IDYL

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) A short pastoral poem. The Greek word is derived from ti , form, or visible object; and hence the object, or, at least, the nece ary accompaniment of this speeies of poem, has been said to be a vivid and simple representation of ordinary objects in pastoral nature. But in common usage the signification of this word is hardly different from that of eclogue. The poems of Theocritus are termed Idyls, those of Virgil Eclogues; but it would be difficult to a ign a distinction between the two, except what arises from the greater simplicity of language and thought which characterizes the former. Many critics, however, aver that the eclogue requires something of epic or dramatic action; the idyl only picturesque representation, sentiment, or narrative. (See Ec- •.oouc, Bucoli -..) In English poetry, among this cla may [s. 603]