Essay on t he Genius and Writ i ngs
of Pop: (1806). Vol . I, p, 4.
19 lE.!!!•• p. 3.

96
swains" indicates Warton 1s pr ef e r en ce fo r a pr es ent day, simple,
unsophisticated society rather t han the su pposed gol den ag e of
pr imi t i ve man.
Thu s although "The Ent husiast " 1s not strictly a
pastoral poem, i t does have pastoral el ement s and indicates a
further de velopment in the at t i t ude toward pa st or al. The poem
1s written in blank verse, a nd t his indi cates a definite de vel opment
away from the beroic coupl et.. Warton's bold assertion of
the superiority of na ture t o art implies a definite chan ge of
at t i t ude toward .Nles, formality, an d conve ntions in poe t ry .
There is also in Warton a changed at titude toward the gol den age
and a heightening of emotional tone. These , along with the
element of realism i n t his po em. make it significan t i n a study
of the change i n attitude toward pa st or al poet r y . which cakee
place during ~he eigh~eenth century.
7.
Dr . J ohnso n' s Rambler 2l papers of 1750 co n st1~u~ e the
most important critical s~atement on pastoral s i nce Pope ' a
"Discourse " i n 1717. John s on ' s cont empt fo r conventional
pa .'3toral i s s u ch t hat he haa littl e regard for the pro duct.ions

97
o f an y past oral poets s ince Vi rgil, "from whose opinion i t
wi ll not appear very sa f e t o depar-t " e He concedes that
Virgil 's ec logues provide t he best example s f rom which, using
his own r ea s on an d good s ense , he ca n f ennulate a defini t ion
of pastora!. He defi ne s pastoral as "a poem in which any a ct io ~
or passion is represe nted by its eff ects upon a country life".
Jo hnson would t hu s no t contine pa s t or a l t o t he dep i ct i on of
sh epherds of t he gol den ag e . He r e j e cts the golden ag e concept
of past oral because "in pastoral , as i n other wri t i ng s , chastity
of s e ntiment oue;ht doubtless t o be obs erved, and puri ty of
manners t o be r epr e s ent ed , not because th e po et is confined to
the images of the go l den age, but because, ha vi ng the s ubje ct i n
hi s own choice , he ought always to consult t he i nt er e st of
virtue" . Here one can s ee t he importance to Jo hnson of the
I"'.or a l qua lity of lite r at ure . J ohnson l ooked with disgust upon
the "numbers witho ut number" of imi t ator s who t ransmit "t he same
images in t he same combination f rom one t o an other, till he t hat
reads the t itle of a poem may gu es s a t the whol e series of the
composition" . The passag e f ollowing t hi s indicates not only
Jo hnson 's view of t he "mor a l purpos e " of litera t ure , but also
why John s on t hought so hi ghly of Crab be I 8 The Vi llage : 22
Nor wi l l a man , after the perusal of t hous ands of
t h e s e performanc es , find his knowledge enlarge d
with a s ingl e view of natur e not produced before ,

98
JohnSOD considered the range of pastoral to be Darrow:
"For though Nature itself, philosophically considered, be
inexhaustible, yet its general efrects on the eye and on the
ear are uniform aDd incapable of much variety of description".
Si nce tbe image s of rural life are "so reW' and general·, be
concludes that "the state of a man confined to the employments
and pleasures of t he country is so llttle diver sified " that be
is but seldom in circumstances that attract curiosity. While
not objecting strongly to tbe · n 8W source of' pleas ure" 'ofblch
Sanna zaro attempted in substituting "fishermen for .shepherds" t
s i nce h e "may display all the pleasures and conc eal the dang er s
of the water", Johnson. nevert-hel8s., finds "two de fe cts i n t he
piseatory eclogu.-. First I i t offers "much less variety than
t he land", and, secondly, "the i gnoran ce of mar i t i me pl easures
in which t he greate r part of manldnd must always live" presents
"another obstacle t o t he gene ral r ec eption or t his kind of
po et ry " .
Johnson ' s good sense 1s demonstrated in his di sc ussion
o f t he de l ights of "true pa stor al " . "The images of true pas'to r al" ,
he sa ys , "ha ve alvays t he power of e:r.ci'ting delight, be cause t he
works of nature, trom which they are drawn, have always the same
order and beauty , and continue t o fo r ce t hemselves upon our
t houghts, being at once obvi ous to t he most carel ess r egard, a nd
2) Rambl er , No. ) 6 (July 21, 1750).

99
more than adequate to the strongest reason and severest
contemplatioD". Johnson's empirical st r a in 1s evi dent here,
since it 1s the "works of nature" rather than t he wor ks or art
from which t be "image s or true pastoral" a r e drawn. Unlike
those authors who make their personages spe ak a "mangled dialect"
an d f'all victim to the lnconsistency or "joining elegance ot
thought with coarseness of diction", John son' s vi ew ot true
past or al "adm.1ts of all ranks of persons, because per sons of
all rauka inhabit the country. n excludes Dot , t herefore . on
account of t he characters ne cessary to be introduced. any
elevation or delicacy ot sentiment. Those ideas only are
improper which, not owing their original to rural obj ects,
not pa stor al" .
Joh nson' s attitude toward conventional paat or al. t hen,
was de t ermined by his conception of t he Talue and purpos e of
literature. His reason would not allow him to admi t into
past.o r al f alse manner s or false sentiment s whi eh did not. a lways
"e onsult the interest of virtue tl • For Johnson, past.or al must
give "a representation of rural nature" and exhibit. "the idea s
an d sent.iment.s of those (whoever t hey are ) to W OlIl the eountry
af fo rd s pl easure or employment". Johns on ' s empirical s t rain i s
d emons t rat ed i n his discus s ion of Virgil's Ee10gues in a paper
in t h e Adventurer in 17 53. He reasons t hat the "f irst and t he
tent b pastor als ••• are sufficient t o place t hei r author abo ve
the reaeh of rivalry" bec ause "these two poems were produced
by events t ha t really hap pen ed; and may, therefore, be of us e
t o prove, that. we can alway s f eel more than we can imagine ,

100
and that the most artful fiction must give way to truth". 24
John s on 's criticism then did much to discr ed i t t he
orten insipid and inane conventional pastorals. It did much,
too, to con so lida t e t he new att i t ude towards pastor al and
eeeeed to point the way toward t he longer meditative po ems such
as Cra bbe's Village and Goldsmith's Des erted Village which
deal 1n mor e r ealisti c and empirieal terms with rural life.
One can not help but f ee l , however . that Johnson 's true attitude
t oward s pastoral 1s t ha t 8 0 often expressed t owards poems of
this type in the Li ves of the English Poets (1779-1781 ). This
att itude is perhaps best summarized by his r et ort to Mrs. Thrale
f or her derence of Mat t hew Prior' 8 . "The Des pair ing Sheph e rd "
(170) ): "Nonsense can be defended but by nons ense".25
It mus t not be thought, however . t hat Johnso n ' s criticism
o f past oral was all that was written on t he t.opic since Pope 1s
"Di s cour se". Scattered comment s appear whi ch f avour the pos i t ion
of Phili ps , Tickell. and Purney . Numerous minor writ ers defend
the neoclassic position of Pope . The following passage from
Congl et on summarizes t he critical output on pastoral since Pope :
24 ~, No. 92 (Sept ember 22, 17 53) .
25 Reported by James Boswell, 2£. ill., p, 408 .

