Online Encyclopedia

style and parallel references, it is now generally accepted that the poems are all by the same author. The MS., which is quaintly illustrated, belongs to the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and appears to be but little later than the date of See also:

composition; no See also:

LINE

line of Pearl or of the other poems is elsewhere to be found. Pearl is a poet's lament for the loss of a girl-See also:

child, " who lived not upon See also:

earth two years "—the poet is evidently the child's See also:

FATHER

father. In grief he visits the little See also:

GRAVE

grave, and there in a See also:

VISION (from Lat. videre, to see), or SIGHT

vision beholds his Pearl, now transfigured as a See also:

queen of See also:

HEAVEN (0. Eng. hefen, heofon, heofone; this word appears in O.S. hevan; the High. Ger. word appears in Ger. Himmel, Dutch hemel; there does not seem to be any connexion between the two words, and the ultimate derivation of the word is unknown; the sugges

heaven—he See also:

SEES

sees her beneath " a crystal See also:

rock," beyond a stream; the dreamer would See also:

FAIN, AGATHON JEAN FRANCOIS (1778–1837)

fain See also:

CROSS

cross over, but cannot. From the opposite See also:

BANK

bank Pearl, grown in See also:

WISDOM, BOOK OF, or WISDOM OF SOLOMON (Sept. Io4ia IaXwµwvos; Lat. Vulg. Liber sapientiae)

wisdom as in stature, instructs him in lessons of faith and resignation, expounds to him the See also:

MYSTERY (Gr. µw(Trilpcov, from tcuvrm, an initiate, µfew, to shut the mouth)

mystery of her transfiguration, and leads him to a glimpse of the New See also:

Jerusalem. Suddenly the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city is filled with glorious maidens, who in See also:

long procession glide towards the See also:

THRONE

throne, all of them clad in See also:

white, pearl-bedecked See also:

ROBES (Fr. robe, Late Lat. roba, raupa, meaning (1)

robes as Pearl herself. And there he sees, too, " his little queen." A See also:

GREAT

great love-longing possesses him to be by her. He must needs plunge into the stream that keeps him from her. In the very effort the dreamer awakes, to find himself resting upon the little See also:

MOUND

mound where his Pearl had " strayed below ": " I roused me, and See also:

fell in great dismay, And, sighing, to myself I said : Now all be to that See also:

Prince's See also:

PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure." The poem consists of one See also:

HUNDRED

hundred and one stanzas, each of twelve lines, with four accents, rhymed ab, ab, ab, ab, bc, bc; the versification combines See also:

RHYME

rhyme with See also:

ALLITERATION (from Lat. ad, to, and littera, letter)

alliteration; trisyllabic effects add to the easy See also:

MOVEMENT

movement and lyrical See also:

CHARM (through the Fr. from the Lat. carmen, a song)

charm of the lines. Five stanzas (in one See also:

case six), with the same refrain, constitute a See also:

section, of which accordingly there are twenty in all, the whole sequence being linked together by the See also:

DEVICE

device of making the first line of each See also:

STANZA (Low Lat. stantia, Ital. stantia or stanza)

stanza catch up the refrain of the previous See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse, the last line of the poem re-echoing the first line.

The author was not the creator of this See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, nor was he the last to use it. The extant pieces in the See also:

METRE ((terpuc?, sc. rFxvf, from Gr. Or poi', measure)

metre are See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short religious poems, some of the later (e.g. See also:

God's Complaint, falsely attributed to Scottish authorship) revealing the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of Pearl. The dialect is See also:

West Midland, or rather See also:

North-West Midland, and the vocabulary is remarkable for the blending of native speech with Scandinavian and See also:

ROMANCE

Romance elements, the latter partly Anglo-See also:

French, and partly learned French, due to the author's knowledge of French literature. " While the See also:

main See also:

PART

part of the poem," according to Gollancz, " is a See also:

PARAPHRASE (Gr. irapa¢pavis, from rrapa4p4av, to relate something in different words, 'raga, beside, and ¢pai"eav, speak, tell)

paraphrase of the closing chapters of the See also:

Apocalypse and the See also:

PARABLE (Gr. 7apa(3oXi7, a comparison or similitude)

parable of the Vineyard, the poet's See also:

DEBT (Lat. debitum, a thing owed)

debt to the Romaunt of the See also:

Rose is noteworthy, more particularly in the description of the wonderful See also:

LAND

land through which the dreamer wanders; and it can be traced throughout the poem, in the personification of Pearl as See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

Reason, in the form of the colloquy, in the details of See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress and See also:

ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament, in many a characteristic word, phrase and reference. ` The See also:

RIVER

river from the throne,' in the Apocalypse, here meets ` the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the See also:

wells ' devised by Sir Mirth for the See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

Garden of the Rose. From these two See also:

