| Pastoral | 1755 |
| A Dictionary of the English Language: in which the Words are deduced from their Originals, and illustrated in their different Significations by Examples from the best Writers. |
PA'STORAL. n. s. A poem in which any action or passion is represented by its effects upon a country life; or according to the common practice in which speakers take upon them the character of shepherds; an idyl; a bucolick. Pastoral is an imitation of the action of a shepherd, the form of this imitation is dramatick or narrative, or mixed of both, the fable simple, the manners not too polite nor too rustick. Pope. The best actors in the world, for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral. Shakesp. Hamlet. There ought to be the same difference between pastorals and elegies, as between the country and the court; the latter should be smooth, clean, tender, and passionate: the thoughts may be bold, more gay, and more elevated than in pastoral. Walsh. |