Bucolics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Describing pastoral or rural poetry that evokes the beauty of the countryside
2. Characterizing works that capture simple, serene life, often among shepherds and nature
3. Referring to artistic expressions that celebrate rustic themes and the idyllic aspects of agricultural settings

Etymology: Ancient Greek poets had a neat trick for their pastoral verse: "boukolikos" meant "pertaining to cowherds," from "boukolos," a herdsman whose name came from "bous," cow, and a root related to tending. The word was first applied to the verses of shepherds and herdsmen, and the Greeks used it as a label for a particular kind of poetry about rural life, even naming a meter after it. The Romans borrowed the term as "bucolicus," and it entered English through Latin in the usual scholarly way. The plural "bucolics" is the form of the adjective "bucolic" used as a noun. It refers to the collection of poems in that tradition, which is how the sense of the word stretched from the cowherd himself to the idealised countryside he sang about.

Synonyms: pastoral, rural