Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Idyl \I"dyl\, n. [L. idyllium, Gr. ?, fr. ? form; literally, a
   little form of image: cf. F. 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 eleveted 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. [Written also
   {idyll}.]

         Wordsworth's solemn-thoughted idyl.      --Mrs.
                                                  Browning.

         His [Goldsmith's] lovely idyl of the Vicar's home. --F.
                                                  Harrison.