Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Idyl

Idyl , noun

[Latin idyllium, Greek {not transcribed}, from {not transcribed} form; literally, a little form of image: compare French idylle. See Idol.]

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 elevated 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.
Wordsworth's solemn-thoughted idyl. — Mrs. Browning
His [Goldsmith's] lovely idyl of the Vicar's home. — F. Harrison