Many writers and critice between 1717 and 17 50
detend the neoclassic conception of the pastoral.
I n tact t here are lIlore essays which r eveal an
emphasis s1m11ar t o that in Rapin, Cbet.-ood, and
Pope than t hose wbi ch lean toward the principles
se t forth by FontenaU e , Ti ckeU , and fumey.
It 18 only because Dr. Johnson's writings on the
pastoral are more penetrating and coDvincing than
the e ss ays of the belated neoclassic critics that
~~~1~:1~~~6thatthere W88 a triumph of
101
Seyeral l e as important writers also wrot e conventional pastorals
dur i ng tohis period, but since t bey f ollow gene rally the orthodox
pattern and are highly 1m.1tat iYe t hey ne ed not be dealt with in
d et ail . George Lytteltonl s Progre811 of Love (173 2) 1s a s erles
of f our ecl ogues written 1n the lIlamler or conventional pas toral.
He employs cl a s si cal names tor his shepherds, and the set ting 1s
Arcadia r ather than 'the loca l country dde. Wi lliam Bro ome ' s
"Daphni s and Lyc1das" (1126 ) ; Thomas glacklock's "A Pastoral,
On t he Death of Stella", "A Pas toral Inscribed t o Evanthe" and
"The Plaintive Shepb erd " (all of l74.6) j and Mrs . Charlot t e R.
Lennox' s "Aminta and Delia" and "A Pastor al from t h e Song or
Solomon " (both of l74.7 ) are otber examples of pa s t oral poems
wbich are still being written in tbe conventional manner .
In sp i t e of t he appearan ce of t he se conve ntional pa storals,
h oweve r , t he re is a notice able trend t hro ughout the se cond quarter
of the ei ght eent h ce ntury away f rom the imitative and artificial
qualit y of conventi onal pastoral t oward a l es s r estr i ct!ve and
more va ried pract ice and t heory of pa storal poetry. By mid-cent ury
there has been a ge neral rejection, among serious writers on
26 Congleton , £E.. ~. J p, 108.

10 2
past or a l themes . of t he "rules" crit i eism of Rapin and Pope .
Th ese writers generally at t empt t o broaden the sc ope of
pastoral by exp er1Jllenting n th new content and t echniques.
Ramsay's depi ct ion of 11£8 1n the Scottish Lowlands , Browne 's
e clogues on " Angling Sports", and Col lins' s "Persian Eclogues"
intr odu ce subject mat t er and char acter s that would bave been
una ccept abl e to the neoclassic pastora list. Ramsay's pas toral
dram a an d Warto n 's "Ent hus i ast" add variet y t o the fOnD of
pas toral . Warton' s po em. indicates a new t endency t o t r eat of
pastoral themes outside the genre. Variety of setting 1s
introduced by Ramsay. Browne. and Collills .
In additi on to this bro adening of secpe , t here are ot he r
dgnl t'1cant deve lo pments i n the a t t itude toward pastoral.
Reali sm 1n pastoral, t he element whi ch induced Pope to enlist
Gay ' e aid f or t he purpose or ridiculing i t , i s now cons i dere d
almost an es sential el ement . Ramsay , Shenstone I Swift , Wart on,
and to some extent Browne , al l have a certai n 8Illount oC r eali st i c
detail in t heir poems. In Shenst one , also, there appears a
revival at interest in the pastoral ballad which was so common
a poetic f orm in the sixteent h century . Collins, in his us e of
the pastourelle si t uation , s eems to be l ooking ba ck to t he
earlier l ove lyrics of Provencal a s well as t o some English
pa storal poems of the sixteenth century . Shenstone 1s us e of
anapestic t rim eters in his "Pa st ora l Bal lad" shows a trend away
from t he hero i c coupl et , and so also does Warton I s use of blan k
verse. Warton ' s primit i vi sm helps t o shat t er t he neocl as si c
view of a chronological golden age and points towa rd s the newer

10)
concept of a lite of s implici t.y and innocence among pr es ent
day primitive societies . Finally, Swif't's and Shenst.one'a
burlesques of pastoral an effective weapons against the genre
itself. and both writers, but especially Swift . contribute
greatly to t he decline ot pastora! a s an effective poeti-e torm.
Increasingly throughout the latter half of the centU1"} there is
a tendency for the better poets not to write in the genre or
else to align themselves 1n critical oppodtion t o i ts
artificiality. Only those poet s of lesser ability cont i nue to
defend it and to write conventional pastorals.

104
CHAPTER IV : JOHNSON'S RAMBLER TO WORDSWORTH'S "MICHAEL"
1.
During the l at t er baI t' of t he eighteenth century there
is an abundance of critical writing about pastoral and a
subst ant i al amount of pastoral poetry being wri t ten. There are,
bOW8yer , two distinct tendencies wit h regard to pu t oral poe t ry
which may be t r aced . Fi rst , t her e 1s the continuing tendency
t o write past oral poems within the geD.l"6j secondly , t he re is the
tendency t among certain poets. to treat past oral theme s in poems
which are not , properly speaking, pastoral s . Withi n the genre
certain writers a re eontent to write conventtonal ecl ogue s in
the manner of pope . There is also a tendency, mong poet s
writing wi t hin the genre , to cont-loue the attempt to broaden
the scope of pastoral. In the early part of tbis period t hese
latter writers are influenced mainly by the theory of past or al

105
as se t t orth by Addison, Tickel l . and PurneyJ a nd by the
crl t1clSZ11 ot Dr . John son. As t he period progresses, however,
writers .-nd critics tend t o place more stress OD t he subjective
element inherent 1n t he r ationalist theory and emphashe an
empirical approach to the writing of paatoral. They demand not
onl y t hat tbe pa storal be lIIade indigenous but also that t he
descriptions be more r ealistic. Thus in the theory of Langhorne,
Tytler, Aikin, Blair , and certain r evi ewer s . and in the practice
of such wn:ters as CunningtullII, Jago, and Southey . t here 1s a
strong empi rical el ement 1n their empha sis OD naturalistic
descriptions . There 1s a t eDdency , also, to giYe expression
to t he pastoral or retirement theme in l onger desc riptiveretlective
pceea, Throughout this period, then. t her e 1s a
Dotieeable trend away from the conventiona l pas tora l toward a
mor e empirical treatment ot pastoral themes both w1th1D and
outside the genr e .
Especially among thos e poets who write outside the
ge nre there is a tendency to treat rural l1te real1stically:
t o depict the rural world as it actually appears t o the
obs erv er , an d to present t o the reader t he a ctual cond i t io ns
of the roral dweller without glossing over his hardship and
misery . Crabbe, i n t a ct . a ppears t o aim direcUy at expos i ng
tbe wretchedness and hardship of count ry 111"e. Thi s growing
t ende ncy to dep i ct rural life as it actuall y is st ems from a
chan ge d attitude toward nat ur-e in poetry. GenerallY speaking ,
t here 1s a tendency among writers like Pope . Gay, Addison . and
John s on t o re gard nature a nd the country as a retreat from the

106
more t urbulent , invol ved , so phisticat ed life of the ci ty, a s
a place wher e a pe r so n may enjoy a r es pite f rom the hec t ic
pa ce of city life. The r e i s not t o say t hat t hese men prefer
the co untry t o the citY i t he opposite , in f a ct. is t rue. I t
means t hat to these au t hors t he count ry i s a sanctuary whe re
the mi nd migh t f i nd pe a ce an d t he s pi rit r e juvenation . l Even
t hough Addis on , Tiekel l , and Purney st ress the nec es sity of
making pastor a l indigen ous , i t is not bec ause of any l ove of
natur e for its own s ak e , but r at her be cause t he id ea of go lden
age pa s toral i s as r epug nant t o t hem as i t is to Johnson.
Thomson , i n The Sea s ons , trea t s nature in its varyi ng
aspects: calm and atanny . pleasant and unpleasan t . 2 I n this
poem he int erpr ets natur e , for the first t ime in the century .
in t erm s o£ man ' s moral a nd spir i t.ua l l ife. The poem i s not
merel y descr ipt i ve . Nor is i t t he sort of t r ea tment of na ture
1 The pass ag e (11. 235 -2 4.0 ) quoted in Chapt er Two f rom
Pop e ' s l'li nd s or Forest i ndicates thi s at t itude t owar d the country
and ShO\1S, at the same t i me, the pr e£erence £or t he mor e ac tive
11£e of ci ty and court . Li kewi s e in "Rural Spor ts" (11. 435 -443) ,
Gay r e £e r s t o t he "happy f i elds" , the "s hady woods " , and t he
"murm ' r ing st reams" a s "t he swee t composers of t he pens i ve soul" .
2 The changed at titude t owar d nature in poet ry which t a kes
pl a ce during t he e i ghteenth c ent ury has been va r i ously at tribut ed
to the infl u en ce of t he empi r ical philos ophy of Locke , Newtoni an
Phys i cs , and the Deisti c con ce pt i on of na t ure. In "The Ret urn
to Na t ure i n t he English Poe t ry of the Eighteenth Century",
St udies in Philology . XIV , Ju ly 1917 . C. A. Moore deals with the
i nf luence Of Sha l"i e s bury on the t reatment of nat ure in Li t e rature .
CODlment i ng on a pa ssage f rom the Character istics , which Moore
con s i der s "a sta t ement of Na t ure ' s spJ.rJ.tua I power over man" , he
s a ys "it would be difficul t - I t hi nk impossible - t o find i n
any l iter ature of his day utter a nc es so nea r ly akin to t he mood
of :1ords wor t.h " . Ip , 263) .

107
that 1s no rmally found i n eonventional past or al.
As a r esult
of this changing attitude t oward nature in poet ry, t here 1s 6.
tendency, during the l atter half of the eighteenth century, to
dea l with it more realistically an d to de pi ct i t a s i t 1s
observ ed . This tendency is evident in certai n poems wr i t t en
withi n the pastoral genre, but 1s more evident i n the l onge r
meditat ive poems , s uch as Cr abbe' s Vi llage and Goldsmi t h's
Deserted Village. It in dicates a rejection by t hes e writers
of the conv entional pastoral depicting gol den age shephe rds in
di s t an t Arc adia, an d goes beyo nd even t he r ati onalist i ns istence
on indigenous pastoral . It indicates a t.end en cy to give
ex pr es s io n to pastoral th emes in a r ealis t ic way in l onger poems
t hat are es s entially out s ide t he past.o ral g enre . Wi th t hese
poe t s also t here i s a renewed effort - l ost sight of fo r a time
i n t he conven t i onal neo cl a s s i c pastoral - t o writ e on mat t ers
more direct l y concerning man i n t he real wor l d . The culmination
of this empiric...l t endency an d the tendency also t o dispen s e
with the conventions of pas t or al comes in Wor dsworth ' s "'Micha el "
wi t h whi ch t his cha pt er ends .
2.
During the pe r iod unde r discu s sion numerous poets cont i nue
t o write past or al s . Some of them wr i t e i n the traditional manner
of t he conve nt i onal pas toralj others wri te within the gen re while

108
t hey attempt to bro aden its sco pe . Robert. IJ.oyd (17))-1764)
wrote "Arcadia. 1 Dramatic Pa stor al" (1761) , "in honour ot
t heir presen t majesties ' marriage -.) Thyrs l s , t he sh epherd
whose marriage the poem celebrates, 1s pr aised t hro ughout to r
t he blessings be be stows upon his tellow shepberd s. '!be se t t ing
of the po em 1s Arcad i a and the sheph erds are t he traditional
sort . Apart trom the mElt r i eal variet y of this dramatic poem,
t here i s littl e else of in terest . The t raditional past or al
displ a cement 1s evident here i n th e pr es entat io n of th eir
ma j es ties 1n t he guiae of s hepherd and nymph . Ll oyd's "Chit -Chat.
An Imitation of Theocr1tue" (176 2) 18 i nteresting in that he
adapt s the situation of Idyll XV of Theocritue to suit his own
pu rpo se. In Idyll XV Pr a.x1Doa and Gorg o , t w countrywomsD. are
realistically presented as t hey prepare fo r and at tend t he
Festival of Adonis at the pal ac e of Ptolemy . In Llo yd I e poem
the t wo women, Mrs. Br own an d Mrs. Scot , are presented reali sti cally
as they prepare to at tend the pro cessi on of the King to the Hous e
of Lords . '!'be interesting aspect of t he poem is that t he
character s a r e not given t he pastoral names COCllIlonly found i n
the ea rlier t own eclogues , and it l acks the pas t oral machinery
normally as sociated wit h t hes e poems . Lloyd i s imitating the
spirit of Tbeocritus rather ebee his Idyll.
Charl es Churchill (173l-l764 ) published "The Pro phecy of
Fami ne : A Scots Pastoral "t. in 1763. 'rba poem is a bitter satire
3 Chalm ers, .2£• .£!l. , Vol . XV, p, 100 ( 13).
t. Charles Chur chi ll, Poetical Wor ks , ad . D. Grant {19561,
p , 193.

109
upo n Scots:
The poe. is important to this st udy f or two reasons : fir st.
the pastoral mode is once ag ain being us ed f or satir i c
pur pos es as it was dUring th e Renaissanc e ; secondl y , Chur chill
r idi cules seve r elT t he pastora l genre and its conven t ions i n
t hi s poem. '!he satiric tone prevails frClll the opening lines :
When Cupid first instructs his darts t o fly
From the sly corner of some cook-ma1d t s eye.
~~e::~;P~~~A, j:~ :~~~~~ ~a:i :tt:::;;...
Trembling an d blusbing be the fair ODe Vi ews.
And f&.10 wuld a peak. but canlt .. withou t a Muse .
ui, 1 rr.)
The "st r i pl ing" must t hen climb the "sacred mount ". prun e his
wings , tune hie "oa t en n ed" and t o Ule "bills and ril l s "
procl aim "the l OY8s of nympb8, and eke th e I ons of swains".
Then £011 0W8 a passage whi ch ridicules the conTentions at
past ora l:
Clad, as your nymphs were alw aY3 clad of yore.
In r us tic weeds .. a cook -maid now no more ­
Beneath an ag ed oak Lard-ella lies ..
Gree n acae, her couch; her canopy, the skies .
From aromatic shrubs the ro guish gale
Steal s young perf'umes , and watts t.hem thro ' the vale.
The youth, t um'd swain, and st111'd in rustic l ays,
Fast by her side his &III' rous descant plays .
Herds l owe Flocks bl eat , Pi es chat ter , Ravens scream,
And t he full chorus dies a -d oW'D t he stream.
The st reams, wit h musi c frei ghted, as they pas s ,
Present the fair Lardella with a glass,
:~e~eh~;h:~t~~:~t~~ s;~: ; S~~~ ~;~~ fan.
m , 15- 28)
-_ .~

110
Chur chill shows in this passage that be is well aware of t he
rid.iculou 8 aepa r atiol:l or conventional pastor al f rom t he r eal
wor l d . The maid is DO longer a "cook - maid" but a nymph wit h
the past or al na.!!" "Lardel l a" .. this name itself is not without
a satiric t ouch. Instead of be ing surrounded by unpleasant
kitchen smells. she 1s sur ro und ed by "young per fumes " t rom
"aromatic shrubs". The youth is no l onge r a "stripling r aw"
but a s wain "sJdU t d in ru stic l ay s". Churchi ll point s up fo r
ridicule , also f some of the poetic di ction commonly used tor
de sc r ipt ion in earlier eighteent h century pastoral: "Herds lowe ,
Fl ocks bleat, Pies ehatter , Ravens scr eam" . The result of this,
h e sa y s) 18 that "nature's ban l sb 1d by mechan i c art ". His own
attit ude to the "mechanic art" of pa storal can be see n f r om t he
following lines, whi ch echo a s pe ech by Edmund at the beginning
of King Lear:
Chur chill empl oys the shephe rd figures Cor his own satiric
pur po ses l at er i n t he poem. They !!~un.e some merry roundelay" ,
but t hey are not the conventional shepherds of t he golden age:
Here, Cor the su1len sky was ove r cas t ,
And summer sh runk beneath a wintry blast,
A native blast, whi ch! armt d with bail and r ain ,
Beat unrel enting on toe naked swai n.
The Boys Cor shelter made; behind, the sheep.
OC which t ho se s he pherds ev ' ry day take keep ,
Si cklY crept on, and , with complaini ngs rude.
On nature seem ' d t o call i and bl (~t f3)5~)4~ }

111
The "wintry blast • • • amid with bail and rain" 18 not part
of t he go l den wor l d . Thulli Churchill r idicules the pas tor al
mode a long with its conventions and "rulealt.
John Langhorne (173 5-1779) wrote and tranalated seve ra l
pas t or als. "Meaaleaa , A Pastoral" and II'Gen i us and Valour . A
Pastoral Poem" are from his own hand . He tranalated Bion I s
"Death of Adonis· and Mil t on ' s "Epitaphium Damonis" . "Menalea s"
1s a sho rt. poem of nineteen lines in t he form of an invi tat i on
to Delia to come to her slgh1.ng shepherd . "Genius and Valour"
(17 64) 15 a longer poem in whi ch t h e sh ephe rd Amyntor praises
"Fair Scotland' s honours" in both genius and valour. The poem
ends with an appeal t o the Scottish bards t o awak en an d "Hail
t he high t rophi es by thy coun try won" . Thi s poem is, i n f a ct ,
a reply t o Churchill' s attack on th6 Scots in "The Prophecy of
Fami ne". The poem ha s the traditional pastor al set t i ng an d
convent ional sh eph erds . In 1764 Langhorne edited Colli ns's
Or iental Eclogue s and added his own prefac e enti tled "Obs ervat i ons
on t he Oriental Ecl ogue". 5 Although Langhorne wrote ecl ogue s
in the t radi tional manne r , his "Observati ons" show t hat in t heory
he a dvocat ed certai n chang es . He emphas i zes originality in
pastoral compos i t ion , r eve als bis i nterest i n t hi ngs oriental ,
a nd emphasizes also the importance of nat ural description .
Pastor al, he sa ys, "had i t s origin in t he east " and it sp rung
from "the early ages" when "the chiefs of the people employed
themsel ves in rural ex ercises . and • • • a st ronomers and legislators
5 Rober t Anderson , The Wor ks of the Br itish Poet s
(17 92-18071, Vol. II, p . 533 .

112
were at the same time .shepherds". A changed attitude toward.
nature 18 eYldent in the f ollowing stat ement . Langhorne says
that t he pastoral poetry which "such sh epherds" at t empt ed
·would take its subjects from those scenes of rural simplicity
in whi ch t hey 'tiere cODversant. , an d , as it was the offspring ot
harmony and nature, would employ the powers it derived from the
t ormer to celebrate the beauty and benevolence ot the l atter"_
The celebratiOD ot the "beauty and bene volence" of nature lo~ks
fo rward t o its treatment by such poets as Cowper and Wordsworth .
Langhornets exotieism I s evident i n his discussion of
the "beautlf'ul and luxuriant marriage putoral of Solomon-,
which is t he "only perfect form or the oriental eclogue t hat
bas survived" and , "like all eastern poet ry, it 18 bold, wild,
and unconnected". He 1s arguing for a bro ader scope in subject
matter when be says that "i t is to be lamented. t hat s carce any
oriental compositions of this kind. have survived". He goes as
far as to su ggest that possibly Theoc ritus had in mind certain
e xp r es s i ons of t he prophet Isaiah when composing his Idylls.
Langhorne s t resses also t be importance of na t uralistic
d.esc r i pt i on . In discuss ing Ecl ogue IV of Collins, he quotes a
passage (ll. 17 ..20 ) to ill ustrat e t he "grandeur and variety in
t he landsk1p Collins des cribes " . "This i s certainl y painting
of nature", he writes, ea nd the t hough t s , however obvi ous , or
des t i t ut e of refinement , are perfectly in cha racter . But , a s
the clos est pursuit of na t ure is the surest way t o exc ellence
i n ge ne ral, a nd to sublimit y i n particular, in poetical description,
s o we .find that this simple suggest ion of the shepherd i s not

unattended with magn1t1 cence" . Langhome I S obsenati ona on
t he beauty and benevolence of nature ) and the 1.IIlportance of
naturalistic description in poetry, are in keeping with t he
change d attitude toward the treatment of nature in poetry
preYa1 ent at this time . His emphasis on ea st ern poetry
113
i ndicates a fUrther, though relatively unsuc cessful, attempt
to int roduce an eastern s et ting and sub j ect mat t er i nto
pastoral.
Important to t his st udy also 1s Langhorne' s longer poem
The Count IT Jus t i ee (177"'). This poem lias written at t he
request of Richard Burn , eene of his Maj es t y's Ju stices of th e
Peace tor the Count i es of West mor eland and CuIll.berland". 6 In
his treatment of the wretchedn ess and poverty or t he l ower
classes in vlllage life , Langhorne anticipates Cr abbe ' s Ih!
Village. '!'be poem is an app ea l t o t he Jus tices of t he Peace
t o
l et t hy life assume a nobler plan,
To nature f a i tb.ful, and th e friend of manl
(Part II, 11 . 190-1 91)
Though not a pastoral poem, The Count ry Justice has pastoral
e lements. Langhorn e ls dep i et i on of the Ufe of th e poor
wre t ched shepherd 1s not that of t he she phe rd of t he gol den age ,
but rathe r ant icipates the similar realist ic treat ment of rural
6 Ander son, 2£. s..!!., Vol . rr, p; 251 .

114
life by Crabbe:
The game I start courageous l y pur sue • • • •
And first we ' ll r ange this mountain's stormy side
Wher e t he rude win ds the shGpherd I s roof deride
As meet no more the not try blast t o bear
J
And all the wil d bost1l1U ea of air.
I
-'!bat root hav e I remember 'd many a year"
It once gave refUge to a hunt9d dear _ '
Her . , in t bose days . we fo und an aged palr; -
But t ime untenants - bahl what see st t hou there?
"Horrorl - by Heav in , extend ed on a bed
:b~~~~t::r:h;:l ~u:::
:~ a:~~ 81f r:~1
Col d , breathlesal"
' Tis the she pherd. and his wife.
I knew the s cene, and bro ught thee t o behold
What s pe ak s more st rongl y tb8Jl. the story t old .
They died t hro ugh want -
(Part II, 11. 74 r r.)
It would a ppear t hat Langh orne had himself gradually becam e
dissatisfi ed with the depiction of rur al life found in
pas t or al and l ater de al t wi t h it more r ealistically in this
longer poem.
Michael Bruce (1746-17 67) wrote two pastoral poems, 7
"Daphnis" and "Alexis".
"Alexis" (l766) i s a traditional l ove
complai nt of t he s hepher d Alexis writt en in heroic couplets.
"Daphnis: A Monody" (17 65) i s a tradi t i onal pastoral elegy
'fTo the memory of Mr . irl'illiam Arnot", a young fr' iend of Bruce .
The re is some r ealistic description i n suc h passages as the
7 Becauss or the contr oversy arisi ng out of John Logan 's
fJ~;=;F:~c~U?M7~l ~o~~;r:~:ha~np~i~t~alo~l;a~g~~:!;:reces
whi ch have been claim ed f or the one or t he other by their
respectl ye friends" (British Poet s , n , p. 1030) . "Damon,
Menal cas, and Mellboeus'f, a t r adit.ional singing match modelled
atter those of Theocritus and Virgil, is omit ted from the poems
of bot h Bruce and Logan by Anderson. Chalmers attributes this
poem t o Logan, however, as he does also The Episode of Levina ,
f rom Bruce ' s poem "Lochl even".

115
on e beglnnillg "0 happy daysl for eve r . ever gon el " The poem,
however, rol lowllI the orthodox pattern of past oral el egy :
there is the lament for his 10s 8 , the questioning of t he Muses ,
and t he final apotheosis of t he shepherd with the plea t o
weea ee your lamentations-.
"Lycl da s " .
the same name.
Certain l i nes eeho Milton's
The title may be taken from Vi r gil's Ecl ogu e V of
John Cunnin gham (l729..1773 ) wrote numerous pastorals,
as the title of his Poems. Chieny PastoralS (1766) s ugge sts.
He i s one of tbe few past or al writers or t his per io d whose
poems disp l ay a lyrical quality r eminiscent or t he pas t oral
poems in England!. Helicon (1600) , whos e i ns piration springs
mainly f rom the native impulse,
This l yrical quali t y an d the
likeness of certain situations depi ct ed to t hos e i n t he
earlier pastor als can be see n in t he followin g s t an za of
"Corydon and Phillis". Corydon 19 standing bes i de "Young Phillis"
who he thinks i s sleeping:
Young Phillis Lcck t d up wit h a l anguishing smil e .
"Kind, shepherd". she said , "you mistake;
I laid myself down just to rest for a whil e ,
But trust me. have s t i ll be en awake: "
The shepherd t ook courage , adv an ced wit h a bow,
He place d himself clos e by her side,
And managrd the matter. I cannot tell how,
But yesterday made her his bri1~i. 25-32 )
Li kewi se, his "Content ; a Pastoral" has beaut i fUl ly f l owing
lines t hat have a smoothnes s and elegance very different f r om
8 Ander son , .2.2. ill., Vol . I , p , 631.

116
traditional pastoral. SollllJothing of t he poem' s l yrical quality
can be eeea from the following st an za , de s cribi ng the sh epherdess
Cont ent :
Her air was 80 modest, ber aspect; so meek l
So sapIa , ye t sweet . were her charmsI
I ldss'd t he ripe ro ses t ha t glowed on her cheek .
And lock'd. t he dear maid 1n my arms .
Now j ocund together we tend a rew sl"eep,
And i t J by yon prattle, the stream,
Recl l n'd on ber- bosom. I s ink i nto sleep,
Her image stUl softens my dream.
(11. 17-24)
Cunningbam' 8 pastoralB are not without passages of
re alistic description either, although such passag es are
uncommon. Hi s "Day. a Pastoral" 1s di vi ded into t hr ee une onne ct ed
groups entit led ":Morning·, "Noon". an d "Eveningn.
In ea ch t he
l and s ca pe an d t he labour for t he time ot day 8m de sc ribed . The
fol lowing stanzas f r om "Evening " suggest
O' er t h e hea t h the heifer st raY 8
Fr ee:- (ell e f'urrow' d task 18 done)
No'" t he villag~ windoW8 bl ue,
Bllrnish1d by t he se t t ing SUD.
first-hand obs erv ation:
md~~~ s:~ki~ h~:~~~~~ )
Gi ant-like thei r shadows grow,
Lenghten'd o'er the l evel ground.
Cunningham wrot e s ev eral other pastorals, 9 each of which ha ve
something of the s ame lyrical qualit y , and each sho ws in i t s
9 Oth er past oral poems by CUnningham include "Palem.on" ,
"Phil lis" "Delia" "Damon and Phillis", "Corydon", "Damon and
Phoebe ", ~'1be Respite" and " A. Pastor al" .

117
variatioD of meter , its realistic touches , and its treatment
of subject matter a move away fr'om the convent ional ecl ogue
of t he neoclassi c t radlt1ora.
Thomas Chat terton (1752...1770 ) wrote several eclogues
in which he f ollowed t he t r aditional fOnD of pastor al but
departed ab ruptly from t radition i n subject matter , character
and setting. In 1769 be sublll1t ted t o Hor aee Wal pol e a group
of four eclogu es . 10 written . supposedl y, 1n flf't eentb century
England by ODe Thomas Rowley . a pr i es t . Walpol e t wit h the aid
of Gray and MaSOD, 1I00n det e cted the fraud. The t'irst, second ,
an d 1'ourth e cl ogu es deal wit h t he subject of war. In Ecl ogue I
" Tw'ayne 100. 11. shep st erres" t ell_or th e t errible bloodshed
ca us ed by t he ci vil wars between t he houses of York and Lancaster.
In Ecl ogu e II, . pious Nygelle" tells of King Richard 's fight
wi t h the "warrynge s aras yn s " . I n Ecl ogue IV, Elinoure and Jug a
we ep f or their l overs who are away fighting the wars of the
Roeea , Although the "t wa pynynge maydens " are s i t t ing on a
"dedee..ey ld banke", t he setting is not Arcadia but r ather t he
banks of the riv er "Ruddeborne " near St. Alban's. 7he reason f or
t heir complaint i s not unrequited lo ve but the fact t hat t he i r
lovers are gone "To tyghte fo r Yorke" . '!be poem ends on a
tragic note . Upon learning t hat "ba the t heir knyght es wer e
sl ayne", t hey "Yel led t hey re l et halle knelle, sonke yzm t he waves ,
and dyde " . Eclogue III i s a mor al eclogue i n a l ocal English
s et t i ng with loca l character s . In i t a "manne" and "womanne" ar e
10 Chalmers, 2,2. ill. , Vol. XV, p, )81.

llS
proce ed i ng "down in t he del l e" to he lp "a t makeyng e of haie" .
They meet Si r Rog e r , the priest I and the "mannew enqui r es of
him why a knight should "be e moe gr ea t" than a swain is
"I nne ho nnou re, knygh t ehoode an d e state?" The moral i s conveyed
t hro ug h the illustration of the tall t r ee whi ch shakes in f urious
storms whi l e t he dwarf " f l owret t e" stands unhurt. "Syke " , Sir
Reger- says , "La a pi cte of lrfte":
Thieselfe a f lowrette of small a ccounte ,
Wou! dst ha rder relle t h e wynde I a s hygher t hee
dyd st e mount e .
(11 . 90 -9 1 )
Cha t t erton also wrot e Afr ican eclogue s • . In "Narva and
i>1or ed " a young pr i e s t e s s on " t he s t e e py clif f s of Chalma 's
s ac r e d gr oun d" relates t he so mewhat pathetic st ory of a young
pr i e s t Na rv e , who was "b red to the s erv ice of the godh ead 's
throne" but fell in l ove wi th the beauti f ul young Mored .
t hen forgot "his sacr ed ve stment and his mys t ic l ot", and t he
poem ends , also , on a tragic not e:
Lcc k td in ea ch others arm s, from Hyga's cav e ,
They plungtd r elentle s s to a wat 1ry gr ave j
And f alling murmur-sd t o t he pcwrr-a abo ve ,
Gods l t ak e o ur lives , unless we di:\5~ -tgr; '
Narva
"The Death of Nt cou" , another African ec logue , tells the story
of how "mighty Nfcou " r evenged the death of hi s sist er Ni ca by
slaying he r husband "yoWlg Rarest " , who stole her away . "Pining
wi th so r r ow", sh e di ed . In eHe ccar- a nd Gaira" , the third Africa n
ec logue , t he warrior Gai ra tells bow he l eft his rtlov' d Cawna"
to pursue a dangero us "prowling t i ger". On his r eturn Cawna and

119
hi s children bad b een t a ken away by "a worthless traiD" i n
ecceacn s l a vl rylt. Now he ki lls all t he tigers h e sees f or
vengeance.
In Chat terton 's ec logues, then, there is an at tempt t o
broaden pastoral by i nt ro duci ng new subject; atter, setting and
cha racters. Chatterton was attempt ing to do for the African
eclogue s omething similar t o what Collins did and Langhorne
advocat ed for the oriental eekcgue, In both cases, however,
there 18 little t ha t might be termed realistic description.
The tragic or mel ancholy tone of Chatterton's eclogues I ndicatEl\
also, a further deTe lopnent in the t reatment of pas t oral t hemes .
It s eems t o f oreshadow the more pathet i c a nd humane t r eat ment of
chara ct er s such as 1s found in Southey and Word sworth .
In 1769 The Mont hl y Review pUblished a t ranslation of
Saint . Lambertls "Discour s Pre lim1naire" along with a review of
his poem Lea SaisODS. The "Discours Preliminaire" is important
because of Saint-Lamb-ert ' s emphasis on external nature i n poetry
and the i mportance of exactness of de s cription . The poet should
"r ather pai nt t ba n describe I and his pi ct.ures should have one
charact er : be s hould gi ve one sent iment the ecke pos se s si on of
his heart I and all t he parts and colours of his pict ure should
con cur t o excite this sen timent." .1 1 He discusses the relations hi p
of Tbomson ' s ~ t.o his own poem Les Saisons l and makes an
interes t ing observation on the t r eatment of nature in des criptiver
efl ective poems . "Nat ure wil l become i nteresting" , be says .
11 Quoted in Conglet on , 2£. ill. , p , 130 .

l 20
'it she is painted in ber relations to sensi t ive beings ; she
will become interesting, if d escriptions are interposed with
natur a l and. moral truths , with idea s that enlighten the mind,
with rule e of conduct and principl es of vi rtue: she will be come
i nt eresting whenever she is paint ed under the i nfluence of the
sent liiient:: ebe eh r:uld inspi re, whether s1.i.bl1me , great , mournful,
poor , rich, agreeable, or beautiful".12 This fltatamant seems
to apply, not only to the treatment of nature in Thomson's
~, but to t he treatment of nature by l ater poets such as
Cowpe r an d Wo rdsworth . Saint - Lambert make s no distinction
bet wee n t he pr W tivlsm of the gol den ag e and that of pr esent
day pr1m1t he soei eties since he bel1evas t.hat If:roral or
pas tor al poet ry Is cult i vat ed before men fo rmed into l ar ge and
polished societ ies , or when the pl easure of s uch societioes
be gan t o l os e t heir relish n• l; His attitude tow ard primit ivism
an d t he t reatmen t of external na t ure in poetry i ndi cat e s a
definite move away frem the att itude of both ne oclassi ci st an d
rationalis t theo ries of pastoral toward a theory ba s ed on
empi rical s tandards . HiS · empha s b als o on t he s ent i ment s which
nature "s hould i ns pi re" fo r eshadows the trntment of nat ure by
l at er poe t s .
A.F . Tytler , Lord Woodbouselee, pUblished an edition of
the Pisc. t ory Eclogues of Phineas Fl etche r i n 1771. He pr efixed
an essay - or Pastoral and Plscatory Eclogue s" which reveals his
12 Quoted i n Congleton, 2£. ill., p, 1)1.
1) !!!!!!. , p , 1)0.

121
dissatisf'actiop with t he s e par a t i on of pastoral from reality .
In diseuse1ng the go l d en ag e of' perfect s1Japl1city, i nnocence,
a nd eaee as depicted in pastoral, be says "nothing can be more
fantastical. than to depart entirely from nature , and desc ribe
a manner of life, which neither never did, nor could possibly
exist. An afrectation of th1s kind i n the writers ot pa stor al,
i s 1ob.e reason why we are j us t l y displeas ed wi t h t he most modern
pa stora l s , a e well as lIIan1 or the ancients".l,. It. is int ere st ing
to compare tbese ea:mnents with t.he op ening lines of Crabbe' s
Villag e (178)J , which eer-ee as an i ns cript i on t o this cha pt er.
Both show the g ro win g dissatisfaction with the artificiality of
pas toral poet ry and re commend a mor e eIllpl rlcal treatment ot
rural 11£e.
John Aikin (1747-1822) i n hi s "Essay on Song -Writ ing in
Gener al" (177 2) stressed the necessi t y of realistic des cr i pt ion
1n pastoral poetry. Wi t h re s pe ct to poeti cal composition which
is ba sed upon nat ure he says: "In general , what ever is designed
t o move t he passions canno t be too natural and simp le. It is
also evident t hat when the profess ed design of the poet is t o
paint the bea ut ies of nature and the rural landsc ape of
pastor al life , he must gi ve as gr ea t an air of reality as
possi ble t o his piece , s ince a ba d imi tation necessarily produces
disgus t " . 15 Aikin' s empirical st r ain i s evident also in his
"Es say on Ball ads and Pastoral Songs " (1772) . In t his essay he
14 QUoted i n Congleton, 2.£. ~ ., p , 13) .
15 John Aikin , Ess ays on Song Writ in g , 2 ed, (1774) p , 7. "

122
draws a distinction between the ballad 8.!1d t he pastoral .
Wher eas t he " an ci en t ballad • •• should be pe r fectly na tural ,
and appropriated t o ou r own 80il • • • Pastoral poet ry i s a
natiYe at ha ppier climates, where th e face of nature, and t he
mann ers of t he people a re widely differe nt f rom those of our
northern region s . \'/bat i s r eality on the s of t Arcadian an d
Sicili an plain 5 , is all f iction here".16 Whil e commending
Ramsay 's Gentle She phe rd for its "air of r eali t y " and "genuine
taste of beautiful simplici t y" in its "de s criptive parts", he
nel'erthel es s consi ders that the ·sent iments and manners ar e
tar from being ent irel y prope r to t he characters" . "There 1s
ODe point.. , be sa ys, "in which a pas t oral writer of any country
may venture to tollow l ow nat ure exac t l y and wit h a minute
nicety: this is in the scene ry and descri ption. Nat ural objects
ar e scar ce ly eve r disgusting, and t he r e i s no country so unb l essed
as to be unprovided with an ample store of beauties, whi ch must
eve r please in an acc ur at e represent ation, i ndepende ntly of all
fashion or pe culiarit y of t as t e" . 17 He ex presses similar vi ews
on t he impo rtance of natural des cripti on i n poet ry in a lat er
essay enti t l ed " An Es s,ay on the Pl an and Char acter of Thomson' s
Seasons" (17 88) . In t hi s e ssay al so he he lps to break down t he
divisi on between the georgi c t radition in poet ry and pastoral,
a t enden cy whi ch is ev ident to some extent i n John Scott' s
s econd Amoebean Eclogue .
16 Aikin, 22. ill., p , 31.
17 !£!!!. , p , 34 .

1 23
Sir Wi lli am JOnes (1 746-1794.) published a volume
entitled ~ in 1772 which included "Arcadia, a Pas t or al
Poem" and "Sol1ma: ea Arabian Eclogue". "Arcadia" is a l ong
allegory on the de TelopllleDt of pa st oral from Theocritus t o
Pope an d Gay . In the Advertisement t o the poem Jone s sa ys that
"he took t h e hint of i t from an allegory of Mr. Addison , i n the
thirty-second paper of the Guardian". 18 The se t ting of the poem
1s Arcadi a an d t he shepherds a r e conventi onal. The poem 1s
written 1n her oi e couplets and follows elosel y t he prose a ccount
of Addison. The poem "Solima" I s not , he writ es, 'II. re gular
translation from t he Arabic language; but most of th e figures,
sent iment s, and des cript i ons 1n it, were really taken frOID the
po et s of Arabia".19 SaUma is an Arabian pr l nc88s who had bi d
"all Eden spring before our eye s · to ch eer the "f aint ing quest-,
to sh el ter the poor "and the weak protect", and "to warm the
t ravel l e r numb'c1 with winter 's cold-. In ac1dit ion to this
interest in humanitarianism, the poem indicates a fu rther attempt
t o broaden the s cope of pastoral by writing on oriental su bjects.
John Scott (1730-1783) wrote three gro up s of eclogu es :
Mor a l Ecl Ogue s (1773) , AIIIo.be an Eclogues (1782) and ~
Eclogue s (1782). In the very brief Advertlsment to t he ~
Ecl ogue s Sco t t i ndi cat eS his ag r eement wi :t h Dr. John son ' s "most
r ational defini t i on of pas tor al poet ry " and fu rther states t ha t
"thi s t heory the autho r of the f ol lowing ecl ogues ha s endeavoured
18 Chalmers , 2£. ill., Vol . XVIII , p, 4.45.
19 ~., p , 441.

1 2~
t o exempl1f'y". 20 As t he title of these ec l ogues i n dicate, t hey
are meant to convey a moral. Scott uses the pattern made
popul ar by Pope of depicting diff er ent seasons, locations, and
times of day 1n eacb ec logue , excep t t hat Wint er is excluded.
A.part from occasional paeeegee of naturalistic descript ion ,
howeve r , t hese ec logues differ litt le from t he conv entional
past or al. The shepherds are conven t i ona l and the set t i ng ,
although Dot upl1e1t.ly Arcadian. 1s very close t o it. In his
brier Adve rtb ment t o the Amoebean Eclogues (1762 ) Scot t bet rays
an awareness of t he gro wing dissat isfaction wit h pastor al
e clogues : "The plan of the carmen AlIloebae um, or r es ponsive verse
of the ancients, incoDsistent as i t may be deemed wit h mode rn
mann ers, wa s preferred OD t his oc cas ion, as admi t t i ng an
a rbit rar y an d de sul tory disposition of i deas, wher e i t was
f ound difficult t o preserve a regular connection".2l There a re
t wo amoebean ec logues . The f irst is an imi tation of the
res pon sive singing.match of the t r adi tional amoebean pastoral.
I n i t two sh eph erds des cribe the rural s cene ry i n alternate verse.
The se t t ing and situation depict ed a r e entirely tradi t i ·onal and
the end ing where "The hamlet smokes i n amber wreaths ari se"
echoe s Virgil's Eclogue I. Its i nt r oduct i on of occasiona l
passages of na t ural de script i on is its most int eresting as pect.
The Second Amoebean Eclogue is not , s t r ict l y speaking, a pas t oral
poe m at all. The only touches of pas toral a re t he "t hree rural
20 Anderson , £2. ill., Vol . II, p , 729.
21 ~., p , 741.

125
bards" who s ing of "rural busi ness". Even he re th e sense ot
campaUt.ioD is not evident i n t he way that it is in t he s1ng1ng
cont e sts or 'Ibeocritus and Virgi l . The poem is more pr oper ly
in the geargi e tradition, although i t 15 much s horter than
Virgil's GeOrg!cs. The first stanza by t he fir st bard, in tact ,
echoes very clos ely t he opening line s of Book I of Vi r gil's
Geor gics :
The care of f'arms we sing - attend the straIn _
\ihat akill J wba t toil. shall best procure you gain;
How di£ferent culture d1tferent gro und re quires;
While wealtb rewards whom industry i n spires.
Ill. 9- 12 )
This raixing o:C t opics on busband ry2 2 with pastoral indicat es t he
growing tenden cy to dist inguish les s r i gidly betw een pa st or al
an d geargie poe t ry.
O.r the Or ient al Ecl ogue s (1782) the first has the form
of t he t r aditional compl aint , but the sUbject mat ter is diffe rent.
Scot t reels obliged t o explain t.o t he r ead er t hat "He, who
d es cribes what he ba s seen, may describe correct l y : he . who
des cribes what he has not se en , must de pend fo r much OD the
a cco un t of' ot hers . and su ppl y the reat f ro m hi s imaginat ion". 2)
22 Vlrgilfe Geo Lee is a di dactic poem on hus bandry or
farm ~gemen t and ~quit e dist i nct f rom bis ECl ogues .
The t opics which f orm t he mai n sub j e ct matter fo r its our ooks
a r e i ntro duced i n the f ive open ing 11nes of Book I ; "What makes
t he cro ps joyous, beneat h what star , Maecenas, i t i s wel l t o
turn t he soi' and wed vines to elms . what t ending the kine need ,
what care t he "herd. i n breedi ng , what sldll t he t hr ifty bees ­
henc e shall I begin my song. " Virgil, t rans. H. H. Fai r clough
11953), Vol . I, p . 81 .
2) Anderson . 22,. ill., Vol . XI. p. 74-5.

1 26
Thus we cannot expe ct much re alist i c description i n th ese poems.
The i nter esting t hing about t he se poems 1s t he int ro duction to
the genre of new character s , subj ec t mat ter. and scenery. i n
the manner of' Col lins . "Li-po; or, t he Good Gove rn or " 18 "a
Chinese Eclogue- about the good gOTernance or Li -po "a prince
in that country". The subj ec t mat t er again i ndicates a t endency
to treat of di....r se mat ters i n t he pastoral genr e . As has been
already point ed out , Scott t e Mor al Eclogue s depart very little
f rom the traditional pastoral. There 1s a t endency in th e
Amgebean Eclogues, however, to treat of subject. matter normally
dealt with in geargle poet ry. I n the Oriental Eclcgues Scott,
whi le s t i ll fo llowing the traditional f ona of pastoral eclogue,
has attempted to broaden t he scope of subject matt er and
char a ct er . Arter Scot t very few conTenti onal eclogues are
written. While the t radi tional fo rm of t he eclogue may be used ,
t her e are very few e clogues written with the set t i ng in Arcadia
and dep ict ing shepherd s of t he golden age . The t ende ncy
hen ceforth i s t o introduce more realism and variet y ot sub ject
matter and character into the traditional t orm ot pastor al.
Ret erence should be made at this poi nt t o a review of
"New I dyls. By Solomon Gessn er . Translated by W. Hooper , M. D. "
in tbe Gentleman's Y+¥u i ne in 1776 . Salomon Ges sne r (l7JO-17eSj
was a Swiss poet and pa i nter whose Pas to r al I dylls were highly
praised in England t or their benevol ent sent iment s , keen
ob servat ion ot nature, and st ro ng moral quality. His Id ylls have
h ad an impor tant i nfluen ce on English past or al writers. An
article entit led "Rural Poems. Tran slated t ro m t he Origi nal German

127
of M. Ge ssner" appeared i n The Cr itical Revi ew as early as
176 2. Man y a rticles were written fo llowing t his in various
periodi cals . The s hort introductory paragr aph t o t he t ranslation
of Ges sn e r ' s I dyll XVII ( IfMenal ca s an d Al exis") i n the
Gent l eman ' 5 Magazine i ndi cate s t he two qualities of these poems
whi ch most r ev i e wer s thought f i t to pr ai s e . The reviewer ,
r e f erri ng to Gessner, wr i t e s : " I n the work before us he has
ende a vour ed t o di splay the extent of hi s genius by uni t ing t he
sist er ar t s i n one laudable design, namel y , t ha t of exh i bi t i ng
the benevol ent aff e cti on s i n the most natural and amiable
I h :ht. By making choice of rural sub jects f or his poetry , he
very na t ur ally i ntroduce s t he beauties of l ands cape by way of
i llus t r ation j and , by t hu s blending th em t ogether, he a pplies
the powers of bc.th to i nculcat e s ome mor a l duty or i nsp i r e soee
g ene r ous sentiment". 24 By "exhibi t i ng the benevolent affections ff
and by i ntrodu ci ng "t he beaut i e s of l an dsca pe by way of i l lustrati on",
Gessn e r appealed t o those writ er s of pastoral who ~e lt t ha t
pa s tor al s hou l d "inspire some genero us sentiment " and pro vide
naturalist ic descriptions .
One of the most compre he ns i ve r evi ews of t he works of
Ges sn e r a ppeared i n the Lit e r a ry Magazi ne . and Br i t i sh Review
(1 789} . 25 This an onymous r evi ewer di s cusses Gessner 's pa i ntings
as wel l as his poet ry. Li ke many ot her crit i cs. t he re viewer
pr a i ses Gessner for his na t ur alistic descr i ption s and credits
24 Gentleman's r-taga zine . Vol. XLVI (1776 ) , p. 80 .
25 Literar y Magaz i ne , and Br i tish Revi ew ( April, 1789 ) ,
pp , 241 f f .

1Jl with realizing for the r eader the ·pleasing fictions of
126
the golden age" by viaiting the "enchanting banks of the 811
a nd the Limmat- , wher e "our aut hor studied t he beautlea of
nature, and that rich 1magery whi ch he has so happily expres s ed
in his wrlt1nga".
In his Preface to the IdIlla Gessner hims elf
writes that "sometimes I steal away from the hurry of the t own,
and se ek reliel in the solit ude of ~e country; where a view of
the beauties of t he fields banishes f rom my mind every cee e , an d
effaces those disagreeab le impressions , whi ch I brought along
wi t h me. Transported at beholding s uch admirable s c ene s J I am
happier than a shepherd of the gol den age J and richer t han a
mona r eb " . 26 '!he r eviewer t hen st r es se s the importance of
reeling in judging poetryJ while at the s ame t1m e he allows a
certain weight tor ge nius , t as te, a nd learning:
"Though it i s
no t from a uthorities . but by what one fe els. t ha t we oug ht to
j udge of eucb works as t hos e of Mr. Gesner , yet the approbation
of men of genius . t as te. and learning. will always ha ve a
ce rtain weight" . He then quot es a letter f r om Rous s eau t o
Hube r who ba d translated Gessne r ' s Idylls.
Rous s eau has j us t
read the IdyllS a1'ter having a "most dreadfu l pain of body ".
He writes thus ;
Th1 e 15 t be real trut h. I perceive t.bat your
friend Ge sne r i s a man according to my own heart.
he nc e we may j udge of his translator. through
whom on l y he i s known to me. I am much obliged
t o yo u f or having f10ee d our l angu age from that
f oolish an d r i diculous jargon whi ch depri ve s
images of truth, and s ent iment s of loveliness .
26 LUera" Magazine, an d British Rev i ew (April, 1789) I
p , 245.

129
Those who attempt t o embellish and. adorn nature
are people wit hout genius , and without taste
and who han neve r been acquainted. n th its I
beauties. For six yea rs pas t I hav e , in my
ret reat I led a life very much like that of
Amyntas and Hanalea a • • •• At present you have
inspired me with a desire of seeing another
sp r1ng, to vander with your shepher ds through
new pat hs, to share my solitude with t hem
an d to behold with them rural retreats, whi ch
~~:D:~th~~ e~~ ~rt~ 8~h~~\:tl~yOU and Mr.
This 1s Rous seau ' s f avourable r eacti on t o the nat ur alistic
descript i ons and the benevolent sentiments expressed i n
Gessne r ' s I dyl l s .
Alt hough ther e 1s also adverse cr i t i ci sm of
Gessner 's pas t or als , t hese are t he quali ties most of t en pr aised,
and they are t he qualit i es mos t l ooked f or i n pastoral at t hi s
t i me .
No l ess im.POrf.al1t to the cons olidat i on of the ne w t heOry
of past or al 15 HUgh Bl ai r's Lecture on "Pa storal Poet ry " (178)) .
Bl ai r ' 5 empi ricism i s evident 1n his i nsistence that tlIn every
Pa storal , a ecea e , or rural prospect , sh ould be distinctly
drawn, and set befo r e us . It i s not enough, t hat we have t hose
unmeaning gro ups of v i ol ets and roses , of bird s , and brooks , and
bree ze s , which our ecemcn Pastoral-mongers t hrow t ogether, and
whi ch are perpetually recurring upon us wit hout vari at i on.
g ood Poet ough t t o gi ve us su ch a l andscape , as a paint er could
co py af t er . His obj ec ts mus t be particul ar ized; t he s t ream,
the rock , or t he tree, must, e ach of them , stand fo rth, so ae to
make a figure in t he imag inat i on , and t o gi ve U 5 a plea5ing
J
A
27 Literar y Y.agaz i ne . and Brit ish Review (April, 1789 ),
p , 246.

1)0
conception o£ the place where we are".28 Blair, however, 18
not too different from Fontenelle in his conception of t he
"middle station" of pastor al . The poet, in present ing lit he
i dea of a ["Ural Ufe" which "may have actually \;aken place"
must maintain a "pleasing illusion", and display "all t hat is
agreeable 1n that state, but bide whatenr 1s displeasing"_
Regarding character, Blai r st ates t hat ·we expect to be
en t ertained by s hepherds, or persons wholly engaged 1n rural
o ccupat.loDs-. While "aD amiable simplicity must be t he
g r oundwor k of his character ll , the sheph erd "may bave good se nse
and r eflect t on j he may have sprightline ss and vivacity; be may
have very tender and delicate feelings". Blai r criticizes the
"barren and slavis h imitat i on of anc i ent pas tor al t oplcs:f t and
believes that pastoral poet ry may t ake a "wide r r ange " : "The
various adventures which gi ve occasion to t hos e engag ed in
country life t o di3play t heir disposi t ion and t emper • • • might
give occaedcn to many a pleasing and t ende r incident j and were
more of the narrative and se nt iment al In t ennixed with the
descr ipt i ve in this kind of Poet ry, it would bec ome much more
inter es t ing than it now gener all y i s. to t he bul k of readers " . 29
Her e . as i n his comment s on Gessn er ' s I dylls . Bl air s t r es ses
t he importance of the se nt iments present ed in pas t or al. "The
chi ef merit" of Gessner. he writes, "is, that he writ es t o the
heart; and has enriche d t he subject s of his Idylls with incidents.
28 Hugh Bl air . Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettr es,
ed , Haro l d F. Ha rd ing (196$ ), vol. II, p. j4D.
29 ~•• p. 34-6 .

131
which g1'1'e r ise to much tender sentiment . Scenes of domestic
felicity are be autifully painted".)O
Blair 's lecture presents
t he culmination of the new theory of pastoral. His stress on
particularized descriptioD5 of nature , on the necessity of wider
range of subjec t ma t t er, and t be impo rtance of sentiment and
feeling in pastoral points f orward. to the later treatment of
pastoral by Wordsworth.
The prevalent attitude towards pastoral
at t his t ime also he lps explain why writers like Cowper, Beattie,
and Crabbe go outside the genre to de&! wit h past oral themes.
Richard Jago (1715..1781) wrote two poems which are
i mportant t o this s tudy_
In "The Scavengers. a Town_eclogue,,)1
he ridicule s t he pas toral con YentioDs in the manner of S.,,11't.
This poem also contains echoes of Gay's ShepherdIS Week.
opening lines bave the eaee batbetic effect. as the opening lines
of Gay's "Sat.urday". Jago's poem begi ns t.hus :
~~:tn~In:u::t l~~:~e t~el~ r;;i~dt.~::~
Delight. not. all: quit, quit. . the verdant field,
And t.r y what dusty s t.r eet.s t t.he alleys yiel d .
(11 . 1-.)
The
This is a deliberat.e pa rody of t.he opening lines of many
conventional pastor als. The s ame ulll"l es que effect. i s at.t. ained
i n the l i n es de sc ribing t.be occupation ot t his "pair" ot st.r eet
scavengers:
30 Bl a i r , 2,E.. £ll.. , p. 34-8.
31 Anderson, sz- ill., Vol lit p , 721 .

1)2
!.a!!t ot the t oiling race there 11ved a pair
Bred up in labour, an d inur'd to care l t
To sweep t he streets their task from OWl to sun
And seek t he nastiness whicb other s shun.
t
Ill. 19- 22)
In the rolloving pa ssag e Jago achieve " ludicrous s El ects by t he
implied comparison of the ci rcums t an ces of the "delightful chat"
of this "pair" with similar a ctivities ot conventional sh epherds
a nd sh epherdesses:
Ahl Gaff"er Peatel, what br ave da ys were those ,
When higher than our house our muckh111 rosel
The growing mount I view'd with j oyfUl eyes,
And marked what each load added to its size.
Wr a ppe d in its fragrant s t eam. we often sa t .
And t o its praises beld delightful chat.
(11 . 51-5 6 )
The e nding too is a deliberate ridicule of the ending of many
conventional pa eec eer.e ,
In the conventional past oral it is
u sually the "setti ng sun " t hat drives t he sh eph erds f rom the
f ield. The cause of the depa rture of t hese scavengers i s
quit e different:
Thus vail'd t hey pl easure past, and present cares ,
While the s t arv' d hog joi n ' d his complai nt with theirs .
To s t i ll his grunting different ways t hey t end ,
To West - s t reet be, a nd sh e to Co~t~~-8j~86)
A different kind of pa s t oral, but not , it s eems, without
its t ou ch of burl es que , i s Jag o ' s " Ardenna . a Pas tor al-E cl ogu e .
To a Lady " . In t his eclogue "two swains t he Dor i c re ed es sa y 'd"
t o s i ng the pr aises of Ardenn a, "the pee r l e ss mai d" , who chos e
he r s ea t "on Arden l s blis sful plain" . Although the poem has t he

traditional pastoral set t ing, an d "Damon" and "Lycida s n are
133
tratl!Uonal sh epherd s , the following lines seem to ring with
something less than a tNe note :
Plains. bill, and woods r eturn the well-kn own sound
And the smooth beech record s the sportive wound. •
(11. 35-36)
The ·well-known n sound and t he ·sportive" wound have t he effect
of burlesque , a s does the following passage which describes
what
Ardenna has done for the shepherds:
She for her sheph e~1I rears the reoty sh ed ,
The chequer' d pavement , and t he straw-wove bed.
For them she s coops the gro tto's cool retreat.
From storms a shel t er , and a shad e in heat.
Di r e cts t he ir ban ds t he verdant arch to bend,
And with t he l eafy roof its gloom extend.
Shells. nint . a nd ON their mi ngl ed graces joio.
And r ocky fragments aid the chaste des i gn .
(11. 67-7~)
Thi s passage s eems t o ove re mpha si ze for the sake of a l udi crous
e£fect .
Jago ' s bandling: of these poems indicates a furt her
at t empt to r i di cul e conventiona l pa s t oral and t o discredit it
as a poetic genre.
Although Jago's "Edge Hill" (176 7) i s mor e st r ict l y
a "local " po em, it do es have past oral elements. It treats uhe
count>ry-side in a somewhat re alistic way, an d , what> is more
important t o t>he future deve lopment of pas toral, i t emphasizes
t he "beni gn" effects of nature and its "moral" i nfluen ce on man.
Hail happy landl whi ch nature's parti al smile
Hat h ro b'd pro fusely ga y! whose champaigns wide

134
Wi th plenteous ha rv ests wavej whose pastures swarm
;~ t~b~o~~n:nb:~:.m~le:h;l :~df~~sw~::~~;a~~ ~d
~~ I:~O~:J::o~a:Ot~~: :~;;; er:~~rs , '
(Book IV, 11. 192-1 98 )
The passage fo llowing this describes the labour of the "l ordly
swain" .
The de scription of his housewife before the "blazing
he arth " testing ·the tangl'd wool " and enticing the "duct U e
thread" with ·sportive hand" has an air of reallsm. 32
t hen goes on t o treat of "Nat ure ls Mor al pl an" :
Nat ure herself bi ds us be serious J
Bida us be wise; and all her workB re buke
That ev er -thoughtles s , ever-tltt'ring tribe .
(Book IV, 11 . 254- 256 )
J ago
This treatment of t be benevolent as pects of nature whi ch bave
an effect fo r good on man i ndicates t his new way of deali ng
with nature in poet ry .
The pastor al el ements in t his l ocal or
t opographical poem indicate also t he growi ng tendency t o deal
wi t h pastoral them es outside t he genre a nd t he tendency t o break
down the division between pas t oral and longer poems on s i mi l ar
s ubject s .
Robert Sout he y (17 74 - 1843) published two gro ups of
f ormal eclogues: The Bot an y Bay Eclogues
(1797-180,3) and
Englis h Ecl ogu es (1799-1808). Bot h thes e gro ups lack any traces
of pastoralism. Southey di s penses with the convent iona l sh e pherds .
Tbe Botany Bay Ecl ogues utilize t he diurnal pattern mad e popular
by Pope . They treat of lif e i n t he pen al co l ony at Bot any Bay
i n a way that s ho ws human e f e el i ngs t owar ds thos e convict ed .
,32 Thi s pa ssage, however , a ppea r s t o ech o a s i milar
pass ag e f r om Vi rgil' s Geordcs ( Book I, 11. 291-2

135
His English Eelogu e s, nth t he exception of Ecl ogue IV,
s et in the English countE')'slde . The first t hre e of these
wer e pub lished i n 1799, t he f ourt h in 18 OS. Southey ' s attit ude
toward t he past or a l ec l ogue i s expressed in his sh ort Pr ef a ce
t o the English Eclogues: "With bad Ecl ogues I am su f f i ciently
acquaint ed , from Tityrus and Coryd on down t o our English
St r ep hons and Thirsisses. No !dnd of poetry can boast of more
illust rious names , or i s more dist.inguished by t he s ervile
dulness of imitated nonsense . Pastoral writers, "a or e s i l l y than
thei r sheep' , ha ve . l ike t heir sh eep gone on in t be same track one
after anoth e r ,,)3 Gay, he says, 1s t be only modern pas t or al
write r who "st ruck i nt o a new pat h" . Ecl ogue I present s an old
ga rdene r ' 5 f eeling s of nostalgia an d r egret t hat his old Lady
of the Mans i on has pa s sed a way and t ha t the new owner will make
alterations whi ch t he garden er does not welcome . Eclogue II
t reats s ympathetically the "wre tched" lif e of Han nah who "bore
unhusbanded a mother's pains" and now i s being buri ed. Eclogue
III shows s i mila r human i t a r ian feelings fo r t he widow whose
o r pha n grandchild " pl a y ' d the wanton" and broke he r "!l:randam' s
he art" . In Ecl ogue IV the setting is the town an d t he su bject
is t he funeral of an Aldennan "in whos e he art Love had no place
f or nat u r a l charity" (1. 95 ) . The se e clogue s l ac k any t r a ces of
pa s t oral a nd i t s conventions . They are written i n blank verse,
a nd Eclogu es II and III es pecially s how the humani t arian interest
of the Roman t i cs i n t he l es s fo rtunate membe r s of so ciety.
») Rober t Southey, ~ , ad , Maurice H. Fitzger ald (1909) ,
p , 411.

136
Nath an Dr ake's essay "On Pastoral Poet ry " in his
Literary Hour s (1798 ) r epre sent s t he culminatio n of th e contempt
fo r conventional pa stor al and t he culmination also of th e
empirical att i t ude t oward pasto ral compos i tion. In this essay
he attacks the slav ish imitation of conventiona l pas t or a l and
r e c omme nds that poet s i mit ate the spirit rather than t he wor ks
of Tbeo cri tus. I f , "instea d of ab surdly i ntroduci ng the
costume a nd s cenery of Si eily " , poe ts had "given a f aithful
repr esentation of their own cl imate an d rural char acter , our
pa stor al s woul d not be the i nsipi d t hings we are now, i n gener al ,
oblige d t o consider t hem, but accura t e imitations of natur e
he rself, ekencbe d with a free a nd liberal pencil. and gl owing
wi t h a ppropr i a t e cha rms". "If rur a l life" , he continues, "no
l onge r pr es ent us wi t h s he pherds s i ng i ng a nd pipi ng fo r a bowl
o r a crook, why persist , i n vi ol ati on of all pr obability , to
introduce s uch character s? I f pastoral cannot exi st without
t hem, l et us cea s e to c ompo se i t " . 34 Thi s i s the advice offered
by Dr a ke t o t hose who pe r sist i n creating t he myth of Arcadia.
To The ocrit us "these personag es we r e objects of hour l y
observat ion" ; t o the eighteenth century reade r t hey a re a
"v i o l a t i on of all pro babilit y " . Dra ke ' s e s say, then, r epr e sent s
t he compl ete rejection of t he conv entional pastoral and argues
f or a n i ndigenous pastor al dep i cting English rural life i n a
realistic way . T"dO yea rs l ater, i n 1800 , \'i'or dsworth ' s "Michae l "
does just that . WordsKorth imitates in this poem the sp i rit
34 Na t han Dra ke , Literary Hours , 2 ed , (1800) , Vol. I ,
pp , 326-7 .

137
rather than the works of Thaocrltus . Bef ore discussing "Michae l ll ,
however , it is necessary t o l ook at those writers who, during
t he se cond half of t he eighteenth century, r ej ect pas toral as
an ef'fe ctiv8 poetic g enre and deal wit h paa toral themes in
l onge r med i tat i ve or des cript ive- refieet ive poems .
3.
In addition to those writ ers who at t empt to br oad en the
s cope of pastor al an d who st ress the empi rical element, there
a r e others who r ej ect the ge nre altogether and deal wit h
pa15t oral theml! s in l onger descriptive...re flective poems . These
writ er s ap pear t o have little inter es t in fUrther development
of past oral . Any comments t hey make about i t a- e usually
dispa r ag i ng and indicate little interest in broadening its sc ope.
SOme of t he m stress the i mportance of rural des cript i on and the
e xp r es s i on of ben evolent sentiment , but when they do s o t hey
ha ve the longer medi tative or de sc riptive- reflective poem i n
mi nd r ather than the strictly past oral poem.
John Dyer U 700-l758) publishe d ~, 3 5 in fo ur
pa r ts, i n 1757. Thi s poem is not a pastoral , but it has a
r ural s et ting and deals with the lives of r eal shepherds. The
poem 15 more proper l y in the t r adition of Virgil' s Geordcs ,
35 Chalmers, .2E,. ill., Vol . rnr , p. 226.

however , t.han in the pastoral tradition.
138
Dyer' s concern to r
the wool trade 1n England pro mpt ed i t s compositi on , and his
di da ct i c intention is evident throughout the poem. In the
fo llowin g passage one can see a strong similarity bet wee n
Virgil 's didactic i nt ent i on in the Geer d es and Dyer 's in
D!!...l:!!!.£! :
Come, gent l e swains, t he br ight Wlsully'd locks
Collect: alternate songs shall sootbe your care s ,
And warb ling mus i c break from every spray.
Be f altbtul: and t he genuine locks alone
Wrap round : nor alien flake nor pitch enfold: •• •
Guard t oo from moi s t ure, and the fret t i ng moth
Perni cious: she. in gloomy shade ece eeaj.rd ,
Her labyrinth euts, and mocks the comber' s care.
(Book II, 11. 30 rr.)
The poem i s written in blank verse. Dyer' s int erest in extern al
nature i s at t es t ed to by t he descriptive passages of the poem,
a nd his treatment oE the lives of shepherds outsi de the pastora l
g enre i ndicatesa growing t ende nc y i n t his di rect ion at this t ime .
Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774.) i s another writer who
r e j ect s pas t.oral . In his Ci tize n of the Wor l d GoldstQi th' s
Chi nese philos opher writes that "Pa st orals are pretty e nough ­
f or t.ho se t hat like t hem, - but to me Thyr s i 8 i s one of the
most i ns i pid fellows I eve r convers ed with; and as f or Cor ridon
I donlt chuse his company".J 6 I n another l et t er i n which he
r idicules t he f uneral elegies writ ten upon the gr eat , Goldsmith's
phi losophe r writes that the ":most usual manner" of · being
po etically g'Jrrowful on s uch occasions" i s thus:
36 Letter XCVII.

DamOD meets JlIenal cas t who has got a most
gl oomy countenance. The sh epherd asks his
t riend., whence that l ook ot dist re ss? to
whi ch t he other r epliesJ t hat Pollio 18 no
more. It that be the cas e then, cries DamOD,
l et us r etire t o yonder bower at some distance
off, wher e t he cypress and the jessu1ne add
;r~~~: l; Ot~~ep:rll~~ ; t~dr~::nd8ote: ~ e Pb erd S,
and the patron of ever)' muse. Aht returns his
fellow sh eph erd, what t hink you rather of that
gro t t o by the fount ain side j the murmur ing
stream will he lp t o assiet our compl aints, and
~. ~l~t ~:g~eJ: ~O:~ ;~~OU~~ ~:ep~~ i~1n
thus settled they begin: The brook st ands st ill
to bear t heir lamentations ; the cows t orget to
~~~.~':~t~~:1~e~D~~~~~7start trw the forest
139
Afier pointing out that he is "quite unaffected by all t hi s
dist ress" , the phil osoph er t hen parodies the pastoral elegy by
g i ving "the sp ec imen of a poem upon the decease of a great man,
i n which t he fiattery i s per fe ctly fine t and yet the poet
perfec t l y innocent- .
f ollowing indicat e the bur lesque i ntent :
Of the five stanzas in the poem, the two
Ie muses, pour t he pitying tear
For Pollio snatch 1d away :
o had he 11v ' d another yearI
_ He had not dy I d t o-d ay.
How sad t he groves and pl ains appear,
And sympat hetic sheep:
~~~ ~~r~~i~l~ e:~l~ o d~~~p~)~ear l
It is not dlurpriS1ng , then, that Gol dsmith turns away from the
pastora l to t he l onger poem t o expr ess bis view s on rural life.
37 Letter CVI .
38 llli.

140
Goldsmith's Dese rted Village (1770 ) 1s a de scrlpt1ve_
r en. ctive poem whi ch has past or al eleaients. The poem, however ,
lacks t he CODYe DtioDa which are commonly found in t he eighteenth
century pastoral poem. Goldsm i th presents a more sentimental
view of rural lire t han does Cr abbe , and he glosses ove r many
of 1ts unplea sant as pects. Yet he fu lly believes t hat he 1s
presenting a r eal situation. 39 Hi s poem deals with, an d shows
his concern t or, the de population of t he small village in
England . Although be may ha ve dr awn upon recollections of
his childhood in the village of Lissoy in I rel an d for his
de s cription of Auburn, it is generally fel t that Auburn is
meant to represent su ch t owns as were being de populated
t hroughout England at this time . It i s interesting to note
the s1m11arity betwee n t he situation presented in this poem
an d that presented in Virgi lt s Eclogue I. The si t uation
d escribed in Ecl ogue I is the dispossession by Oct av i an of the
lands be longing to t he f armer s in Northern I t aly for his
dischar ged veterans f ollowing his victory at Philippi in "'2 B. C.
Instead of calling them farmers, of course, Vi rgil makes t hem
ehepaerda, The po em, however, deals with a r eal sit uat ion .
Goldsmith is dealing wi t h a somewhat s imila r s i t uat i on , but he
is doing it outside the pas tor al ge nre and there i s no
39 In his letter of Dedication t o Si r Jo sh ua Reyno lds,
Goldsmi th writes: " •• • I sincerel y believe what I ha v e written;
~~;t t~ e~:v ~o~~~ tl~e ~::;:l~~~n:~ ~~ ~~~~~t~ :~~~ i~~~ge,
and that a l l my views and enquiries hav e led me t o believe t hose
miseries real, which I be re attempt to displ ay " . Olivgr Gol dsmit h,
Colle ct e d Wo r ks , ed , A. Friedman (1966 ) , Vol . IV, p , 25.
~

141
di s pl a cement in the sense of making the f arme r s shep herd s . 4-0
The pastoral t heme is reiterated floequently i n the poem,
especially in the f'ollowing lines:
o bl est re tirement, friend of lire's decline
Retreats f'r0lll care that neve r must be mine '
How happy he who crowns in shades like the;e
A youth of labour wit h an age of ease' •
Who quite a world where strong temptahons t ry
And since 'ti s hard to combat, learns to fiy. '
Ill. 97- 102)
Gol dsmith's descriptive passages give an air of first- hand
cbeer-eetacn, Note t be .following lines , Eor example :
Sweet was the sound when oft at evening' s cl ose
Up yonde r hill t he village murmur rose i
'
There as I past with cerefeee steps and slow
The mingling notes came Battened trom be lo w;'
The swain responsive as the milk.-maid sung,
The sob er herd that lowed to meet their young ;
The no18y geese that gab bled oler t he pool,
The pl ay ful children just let l oos e f rom s choolj • ••
But now t he ecunds of population faU,
No cheartul. murmurs fluct uate in the gale,
No bu sy s t e ps the grass-grown foot -way tread.
For all t he bloomy flush of life i s fled.
Ill. 11 ) rr .)
Gol ds mith ' s descriptions show less of the har sh realities of
rural life t ha n do Crabbe's. He pr ese nts , however, what he
40 In an essay entitled "The Revol ut i on in Low Life",
Collected Wor ks, Vol. III, p; 195 ff . , Gol dsmitb discu sses t he
f~~b~:~~n~~ :~l~~~ h~e~n:~~"~~hs~~~ ~~i:g:i~:~~
and I could wi s h that this were the only i natance of su ch
migr ations of l ate . But I am. informed t hat nothing i s a t pr esent
mor e cceacn than such revolutioDa. In almost eve ry part of the
kingdom the laborious husbandman has be en r educe d, and the l and s
a r e no w either occu pi ed by s ome gene r al undereeker-, or turned
i nto enc losures de st ined fo r the purposes of amusement or luxury. "
( p , 197) .

1~2
considers t o be a r&al1stic view of life in the English village
at t hi s t ime, and, what is more important, he does so without
the machi nery and 8rtiticality t hat is so much a part of
conventlollOi.l ?asteral .
James Beattie (173 5-1803) published Book I of his poem
The Minstrel, 41 wri t t en in the Spenserian st an za , in 1771 .
Book II was published in 1774.
The sub-tltle of the poem is
"The Progr e ss of Genius" an d the poem i tself sketches the
education or t he minstrel Edwin, who repr83ents Beat t ie himsel f.
The poem is Dot a pas t oral, but it does have a pastoral se t ting
aod the minstrel Edwin 1s dep i eted as a shepherd-swain:
There lived in Got hic days, as legends t ell,
A shepherd ..swai n . a man of low degr ee ;
~~~~ ~i~r:~V: :~::n::re~no~a~~~~~ might dwell,
But he, I ween, was of t he north countrie j • ••
'Ihe shepherd-swain of whom I ment i on made,
On Scotia' s mountain r ed his little flock ;
i: eb~~~~·he :~e:~ ~~~~~i :~ Sn ::~~k~way ed j
His drink tbe living water from the ro ck j
The milky dams su pplied his board, and lent
Thei r kindl y fleece t o baffle wint e r ' s sh ock;
And he tho I ott with dus t an d sweat bes prent,
Did ~d e an d guard their w~~~r~sh:m9r;t~ )er they went .
He i s not a conve ntional she pherd of the golden age. He i s
"oft with dust and swea t be sp r ent " and at his bi rth - No prodigy
a ppeared in earth or air - (1. 130) . I n Book II, when young
.1 Jameo ileatt i e , Poe t ical \'lor ko, ed, Alexaode r !lyee
(1866 ), p , 7.

