MADRIGAL, a short amorous poem, composed of a number of free and unequal verses, neither conjoined to the regularity of a sonnet, nor to the point of an epigram; but only consisting of some tender and delicate thought, expressed with a beautiful, noble, and elegant simplicity.
Ménage derives the word from mandra, which in Latin and Greek, signifies "a sheep-fold;" imagining
* Bourgoanne's Travels in Spain, 1785.
Madura
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Mæcenas.
it to have been originally a kind of pastoral or shepherd's song; whence the Italians formed their madrigale, and we madrigal. Others rather choose to derive it from the word madragar, which in the Spanish language signifies "to rise in the morning;" the madrigales being formerly sung early in the morning by those who had a mind to serenade their mistresses.