Eclogue facts for kids

An eclogue is a special kind of poem that usually talks about country life and nature. These poems often feature shepherds chatting or singing in a peaceful countryside setting. Sometimes, eclogues are also called bucolics.

What is an Eclogue?

The word eclogue comes from an old Greek word, eklogē, which meant 'a selection' or 'a literary piece'. People started using this term for short writings, especially poems.

Long ago, a famous Roman poet named Virgil wrote a collection of poems called Bucolica. People started calling the individual poems in his collection eclogae. Because Virgil was so important, the word eclogue became the accepted name for this type of poetry, especially those about country life. Other Roman poets like Calpurnius and Nemesianus also wrote eclogues, often trying to be like Virgil.

Eclogues Change Over Time

Over the years, poets started to play with the idea of eclogues.

Fishermen and Sea Creatures

In 1526, an Italian poet named Jacopo Sannazaro wrote Eclogae Piscatoriae. Instead of shepherds, his poems featured fishermen from the Bay of Naples. Later, English poets like Phineas Fletcher and William Diaper wrote similar poems, with characters like sea-gods and sea-nymphs.

City Life and Humor

By the 1700s, some poets wanted to make eclogues fresh and funny. John Gay wrote The Shepherd's Week, which made fun of other eclogues. Poets also started writing "town eclogues," which moved the focus from the countryside to city life. Jonathan Swift, John Gay, and Mary Wortley Montagu all wrote these city-focused poems.

Eclogues from Around the World

The eclogue form also traveled to different places:

• In Scotland, Allan Ramsay wrote eclogues in the Scots dialect in 1723.
• William Collins wrote Persian Eclogues in 1742, setting his poems in exotic lands.
• Thomas Chatterton wrote African Eclogues in 1770.
• Later, Spanish Eclogues appeared in 1811, talking about the Peninsular War.
• An "Irish Eclogue" called Darby and Teague was a funny story about a royal visit to Dublin.

Modern Eclogues

The first English eclogues were written by Alexander Barclay in 1514. Many famous poets have written eclogues:

• Edmund Spenser's The Shepheardes Calendar (1579) has twelve eclogues, one for each month.
• Alexander Pope wrote four eclogues, one for each season.
• The Spanish poet Garcilaso de la Vega also wrote in Virgil's style.
• In French, Pierre de Ronsard and Clément Marot wrote eclogues.
• Later, poets like W. H. Auden, Miklós Radnóti, and Seamus Heaney wrote modern eclogues.
• Louis MacNeice was a very active modern poet who wrote many eclogues.

Eclogues in Music

The term "eclogue" is also used for music that sounds like it's about country life.

• The Czech composer Václav Tomášek wrote some of the first important piano pieces called eclogues.
• Many other composers, including Franz Liszt, Antonín Dvořák, and Jean Sibelius, have used the title "Eclogue" for their musical works.
• Claude Debussy's famous "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" was based on an eclogue poem.
• Igor Stravinsky used the title "Eclogue" for parts of his Duo Concertant and Ode.
• A piece for horn and strings by Maurice Blower from the 1950s is also called 'Eclogue'.
• More recently, American composer Justin Rubin wrote a piece for violin and piano called 'Egloga' in 2006.

See also

In Spanish: Égloga para niños