In traditional English poetry, it is often a melancholy poem that laments the
dead but ends in consolation. Pastoral A work (in this case poetry) dealing with the life of shepherds or with a simple, rural existence. It usually idealized shepherds' lives in order to create an image of peaceful and uncorrupted existence. Pastoral describes the simplicity, charm, and serenity attributed to country life, or any literary convention that places kindly, rural people in naturecentered activities.