THE EVOLUTION OF ALLEGORY IN THE PASTORAL ... - Repositories

CHAPTER III
THE ALLEGORICAL ECLOGUE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES
AND THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
After Virgil until the dawn of Humanism, the classical
tradition of pastoral found representation in only a
few scattered efforts, but during this period the firsthand
knowledge of the Bucolics never diminished.
The precedent
furnished in Virgil's fourth eclogue provided the
inspiration for the court-pastorals of Virgil's most immediate
disciples, two post-Augustan poets, Calpurnius
in the first century and Nemesianus in the third century.
Each of these court poets wrote a panegyric in praise of
his ruling emperor; Calpurnius honors Nero, and Nemesianus
praises Carus.
Although Calpurnius' verse flows smoothly and his
diction is correct, he displays no overt effort for originality
in his seven eclogues.
A degree of recognition,
however, must be reserved for him, since he effected the
first direct comparison of the town and the country to
come out in favor of the country.
"The ancient writers of
Greece, when dealing with the contrast between town and
country, never turned it to the advantage of the latter";
nor did Virgil leave the impression that he preferred the
country to the city, although he did relate to the pastoral
state of mind.
30