143
Edwin approaches t he "boary sag e " t o 1'1od. out whether what he
had beard about corruption at court 18 true, be re vels in the
t hought or the golden age - "'!'be age of l ove , and i nnocence
and joy· (1 .. 329) - which Fan cy paints to wean "the wea ry
soul trom guUt and woe;" (1 . 34.9 ). He l ea rns from. t he sage,
however . tmt
Edwi n is further i nf ormed t hat hi story and philosophy are
essenUal to curb "Imaginationl s lawless rage" {L, 4.00). The
poem i ndi ca t es the t endency at t his t ime to deal witb pastoral
t hemes outside the genr -e, I t s passages of gothic image ry with
its ecceeee pale n and "ghosts t hat t o t he cha rn el -dungeon
t hr ong" (11 . 260 -28 ) seem to indicate the new interest in this
type of l iteratur e . and certain descripti ve pas sages deali ng
with Beat tiels boyhood among the hills and vales eeee t o
f oreshadow Wordswo rth 's ~ .
George Crabbe (1751+-1832) i s yet another exampl e of a
poe t who r e j e ct s pastoral and deal s wit h rural life in a
r ealistic way in The vi llag e 42 (178 3 ). As the inscription at
the begi nning of t hi s chapter indicates, he critici zes seve re~y
those wr iters who in " t ender strain" reveal the "amoro us pains "
of ehepberde _ "The only pains, alas l t hey never fe el " . He
42 Geor ge Cr a bbe , Poetical Wor ks [ n.d.]. p, 17.

