Genre
Pastoral
From Latin pastor: shepherd. Originating with Theocritus and Virgil; the Elizabethan pastoral (Sidney's Arcadia) was both a social ideal and political allegory.
Definition
A literary mode celebrating idealised rural life, typically featuring shepherds, and contrasting innocent nature with corrupt urban life.
Example
Marlowe's 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love'; Raleigh's witty reply; Milton's 'Lycidas'.