The pastourelle (; also ''pastorelle'', ''pastorella'', or ''pastorita'' is a typically

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

lyric form concerning the romance of a shepherdess. In most of the early pastourelles, the poet knight meets a shepherdess who bests him in a battle of wit and who displays general coyness. The narrator usually has sexual relations, either consensual or

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

, with the shepherdess, and there is a departure or escape. Later developments moved toward

pastoral poetry A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depict ...

by having a shepherd and sometimes a love quarrel. The form originated with the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...

poets of the 12th century and particularly with the poet

Marcabru Marcabru (; fl. 1130–1150) is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two '' vidas'' attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems; ...

(

pastorela The ''pastorela'' (, "little/young shepherdess") was an Occitan lyric genre used by the troubadours. It gave rise to the Old French ''pastourelle The pastourelle (; also ''pastorelle'', ''pastorella'', or ''pastorita'' is a typically Old Fre ...

). This troubadour form melded with

goliard The goliards were a group of generally young clergy in Europe who wrote satirical Latin poetry in the 12th and 13th centuries of the Middle Ages. They were chiefly clerics who served at or had studied at the universities of France, Germany, ...

poetry and was practiced in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasse ...

until the ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

'' of ''c.'' 1230. In

Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wi ...

, the pastourelle influenced the '' serranilla'', and fifteenth century pastourelles exist in French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, English, and Welsh. One short Scots example is ''

Robene and Makyne "Robene and Makyne" is a short poem by the 15th-century Scottish makar Robert Henryson. It is an early example of Scottish '' pastourelle'' written in a form of ballad stanza and is almost unique of its kind. Very simple in structure and plot ...

''.

Adam de la Halle Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer '' trouvère''. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and progr ...

's ''Jeu de Robin et Marion'' (the game of Robin and Maid Marion) is a dramatization of a pastourelle, and as late as Edmund Spenser the pastourelle is referred to in book six of ''

Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

''. Child's ballads gives an example in ''

The Baffled Knight "The Baffled Knight" or "Blow Away the Morning Dew" () is a traditional ballad existing in numerous variants. The first-known version was published in Thomas Ravenscroft's ''Deuteromelia'' (1609) with a matching tune, making this one of the few ear ...

''.

Sources

*Paden, William D. "Pastourelle" in Alex Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan, eds., ''The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.'' Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993. p. 888.

References

Western medieval lyric forms French poetry French folklore {{France-stub it:Pastorella (componimento)