144
shar es Dr. John son I s view ot pas toral.4) The sord id realism
or Crabbe's poem 1& in st r i king contrast t o t he sentimentalized
picture of' the villag e a s pres ented by Goldsmith. Si n ce he is
f ully aware of the hardships of t he · poor l aborious natives.,
h e asks hims el f the quest ion :
Then shall I dare t hes e r eal 111s t o hide
In t i nsel t r appings of poetic pride?
(Book I , 11. 47- 48 )
To this be an swer s, nNo" :
As ~th will paint it, I ~~1:: ~ ~O;rll not:
Nor you, ye Poor. of letter' d s corn compl ain
To you t he smoot hest song 1::1 smoot h in vai n' I
O'ercome by labour, and bow'd down by t ime,'
Feel you t he barren n attery of a r hyme?
(Book I , 11 53-58)
Crabbe's 1s no pa st oral of t h e golden age . I n "wand ' ring l ong ,
amid t.he ee f rowning f ields" , he "sought t he s impl e life t hat
Natur e yields" , but found instead that
Rapi ne and \'/r ong and Fear usurp'd her pl ace J
And a bold, artful, su r ly, savage r -ace;
(Book I, U. 111 -1l2)
At t he end of Book II, Crabbe laments the death of Lord Robert
Manner a who was killed in battle i n April 178 2.
This is not
43 Boswell, 0 a cit ., p , 1202, sa ys of Crabbe' s The
V tP~ e t hat JOhn son~acrtaken the trouble not onl y to iU'ggest
s g t correct i ons and vari ations , but t o 1'urnish some lines ,
when h e thought be could gi ve the writer' s meaning better than
in the word s of t he manusc r ipt- a As an instance of t his,
Boswell quotes the six l ines beg inning - On Minclo' e ban ks • •• ­
(II. 15 -20) a s being Dr . Joh nso n 's with the exception of l ine
19. John son ' s comment on t his poem a s reported by Boswell has
already been ment io ned i n Chapter Three.

