Hypertext Webster Gateway: "idyll"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Idyl \I"dyl\, n. [L. idyllium, Gr. ?, fr. ? form; literally, a
little form of image: cf. F. idylle. See {Idol}.]
A short poem; properly, a short pastoral poem; as, the idyls
of Theocritus; also, any poem, especially a narrative or
descriptive poem, written in an eleveted and highly finished
style; also, by extension, any artless and easily flowing
description, either in poetry or prose, of simple, rustic
life, of pastoral scenes, and the like. [Written also
{idyll}.]
Wordsworth's solemn-thoughted idyl. --Mrs.
Browning.
His [Goldsmith's] lovely idyl of the Vicar's home. --F.
Harrison.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
idyll
n 1: an episode of such pastoral or romantic charm as to qualify
as the subject of a poetic idyll
2: a musical composition that evokes rural life [syn: {pastorale},
{pastoral}]
3: a short descriptive poem of rural or pastoral life [syn: {eclogue},
{bucolic}]
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