Lyric and Pastoral Poetry

Unlike the ballad, some poetic forms do not have a specific rhyme scheme or rhythm. Although most poems will still have a set rhyme scheme or rhythm unless they are free verse poems, they are not required to appear in a certain format. Pastoral and Lyric poetry are broad categories of poetry that do not require a specific structure - they only require some kind of set rhyme scheme and rhythm that the author chooses and certain content. Many love songs that you listen to on the radio can fall under the category of lyric poetry. View the basic requirements for a poem to fall into the category of either lyric or pastoral:

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Lyric Characteristics
- Deeply emotional
- No real plot
- Often uses 1st person
- Themes of love, mortality, and loss of youth
- Maintains stanza form
- Maintains a rhyme scheme
Pastoral Characteristics
- Presents an idealized vision of country life
- Themes of purity and the country with corruption of the city
- Maintains stanza form
- Maintains a rhyme scheme

View the video below to learn more about lyric and pastoral poetry.

Lyric and Pastoral Poetry Self-Assessment

After learning more about the lyric and pastoral poetry, practice your comprehension here:

Reading Lyric and Pastoral Poetry

Now that you understand how to analyze poetry and you know the characteristics of lyric and pastoral poetry, download the poems and use the TPCASTT method of analysis to break down the deeper meanings of the poems.

On your own paper, practice the TPCASTT method to analyze each of the sonnets in this lesson in order to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying meanings and themes.
When reading poetry, remember that you want to understand the various figurative language elements in order to understand the deeper meaning of the poem and determine the theme, or main idea, of the poem.

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