Idyll

Idyll (Gr. eidullion, Lat. idyllium, 'a little image'), a term generally used to designate a species of poem representing the simple scenes of pastoral life. It is, however, an error to suppose that the idyll is exclusively pastoral; certainly there is no warrant for such a notion in the usage either of the ancients or the moderns. Of the thirty Eidyllia of Theocritus not more than one- half are pastoral in their character. After the use made of the word by Tennyson in his Idylls of the King, which are epic in their style and treatment, and romantic and tragic in their incidents, it becomes very difficult to say what may not be called an idyll.