Being a newcomer here I am a little diffident of speech but I would observe
that the use of the term 'pastoral' is somewhat problematic with respect to
contemporary writing, the term has perhaps been extended beyond the
boundaries of its meaning. I think here of the use of the term 'Cambridge
Pastoralists' to cover poets as diverse as John Wilkinson, Peter Riley, Mike
Haslam and (even) Jeremy Prynne. The mental association of. say, Wilkinson
with frolicking nymphs and tuneful shepherds is somewhat disjunct.
JN
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