What is an ÉGLOGA: characteristics and examples

Poetry is a very vast world, since it is a form of writing that has existed for many centuries. Within this genre, there is a type of poems that have been able to capture the essence of nature and the expression of human feelings in a unique way. We are talking about the eclogue, a poetic form that has left a very marked mark on the Western tradition.

From a PROFESOR, we want you to get to know this genre of poetry that seduces readers and poets with its deep exploration of the duality of the human being. Therefore, we are going to explain what is an eclogue, its characteristics and examples so you can see it much clearer. Let's go there!

an eclogue is a kind of lyrical composition brief of bucolic genre, which has a large musical component. Generally, it presents in the form of a dialogue or monologue, as if it were a small one-act play. The subject it deals with is, for the most part, of a loving nature and is based on a very rural and pastoral vision of life.

CAREFUL! Not to be confused with the pastoral literature of the European Middle Ages.

The stories that are told they are shortThat is why only one act is needed, since no changes of any kind are made and no space is needed for the spectator to think.

Through the conversation of the characters (which are usually two or three, maximum) a story is created in itself and the structure has a introduction, middle and endbut always in the same act.

Music has a great role in the eclogue because it is the one that sets the guidelines and times of each dialogue. Plus, it helps make the stories funny, dramatic, or terrifying, depending on the tunes the musicians play.

The first known eclogue was written by theocritus, a Greek poet, in the 4th century B.C. c. Later, this subgenre was used by some poets and, centuries later, in the Renaissance this writing was recovered to make great compositions again. We explain the characteristics of the eclogue so you can see how the authors of this genre wrote:

rhetorical figures are used

The rhetorical figures They are used to contribute to the aesthetics of the text, so that the reader receives the character or event referred to in a different way, without comparing it with reality. The literary resources that are most used in eclogues are oxymoron, hyperbaton, hyperbole, prosopopoeia and enjambment.

Characters

The characters are peasants or shepherds that express their state of mind in relation to the love themes that they live. These characters can be real people who have existed throughout history, or they can be entirely made up.

Structure

The eclogues are usually composed by 30 verses, which in turn are composed of 14 verses each. The verses of each of the stanzas can be hendecasyllabic (11 syllables) or seven syllables (7 syllables) and usually have a rhyme throughout the work.

bucolic themes

The central theme is always love and the stories take place in natural places where the characters feel free to express their emotions and feelings.

There are narrative parts

The genre of the eclogue is primarily poetry, but sometimes love stories are told. Most eclogues begin with a presentation of the characters in prose form and then they relate and reflect on love in the form of poetry. When the characters say goodbye, the author makes a conclusion about the central theme, again in the form of a narration.

Space

Space is described using the locus amoenus.It is a literary topic in which the authors present the countryside and natural landscapes as idealized spaces, paradisiacal and completely calm and free of problems.

let's get you some fragments of eclogues, so you can see the loving component that they give off and the way in which they are written. If you like any of them, don't hesitate to look for the full text and read it calmly, they are so short that you will finish your reading in an afternoon!

fragment of Idyll IV. The pastors of Theocritus (310 B.C. C – 260 B.C. C.)

(...) Bat.

Corydon, tell me, whose are the cows?

Are they from Philondas?

Corydon.

No, from Egon, that now

For feeding them he has given them to me.

bath.

And where in hiding the milking

Everyone in the afternoon?

Corydon.

calves

The old man puts them on, and he keeps me well.

bath.

And the absent boyero, where has he gone?

Corydon.

Haven't you heard? she took it with her

Milton towards the Alphaeus. (…)

fragment of Idyll VI of Mosco of Syracuse (lived in the 2nd century B.C. C)

(...) She loved the neighbor Eco Pan;

And Echo wanted a jumping satyr,

And the Satyr for Lida went crazy;

How much Echo to Pan, the Satyr embraced

To Echo, and Lydia to Satyr lit;

Love like this to the miserable lost,

And when one disdained the other,

So much was of her despised lover,

Of hateful ingratitude just punishment,

Sweet revenge on the sad lover,

I of the mob in love, friend,

What lovers must there be if there is beauty,

I give you this copy, and at the end I tell you:

Love, lovers, with equal tenderness. (...)

fragment of first eclogue by Garcilaso de la Vega (1491-1536)

(…) salicio

Or harder than marble to my complaints,

and to the lit fire in which I burn

colder than snow, Galatea!

I am dying, and even life I fear;

I fear her with reason, since you leave me;

that there is no, without you, living for what it is.

Shame I have to see me

none in such a state,

of you helpless;

and from myself I run now.

Do you disdain for a soul to be a lady,

where you always lived, unable

della go out for an hour?

Go out without duel, tears, running. (…)

We hope this lesson has helped you understand a little better What is the eclogue and what are its characteristics. If you have been wanting to know more about the different poetic texts that exist, do not hesitate to take a look at our section on literary genres.