Research 1

Ammar Ibrahim
12c

February 01, 2021

Pastoral poem

What is a pastoral poem?

- A pastoral poem explores the illusion of eliminating from modern life to live in an
idyllic rural life and settings, all pastoral poems are inspired by the Greek poet
Theocritus, who wrote romanticized visions of shepherds living rich and fulfilled
life. The form and structure of the poem don’t matter that much however what
characterizes a pastoral poem is the idealistic rural life.

What are the origins of pastoral poems?

- It began when the Greek poet Theocritus wrote about rural life in the countryside.
It was later imitated by another poet called Virgil but in Latin language. He wrote
fictional poems with the settings of arcadia which is a region of Greece but in
literature where most of the pastoral poems are set. He was famous for showing
the difference between urban and rural life in his poems. Pastoral poetry was
renewed during the Renaissance, where it first made its way from Latin into
Italian, Spanish, French, and English. An early pastoral work in the English
language was Edmund Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender (1579).

What Is the Purpose of a Pastoral Poem?

- the defining theme of pastoral poems is the idea of an idealized vision of country life,
where humans live in harmony with nature.
 - Other themes that are commonly used: A beautiful, natural setting, A religious
allegory, Focus on imagined life in the country, rather than reality, The working belief
that country life is superior to urban life,

What are the subgenres of pastoral poems?

- The country house poem, a poem in which the author compliments a wealthy patron
or a friend through a description of his country house.
- The pastoral elegy, a poem about both death and idyllic rural life. It Often features
shepherds.
- Pastoral romance
- Pastoral drama

Examples

- One famous example of pastoral poetry is Christopher Marlowe's poem, The Passionate
Shepherd to His Love.

Sonnets

What is a sonnet?

- A sonnet is a type of poem that is consisted of 14 lines, which can be broken

down into four sections called quatrains or following a strict rhyme scheme,
Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line
made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables. The word sonnet
means little song
What are the origins of the sonnets?

- The first sonnet was written by the Italian poet Giacomo da Lentino, 200 years
later it went to England In the mid-1500s Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and
Thomas Campion translated Petrarch into English for the first time. Surrey is
credited with creating the now Standard English form of the sonnet although that
form is more closely associated with Shakespeare, who perfected it.

Why are poets important or what do they revolve around?

- In Italy Sonnets talked about unattainable love and the pain that it can bring,
English poets such as Shakespeare followed this example during his time
discussing the difficulties of life (sonnet 18,29)

Examples

- Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto
in 1609 However, there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and

included in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost.

We saw the characteristics of Shakespeare sonnets in the 2 sonnets we

studied at school for example in sonnet 29 after he started the sonnet by
cussing his fate and crying for his state in the couplet of the sonnet he
remembered his beloved one and knew that his life has worth as there is
some one who cares for him which shows the strong theme of love