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
id·yll idylls in AM, also use idyl If you describe a situation as an idyll, you mean that it is idyllic. She finds that the sleepy town she moves to isn't the rural idyll she imagined. a place or experience in which everything is peaceful and everyone is perfectly happy (idyllium, from eidyllion, from eidos ). or idyl In literature, a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and contentment. Idylls have taken varying forms, from the eclogue to the long narrative poem treating an epic, romantic, or tragic theme (such as Alfred Tennyson's "Idylls of the King")
either a pastoral poem about shepherds or an epyllion, a brief epic that depicts a heroic episode An example of the second is Alfred lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King "
A pastoral poem, usually brief, stressing the picturesque aspects of country life, or a longer narrative poem generally descriptive of pastoral scenes and written in a highly finished style, such as Milton's "L'Allegro " Sidelight: Idyll is the anglicized version of the Greek Eidillion Probably because the adjectival form of the word, idyllic is conventionally applied to a mood of tranquillity, innocence, and ideal virtues, the term is applied to poetry with wide latitude, as in Tennyson's Idylls of the King (See also Arcadia, Bucolic, Eclogue, Madrigal)