Page "Pastoral" Paragraph 3

Pastoral is a mode of literature in which the author employs various techniques to place the complex life into a simple one.

Paul Alpers distinguishes pastoral as a mode rather than a genre, and he bases this distinction on the recurring attitude of power ; that is to say that pastoral literature holds a humble perspective toward nature.

Thus, pastoral as a mode occurs in many types of literature ( poetry, drama, etc.

) as well as genres ( most notably the pastoral elegy ).