the conventioDal pas tor al lament, however . Manners 1s not
145
4 teigned l3bepberd j there 18 no pathetic fallac y, no as cending
of his soul to beaeen,
song· can heal t he gr ief -str i cken bosom:
Crabbe realizes t hat no "ch iming of a
~~;a ai~tlb~ ~~:nt~a~~eO~:e S~~~ng
Words aptly cull1d, and meaning well expre; s ld
Can calm t he so rrows of a wounded br east;
J
But Vi rtue , soo t her of t he fiercest pains,
Shall heW. t he boso m. '~~~dh:b!L ~~7 _~~~f s.
Cr abbe , then , se t out to shatter th e pastoral dre am wor l d. His
pict ure of the wretched c onditions of villag e life does much
t o shaf-tar t he illusion of }a stor al an d t o discredi t t he genre.
William Cowper (11 31 -1800) publ bhed his l ong poem
~,44 in six books , in 1785. He has entit led t he books
"The sera», lithe Time-piece", "The Ga rd en- , "The Wint er Evening" ,
"The Wint e r Morn i ng Walk" , an d "The Win t er Walk at Noon" . These
titles, howeve r , give little indicat i on of the theme of the
poem. The poem was writ.t.en at t he sugges tion of Lady Austen
t ha t h e attempt a poem i n blank verse. Upon Cowper 's protest
that h e had no eubjece, Lady Aus ten suggest ed that which became
t he s ubJb ';- of Book I _ The Sof a . However , as Cowper indi ca t es
a t the beginn i ng of Book III, in "de signing ot her t hemes" , h e
has "rambled wid e " (1. 14.). He frequently deals wi t h t he
pa stor al them e of the corrupt ci t y versus "the mild and geni al
44 William Cowper , Poetical Wor ks , ed , John Bruc e
(1865) , Vol . II, p , ) .

