A meadow is a relatively open area of grassland, commonly managed through grazing or seasonal mowing rather than intensive ploughing. Its flowers, insects, birds, light, and moving grasses make it one of the richest settings in pastoral poetry. Meadows often symbolise peace, fertility, freedom, courtship, childhood, or an ideal harmony between people and nature. Yet they are working landscapes as well as beautiful ones, and poems may acknowledge the labour of haymaking, the threat of enclosure, or the loss of species-rich grassland.

A meadow is grassland usually maintained by grazing or mowing rather than regular ploughing. It may contain wild flowers and support rich insect and bird life, although it remains a managed agricultural landscape. Pastoral poetry often idealises meadows as places of beauty, courtship, childhood, or peace. Students should distinguish meadow from pasture and hayfield according to use. Related terms include grassland, hayfield, pasture, wild flowers, grazing, mowing, flood meadow, and lea.