Shepherd's Week, The

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 516 words | Copyright

Shepherd's Week, The, a series of six pastorals by J. Gay, published 1714.

They are eclogues in mock-classical style, five of them based more or less closely on Virgil, but presenting shepherds and milkmaids not of the golden age but of the poet's day, in their earthy simplicity. They were designed to parody those of A. Phillips. Gay portrays his rustic characters (Blouzelinda, Bowzybeus, Cloddipole, Grubbinol, etc.) at work as well as at play, and paints (in his own words) a ‘lively landscape’.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shepherd's Week, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shepherd's Week, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ShepherdsWeekThe.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shepherd's Week, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ShepherdsWeekThe.html

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