eclogue

American  

[ek-lawg, -log] / ˈɛk lɔg, -lɒg /

noun

1. a pastoral poem, often in dialogue form.

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eclogue British  

/ ˈɛklɒɡ /

noun

1. a pastoral or idyllic poem, usually in the form of a conversation or soliloquy

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Etymology

Origin of eclogue

1400–50; late Middle English eclog < Latin ecloga < Greek eklogḗ selection, akin to eklégein to select; ec-

Explanation

An eclogue is a short, dramatic poem that's set in the countryside. If the poem you're reading includes a conversation between shepherds, it's probably an eclogue. There are other types of poetry that focus on idealized rural life, including bucolics and idylls. While these terms are often used interchangeably, an eclogue is distinguished by its dramatic form, the likelihood that it includes a shepherd's monologue (or a dialogue between two of them), and usually some reference to the delightful simplicity of the country compared with the complexities of urban society and politics. The Greek root, ekloge, means "a selection of poems."

Example Sentences

This modern eclogue described a chance meeting of four paper-thin characters in a Third Avenue bar; its moral was ex-radical Auden's glowing belief that worldly goods must be rejected.

From Time Magazine Archive

He is now working on "an eclogue in a Third Avenue bar", tentatively titled The Age of Anxiety.

From Time Magazine Archive

They have evolved through the last decade a vast pageant of heroic drama and gentle eclogue, of delectable gaiety and dispirited lust, of mordant wit, glittering intellect, grey despair, apocalyptic spectacle and somber religious depth.

From Time Magazine Archive

To Live in Peace records, in a high-keyed eclogue, one villager's confrontation of History.

From Time Magazine Archive

In “Colin Clout’s come home again,” Spenser speaks of Fraunce as Corydon, on account of his translations of Virgil’s second eclogue.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 1 "Franciscans" to "French Language" by Various