146
soil ot cultivat ed 11fe" in the country:
But though t rue worth and vi rtue , i n t he mild
And ge ni al 8011 of cultivated life
Thrive mos t , and may per haps t hrive only t her e
Yet no t in cities oft. : i n pro ud , and gay . '
And gain-devoted clU es . Thither flow
A5 t o a ccaecn and most noisome sewer , I
The dregs and f eculence of every land.
(1I1be Sof a" , 11 . 678- 684)
Allied t o the past or al t heme of a s impl e life close t o nature
as opposed t o the s ophisticated lif e of t he cit y 1s t he t heme
of na t ure ver-eu e art .
I n the f ol lowing pa ssage Cowper Dot
onl y st resses his preference of nature over art , but also
foreshadows the t reatment of nature t hat we find l ater in
\'lor d swor t h .
Art I s
imitative strokes can do no more
Than pl ease t he eye - Sweet Nature eve ry sense.
~~: ~ ~e~~~b ~~:;~~e h~ ~ ~~~t~e~l~:ies,
And music of he r woods - no wor k s of man
May r ival these; t hese all bespeak a power
Peculiar , an d exclus i ve l y her own.
( " The Sofa" , 11. 426-432 )
Tbe -ai r salubrious " , t he "cheer ing fragrance", and t he "music
of he r woods " whi ch "bespeak a power pec uliar " in nature a re
no t ye t t be "presence that disturbs • • • with t he joy/ of elevated
tbought" ,45 but t hes e descriptive phr as es do indicate a new
i nt er est in sight s and so unds of nature both for t heir own sake
and f or t heir a bili t y t o "Exhilarate t he s pi rit " (1 . 18 2) and
to "l ull t h e s pi rit while they f i ll t.he mind" (1. 187).
45 William Wordsworth , ll'Lin es Composed a Few Mil e s above
Tint ern Abbey", n , 94 -95.

