Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Pastoral poetry
(2,914 words)

1. Definition

Pastoral poetry, a poetic form that appears in various literary genres, features shepherds and shepherdesses (Herdsman) as its protagonists and is characterized by a repertoire of pastoral motifs that was already consolidated in Greco-Roman antiquity and remained strikingly unchanged until the 18th century. The main reason for the enormous success of pastoral poetry, which acquired its early modern contours in the Italian Renaissance before being intensively pursused in virt…

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Tschopp, Silvia Serena, “Pastoral poetry”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 07 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_026990>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200721



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