The Shepherd’s Week (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Gay
- First Published: 1714
- Type of Work: Mock pastoral
- Genres: Poetry, Pastoral, Eclogue
- Subjects: Rural or country life, England or English people, Farms, farmers, or farming, Eighteenth century, Sheep, Shepherds, Pastures
The Poem
The Shepherd’s Week is a series of six poems, each representing one of the days of the week; Sunday has been omitted, ostensibly for religious reasons. The title establishes these poems as pastorals, and they do derive from the pastoral tradition. Five of the six are based on the Eclogues of the Roman poet Vergil, dated between 43 and 37 b.c.e. (English translation, 1575), which in turn were influenced by the idylls of Greek poet Theocritus, written about 270 b.c.e. However, though Gay acknowledges his debt to his predecessors, The Shepherd’s...
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