For t.he most part Cowper gi ves exact descriptions in
his poem, 46 and the following passage gives a r ealistic
d es cr i ption of a pastor al s cen e in rural Engl a nd:
The Grove receives us next;
Betw een the upri ght shafts of wbose tall elms
We may discern t he thresher at his task .
Thump after t hump r es ounds the constant flail,
That s eems t o swi ng uncertain, and ye t f alls
Full on the destined ear . Wi de f lies t he chaf r ,
Th ~ rust ling straw se nds up a f requent mist
Of a toms , sparkling in the noonday beam.
COtlle hi ther, ye that press your beds of down
And sleep notj see him sweating o'er his bread
Before he eats i t . - ' Tis t he primal curs e ,
But. softened i nt o mercy ; made the pl edg e
Of cheerful days, and nights without a groan.
( "The Sofa" 11. 354- 366)
The threshe r , unlike the traditional shepherd , has t o swea t over
his bread before he eats i t . Cowper , lat e r i n t he poem, reje ct s
the notion of t he golden ag e:
Woul d I had fallen upon t hose happ i e r days
The poets celebrate j t ho se golden t imes
And t ho s e Arca dian s cenes t hat J.~ro sings ,
And Si dney , wa r bl er of poet i c prose •• • •
Vain wishl t bos e days wer e ne ver; airy dreams
Sat f or the pict.ure j and the poet 's ha nd,
Imparting substance to an empty shade,
Impo se d a ga1rr~~ ;ig~~ e ;o~:n~~;~ · 1l . 513 rr .)
Cowper , t hen , like Goldsm ith, Beatt ie , and Crabbe , rejects the
46 I n a l ett er t o William Unwin dated October 10 , 1784£
Cowper writes : "My de scripti ons a r e all from na t ur e: not one 0
t h em second-han ded. ).Iy de lineat ions of the hebrtkare fr~rn ~~
f:s~,:~:~c~~nj~~t~~l~: t ~:nb~~:ed~:s ~~ i:lo~rotThe e
Poetica l Wor ks of William Co er (1865', Vol. II , p , 1J ' i at ~~t s ,
a n a oot no t e , to t e accuracy of a descr ipt i ve passage n e
Sofa" , 11. 1 54 et ,

148
golden age concept and the conventions which have been
a t t.a ched to the pa stor al t r adition in poetry. Unlike Gold smith
and Crabbe, who continue to us e the heroic couplet i n the poems
cited , Cowper uses blank verse . Cowperls descriptions avoid
the poetie diction generally ueed f or objective detail an d give
the impreseloD of first-band obserratlon dep lct.ed in Simple,
direct language. His treatmen t of nature in this poem indicates
the changing attitude towards nature whi ch ha e been dis cus sed
i n t he introductory se ction of this cha pt e r . In his natural
de s cr i pt i ons be deals l es s f requently than Thomson with t he
harsher aspects of nature. t owering mouneains and storms, t or
example , and his preference i s rather fo r tame nature and
obje cts familiar to everyday Ufe . His emphasis also on t he
s oot hing eff ect whi ch nat ur e has on the mind and sp i rit of man
i s a further development i n the attitude t owards nature in
po et r y and l ooks f orward t o its treatment by Wor dsworth.
The poems whi ch have bee n ci ted abo ve, then, illustrate
t he dissatisfact ion among mor e serious writers with t he
conv entional past or al an d an unwillingne ss to use i t in s erious
poetry. The empirical s t rain , in poet ry whi ch deals with
matters that a re no rmal l y dealt with i n pas toral , opens t he
way for the unc onventional realistic pas tor al poem with an
Engli sh s et t ing such as i s f ound in i'l'ord sworth 1s "Micha el ".

149
Wi t h the end of the cent ury comes the publication of
Wordswortb 1 s "Michael ft4.7 (16 00). This poem is being discussed
here, not only because i t comes at the e nd of t he period und er
discus s i on, but also bec aus e it marks a distinct break away
f r om conve nt i onal pastoral. Yet it is truly a pas t oral poem.
Its theme 1s the pastoral t heme of t he corrupt ci ty life as
opposed to the i nno cent , virtuous life of t he sh epherd close
to neeure , In this poem Wordsworth dispenses wit h all t he
pa storal machinery and presents a narrative abo~ a CUlllber l and
s he pherd, Michael, whos e SOD, Luke, has to leave his native
"Green-head Ghyll" to se ek his fo rtune i n Londo n i n order t o
sa ve his father ' s f ields from passing "into a stranger 1s hand "
(1. 2,31). As somet 1.nles happens with young men who pursu e
f ortune in the big ei t y , Luke began
To 51acken in his duty; and , at length.
He in the dissolute city gave himself
To evil course s : i gnomin y an d shame
Fell on him. so that he wa s driven at l ast
To s eek a hidi ng-pl a c e beyo nd t he seas.
(11. 443-447 )
At t he same t ime t he she ep-fold whi ch Luke had begun at old
Micha el t s r e que st is s t i ll unfinished and remains s o at Micha el 's
d eath.
Wor dsworth pre s ents us not with t he tradi t i onal sh eph erd
of the go l den ag e but with t he t ype of s heph e rd with whom he was
familiar. Michael may be slight l y i dealized t hro ugh Wordsworth' s
47 Wi lli am Words worth , Poetical Wor ks . ed , T. Hut chinso n ,
r ev. E. De Selincourt {1960 }. p , 104.

