1. [n]  a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds)
2. [n]  a letter from a pastor to the congregation
3. [n]  a musical composition that evokes rural life
4. [adj]  suggestive of an idyll; charmingly simple and serene; "his idyllic life in Tahiti"; "the pastoral legends of America's Golden Age"
5. [adj]  used of idealized country life; "a country life of arcadian contentment"; "a pleasant bucolic scene"; "charming in its pastoral setting"; "rustic tranquility"
6. [adj]  of or relating to a pastor; "pastoral work"; "a pastoral letter"
7. [adj]  relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle; "pastoral seminomadic people"; "pastoral land"; "a pastoral economy"

Pastoral
This fourth collection by poet Phillips continues to display a mixture of plain and intimate speech that gives rise to spiritual and erotic meditations.

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1. \Pas"tor*al\, a. [L. pastoralis: cf. F. pastoral. See
   {Pastor}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to shepherds; hence, relating to rural
      life and scenes; as, a pastoral life.
   2. Relating to the care of souls, or to the pastor of a
      church; as, pastoral duties; a pastoral letter.
   {Pastoral staff} (Eccl.), a staff, usually of the form of a
      shepherd's crook, borne as an official emblem by a bishop,
      abbot, abbess, or other prelate privileged to carry it.
      See {Crook}, and {Crosier}.
   {Pastoral Theology}, that part of theology which treats of
      the duties of pastors.
   

2. \Pas"tor*al\, n.
   1. A poem describing the life and manners of shepherds; a
      poem in which the speakers assume the character of
      shepherds; an idyl; a bucolic.
            A pastoral is a poem in which any action or passion
            is represented by its effects on a country life.
                                                  --Rambler.
   2. (Mus.) A cantata relating to rural life; a composition for
      instruments characterized by simplicity and sweetness; a
      lyrical composition the subject of which is taken from
      rural life. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).
   3. (Eccl.) A letter of a pastor to his charge; specifically,
      a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese; also (Prot.
      Epis. Ch.), a letter of the House of Bishops, to be read
      in each parish.