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idyll

 
Dictionary: i·dyll  i·dyl (īd'l) pronunciation
also n.
    1. A short poem or prose piece depicting a rural or pastoral scene, usually in idealized terms.
    2. A narrative poem treating an epic or romantic theme.
  1. A scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature.
    1. A carefree episode or experience: a summer idyll on the coast of France.
    2. A romantic interlude.

[Latin īdyllium, from Greek eidullion, diminutive of eidos, form, figure.]


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In literature, a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and contentment. Idylls have taken varying forms, from the eclogue to the long narrative poem treating an epic, romantic, or tragic theme (such as Alfred Tennyson's "Idylls of the King").

For more information on idyll, visit Britannica.com.

Antonyms: idyll
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n

Definition: perfect time, paradise
Antonyms: hell on earth


idyll or idyl [id‐il], a short poem describing an incident of country life in terms of idealized innocence and contentment; or any such episode in a poem or prose work. The term is virtually synonymous with pastoral poem, as in Theocritus' Idylls (3rd century BCE). The title of Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1842–85), a sequence of Arthurian romances, bears little relation to the usual meaning. Browning in Dramatic Idyls (1879–80) uses the term in another sense, as a short self‐contained poem.

Adjective: idyllic.

See also bucolic poetry, eclogue.

idyll (apparently from the Greek eidyllion, ‘little form’), the name given in Roman times to the poems of Theocritus, which describe some episode or scene from idealized rural life. Hence ‘idyllic’ is used to describe an idealized state or scene of tranquil happiness, particularly of a pastoral nature.

 
idyl (ī'dəl), short poem. The ancient idyls, especially those of Bion and Moschus, were intended as little selections in the style of such longer poems as elegies or epics. There are 10 famous idyls by the Greek Theocritus, and, since some of them dealt with pastoral or rural scenes, the term idyl came to be restricted to gently flowing, artistic pieces on rural subjects. In the 19th cent., Alfred Tennyson in his Idylls of the King used the term rather in its looser original sense than in the later restricted pastoral meaning. For idyls in their bucolic sense, see pastoral.


Poetry Glossary: Idyll or Idyl
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A pastoral poem, usually brief, stressing the picturesque aspects of country life, or a longer narrative poem generally descriptive of pastoral scenes and written in a highly finished style.

Wikipedia: Idyll
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An idyll or idyl (pronounced /ˈaɪdəl/ or /ˈɪdəl/) (from Greek eidyllion, little picture) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls. Later imitators included the Roman poets Virgil and Catullus, Italian poet Leopardi, and the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

An idyll can also be a kind of painting, usually representing a pastor and his animals in a rural setting. They are depicted in a natural way, with the three components - man, animal and the environment - in a harmonious unity, preventing the picture from being either a landscape, or a genre, or just an image of an animal. Nature in this combination is presented in an unsophisticated, realistic fashion.

The subjects of such pictures are usually simple people living in uncivilised conditions, featuring naïvety in their thinking and yet leading a happy and cheerful life. The approach to the presentation is not humorous, but emotional, sometimes sentimental.

Examples:

See also


Translations: Idyll
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - idyl, hyrdedigt

Nederlands (Dutch)
idylle

Français (French)
n. - idylle

Deutsch (German)
n. - Idyll

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (προσωδ., μτφ.) ειδύλλιο

Italiano (Italian)
idillio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - idílio (m)

Русский (Russian)
идиллия, пастораль

Español (Spanish)
n. - idilio

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - idyll

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
田园诗, 牧歌

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 田園詩, 牧歌

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 전원시 , 전원문학

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 田園詩, 牧歌, ロマンチックな物語, 田園風景

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أنشودة رعويه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תמונה או תקופה מאושרות, אידיליה, סיפור על רקע של שלווה, בעיקר סיפור אהבה, תיאור קצר של נוף ציורי, בעיקר כפרי‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
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