150
eyes, yet he is part of Wordsworth's expe r ience. The importance
o! feeling 1s evident i n t hi s poem. 'lb e sent iments expr essed go
beneath the s urfaee of e'Yeryday l.i. -.1ng and t ou ch t he hea rt of
There is a comfort i n t he s t rengt h of l ove '
'Twill make a t hi ng endurable, which else'
Would ce e r -eee the brain, or br eak t he heart;
(11 . 448- .50)
Such s entiments rarely find expres 8i on in the eonventional
pas t or a l .
The wor ld pr es ent ed t here ill t oo re mot e trom everyday
experience for the r eader t o be a ble to e stablish identity with
t h e poem. In "Yd chael" i t is possibl e for t he r ead er to make
this identification.
Wordsworth, t ben, r estores to pas toral a dignity which
the genre, for a pe riod a t l east, had l ost . He makes i t once
again an a cceptable vehicle fo r poetic exp ression . His use of
blan k ve r se shows t h e compl ete release of the pas t or a l frOlD
t he domination ot the he roic coup let , and. his rejection ot
co nv entional machinery helps to eliminat e much t hat was held
contemptible in pa st or al . The time f or a revival ot traditional
pastoral, howeve r, had pas t . It had sutt ered too much at the
hands of the critics a nd sat i r i sts t o be accepted se r i ously in
the f uture.
In add ition to this , t he Romantic dislike fo r
poetic kinds wae detrimental to its future acceptance .
Poems
continue t o be written on pastoral them es , but t hey are, perhaps ,
better des c r i bed a s idylli c or l yric r at her than pastoral in
t he s en se t hat it has bee n defined i n thiS study . A f ew poets '~

151
write formal pas torals in the ninet eenth cent ury, but the
production is scant y . Poets in the twentieth century wri te
po ems in which the pastoral t heme is present but they generally
l a ck t he pa s t oral conven tions a s wel l as t he sheph erd s .

152
CHAPTER V : SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The woods of Aready are dead .
And over is t.heir a nt i que j oy;
Of old the wor ld on dreaming fed;
Grey t.rutb is now he r pa int ed toy • • •1
English poe t s have neve r been completely at ease wi t h
the t r aditional pa storal. They modified t he cla ssical pas t or a l
which they inherited through I taly and France t o suit t heir
own purposes. Theocritus had given realistic sketches of life,
e s pecially rural 11fe, i n t he Sicily of his da y . He has been
awa rded the title of the f atber of past or al poetry be cause of
t he many imitations of his IdYlls from Bion an d Moschus onwards .
As t he cent urie s pa s s ed t he conve ntions of pastoral gradua l ly
t oo k pr ec edenc e over the de piction of rural conditions - imita t i on
replaced observation . Fortunat el y f or English pa s t oral poetry t
t he nat i ve tradition with its empi rical st rain was well
e stablished by t he t ime Barcl ay and Googe introduc ed t he f oreign
pa s t ora l tradi t i on i nto English . The influen ce of t his empi rical
s t rain is evide nt in such poe ts as Spenser , Breton , Br owne , and
Drayton . Shakespear e , aware of t he complexity of human
experience , could not accept t he artificiality of the pa st or al
wor l d an d the c onv ent ions of past oral poe t ry , so he r i diculed
them i n As You Like It. In "Lycida s" , reality sh att er s t he
past o r a l dream wor ld. Other pas tor al wri ter s - Drayton, Herrick,
1 W.B. Yeats, "The Song of the Happy Shepherd" in
Crossway s (1889 ).

and MarTell, t or example - show a reluctance t o succumb to
153
the convent i ons of t he foreign pastoral t r adi t io n, and 1n some
of their pas torals they inject an element or realism that is
common in t he English pastoral at t his time. Pastor al is a
dynamic genre during the sixteenth and s event e enth cent uries
and all of t he major poets write past orals of one f orm or
another.
Toward. the end of t he se venteenth century t here is a
g r adual trend away from the empirica l element in pastoral a s
t he i nfluence of t he French Crit.ic8 makes i tself felt i n
England.
Pope . in particular, comes under the influen ce of
t he "rules" t heo ry of Rapin. Since Pope is t he majo r po et of
t he fir s t half of the eighteenth cent ury J his i nfluence on
writer s at this t ime is extensive and powerf ul. For t he f irst
time in t he history of English pa stor a l an attempt is made t o
r est.rict. the genre by forc1.ng it t o conform to a se t of r ule s .
The s i tuations dep i ct.ed i n the neoclassic past orals of Pope
a r e r emot e from reality.
s he pherd i n the mythical gol den ag e .
They depict. , inst ea d, the U f e of the
Consequently pastoral
po et.ry become s hi ghl y artificial and 1m1tative , si nce the
ancients (Vi rgil in particular) a r e he l d up as the onl y worthy
mod e15 fo r imitati on.
Natural l y t.here wer e t hos e whose r e a son an d common sens e
r ebelled against be ing subject ed to sucb authority.
Thes e writers
f elt t hat t o be erfective pa st or a l must ha ve an in digenous se tting
rat her than a setting in distant Arca di a. They conceded, however , ~
t hat s ordid reaUty migh t be glossed ove r and slightly i dealized

154
in pastor a l poet ry to suit t he delicate t as t e of the gent l eman
reader. They r ej e ct e d the she pherd of t he gol den age an d
Ar cadia, but they did not , however, have any parti cular int erest
in nature fo r its own s a ke . The cOWltry was l ooked upo n as a
pl ea s a nt bu t temporary ret reat f rom the bus t l e of city life.
The chief s pokesmen f or t he rationalist theory wer e Addison ,
Tickell, an d Furney , and t hey followed t he lead of Font en elle .
There were other writer s , howeve r , who held nothing but cont empt
f or the artificiality of pa stor a l . Swi f t was such a wri ter and
he lashed out at pas t or a l wi t h hi s own bu r l es que ve rs ions. Gay,
t oo , wrote burlesque past o r als an d t he tendenc y t o use pa st ora l
as a weapon ag a i ns t i t self sp r ead t hroughout the century. Dr .
Jo hn son held not hi ng but contempt fo r the insipi dity of
trad i tion al pasto r a l , and his critica l wri tings on t he genre
ope ne d t he way for a broa der trea t ment of pa st or al t hemes . The
t~:a r t on s . Langhorne , Tyt l e r , Aiki n , Bl a i r , and certain re vi ewers
of pastoral poetry, demande d a mor e r ealis t i c t r eatm ent of rustic
cond iti ons i n pastor al. They demand ed a de pi ction of r ur a l life
a s it a ct.ui&ll y wa s . with be ne vol ent sen t iment and exa ct des cr i ptions .
The y demand ed an e:npi r ical approach t o pa st ora l . The most ext re me
exa mple of this realisti c a pproach t o rural lif e is Crabbe 's
The Vi lla ge.
The r e i s an abunda nce of critical writing on pa s t or al
t hroughout the e i ghteent h ce ntury. During the lat ter half t he
main tendency i n these critical wr i t i ngs is to th ro w ot f t he
"rules" an d t o broaden the scope of the gen r e . The r e s ul t i s
t hat many wr iters within the genr e mak e a conscious effort to

155
a dd variety of subj e ct matter, cha r ac ter, s cen ery , and
versi fica'tion to pastoral poet ry . Thi s criticism of t h e
narrowness of pa storal an d , i n ad dit ion , the ef f ec t wroug ht by
tbe r i di cule of the gen re by those writers of bur l es que or
anti-pa s t orals , combi ne to br i ng about a rej ection of pastor al
by writers like Cr abbe , Gol dsmi th, a nd Cowper . The new atti t ude
t oward na ture in poe t ry, as exh i bited f or example in works like
Thomson' s Sea sons , i nfluenced wri t er s also. As a r esult wri t ers
like Beatt ie. Cr abb e . Gol dsmith, and Cowper , turn toward the
l onge r de s cr i ptive-refle ct i ve poems t o expr ess t hemes t hat had
n o rmally been dealt wit h in pastoral.
The English mind has always found i t self i ll a t ea se
when r estr ict e d by "rules" which hav e lit tle r el evan ce t o
r eality . It rebelled ag a i ns t the rule s which for a sho rt period
stifled past oral poe t ry and led t o the event ual decline of the
trad i t i onal pastoral as an a cceptable mod e of poetic ex pressi on .
The cu lmination of t hi s r eacti on comes i n \'iord sworth t s "Michae l".
The cy cle is now complete . Ju s t a s Theocr i t us ga ve , i n his
IdYll s, sketch es of rural lif e in the Si cily of his time , so
Wor ds w-or-ioh i n "Michaeltl gives a s ketch of r ural life i n the
Lake district of England i n his day . He r e i s a poee on a
pa s t o r a l t h eme in a pa stor al se t ting wi thout the machi nery and
con ven t ions, but wi th the t rue i dyllic sp i rit of the I dylls of
Theo crit us . Words worth ' s poem may have a more melancholy t one
than many of t he I dylls , but i t i s the sp i r i t and not the poems
of The oc r itus that Wordsworth i mi t at e s .
There are a few writ ers who cont i nue t o wri t e poems

156
usi ng the past or al f o rm during the ninet e en th century I bu t the
production i s smal l. J ohn Clare, f or example, writes his
She phe r d ' s Ca l enda r (18 27 ) , employing the calendar s er i es used
by Spens e r . Yet , his t reatment of subj ec t ma t t er i s quite
di f f er ent f ro m t hat found i n t r aditi onal pastorals . He treat s
of villag e Ufe in a realistic uay no t commonly found i n
traditional pa stor a l , an d his obse rv at ions of na t ure i n t h i s
po em reveal t he mi nd of a naturalist r a t her t ha n that of a
poe t imitating Theocritus an d Vi rgil. Shelley 's "Adonais ft
{l8 21} f ollows t he fo rm of t he tradi tional pastor a l el egy an d
is i nd ebt ed , to some extent, to Bio n's "Lament for Adonis" .
She lley I like Spens er a nd itil t on , use s the pastoral to c r iticize
s ev erely what he consider s inj ustices in soci et y . He l a she s out
a t the r evie wer s , "The herded wolves , bold onl y to purs ue " [1. 244 ) ,
who scattered "t hei r in sults a nd thei r slande rs wit hou t he ed,,2
upon Keats's "Endymion" . The poem fuse s much of Shelley ' s
t h ought: his hat r ed of e eva ewer -s, his contemplation of dea th
( " No more let Life divi de what Deat h can j oi n togethe r" - 1 . 477),
and his i dealism (liThe One remai ns, the many chan ge and pa ss" -
1 . 460) . Likewise , Arnold's "Thy rsis n (1866) fo llows the f orm
of t he pa storal elegy , and Thyr sis is t he po et - sh eph erd figu re.
The poemI s s et t.i ng a nd r ealis t i c de s cription of the countryside
aroun d Oxford , along wi t h its e xpression of qui et since r i t y ,
distinguish i t from many of the conve nt ional pastor al el egi e s
whi ch pr e c ed ed it. Both of t he se el egies - "Adonais " i n Shelley 's
2 P .B . She l ley , Select ed Poetry a n~ Prose , ed , Car l os
Ea ker (1 9 51), p . 290. Pr ef a ce t o "Adona l.s •

157
contemplati on or Deat h, and "Thyrsis" in Arnol d ' s collegiate
a s s o ciati on - owe s omething t o fla l t on ' s "Lyc idas" . In the
t went iet h century lit t le poet ry ha s be en written i n the
conventional pa stor al t radi t i on . Poems treati ng of rural life
or r et ireme nt gene r ally dispense with t he traditional she pherds
an d l ac k the conve nt i on s of pa st ora l . The Arcadian setting ,
also , ha s been replaced by a l ocal rural se t t ing familiar t o
t he poe t . Suc h poe t ry i s perhaps better designated by the t erms
l yric or i dylli c po et ry r at her t han pa stor al. The cri t ica l
a t t i t ud e t owards pastor al as a r e s ult of t he r i dicule cast upo n
i t duri ng the ei ghteenth century ha s made a major r evi val of t he
g en r e highly improbable.
Once when I wande re d in the woods al one ,
An oi d man t otter ed up t o llIe a nd sai d ,
"Come I fri end , an d s ee the grave t hat I have made
For Amarylli s". Ther e was i n t he t one
or his ccmplaint such quave r and su ch moan
~~t l;n:~~o~t rO~~i~Dlw~~o~ ~~ e:inds
had laid
An ancient woman , shru nk to ski n and bone .
~ ~ ~~i l~C~~ i~~d r~~:;e~ s ~o~~ ~h:rbold
~ie~~~~hs ~~:~~p ~~~~ ~c ~h~~~~l~ ~~~:rhad ,
I t made me l onely arid it made me sad
To t hi nk that Amaryllis had gro wn old.
(~~~ti~~~t~~ ~:i~i~t:r18

158
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C. l