Pastoral Poetry & Pastoral Drama / A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration Stage in England

The work offers a concise literary inquiry into pastoral as a form, tracing its classical bucolic roots through medieval and Renaissance eclogues and national traditions in Italy, Spain, France, and England. It examines Italian pastoral poetry and drama — including the influence of Tasso and Guarini — then follows English pastoral verse from early examples through Spenser and Milton, and analyzes the stage: origins, significant plays, and the English pastoral drama up to the Restoration. Chapters survey mythological and masque material, editorial method, and bibliography, and conclude with a discussion of pastoral theory and its aesthetic consequences.