SOURCES

sources, the See also:

BOOK

Book of See also:

REVELATION, BOOK OF

Revelation, with its almost See also:

CELTIC

Celtic glamour, and The Romaunt of the Rose, with its almost See also:

ORIENTAL

Oriental See also:

ALLEGORY (iXXos, other, and ayopeuav, to speak)

allegory, are derived much of the See also:

WEALTH

wealth and brilliancy of the poem. The poet's See also:

FANCY (a shortened form, dating from the 15th century, of " fantasy," which is derived through the O. Fr. fantasie, modern fantaisie. from the Latinized form of the Gr. cbavraoia, Oavrai'ecv, Oat Pais, to show)

fancy See also:

REVELS, MASTER OF THE

revels in the richness of the heavenly and the earthly See also:

PARADISE (Gr. lrap6BEwos)

paradise, but his fancy is subordinated to his earnestness and intensity." The leading motifs of Pearl are to be found in the See also:

GOSPEL (O. Eng. godspel, i.e. good news, a translation of Lat. bona annuntiatio, or evangelium, Gr. evayyeXwv; cf. Goth. iu spillon, " to announce good news," Ulfilas' translation of the Greek, from iu, that which is good, and spellon to announce)

Gospel—in the allegory of the See also:

MERCHANT (O. Fr. marcheant, modern marchand; from Lat. mercari, to trade, merx, goods, merchandise)

merchant who sold his all to See also:

PURCHASE

purchase one pearl of great See also:

price, and in the words, so fraught with solace for the child-bereft; " for of such is the See also:

KINGDOM

Kingdom of Heaven." Naturally arising from the theme, and from these motifs, some theological problems of the See also:

time are touched upon, or treated somewhat too elaborately perhaps, and an See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt has been made to demonstrate that Pearl is merely allegorical and theological, and not really a lament. Those who hold this view surely ignore or fail to recognize the subtle See also:

PERSONAL

personal touches whereby the poem transcends all its theological interests, and makes its See also:

SIMPLE

simple and See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

APPEAL

appeal to the human See also:

heart. Herein, too, lies its abiding charm, over and above the poetical See also:

TALENT (Lat. talentum, adaptation of Gr. TaXavrov, balance, ! Recollections of a First Visit to the Alps (1841); Vacation Rambles weight, from root raX-, to lift, as in rXi vac, to bear, 1-aXas, and Thoughts, comprising recollections of three Continental

talent, the love of nature, See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and the picturesque, the technical skill, and the descriptive See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, which in a high degree belonged to the unknown poet. Various theories have been advanced as to the authorship of Pearl and the other poems in the manuscript. The claims of See also:

HUCHOWN

Huchown " of the Awle Ryale " have been vigorously (but unsuccessfully) advocated; the case in favour of See also:

RALPH (d. 1122)

Ralph See also:

Strode (See also:

CHAUCER, GEOFFREY (? 1340-1400)

Chaucer's " philosophical Strode ")—the most attractive of all the theories—is still, unfortunately, " not proven." By piecing together the personal indications to be found in the poems an imaginary See also:

BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography of the poet may be constructed.

It may safely be inferred that he was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born about 1330, somewhere in See also:

LANCASHIRE

Lancashire, or a little to the north; that he delighted in open-See also:

air See also:

LIFE

life, in woodcraft and See also:

SPORT (a contracted or shortened form of "disport," to amuse, divert oneself, O. Fr. se dis porter or deporter, to leave off work, hence to play, Lat. dis-, away, and portare, to carry; the origin of the meaning lies in the notion of turning away from ser

sport; that his See also:

early life was passed amid the See also:

gay scenes that brightened existence in See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval See also:

hall and See also:

BOWER, WALTER (1385-1449)

bower; that he availed himself of opportunities of study, See also:

THEOLOGY

theology and romance alike claiming him; that he wedded, and had a child named Margery or See also:

MARGUERITE

Marguerite—the See also:

DAISY (A.S. daeges cage, day's eye)

Daisy, or the Pearl—at whose See also:

DEATH

death his happiness drooped and life's joy ended. The four poems are closely linked and belong to one See also:

period of the poet's career. In Gawayne, probably the first of the four, the poet is still the See also:

MINSTREL

minstrel rejoicing in the glamour of the Arthurian See also:

TALE (O.Eng. talu, number, account, story; the word is common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Zahl, number, Erzahlung, narrative, Du. taal, speech, language)

tale, but using it, in almost Spenserian spirit, to point a moral. In Pearl the minstrel has become the elegiac poet, harmonizing the old See also:

Teutonic form with the newer Romance rhyme. In Cleanness he has discarded all attractions of form, and writes, in direct alliterative metre, a stern See also:

HOMILY

homily on chastity. In Patience—a homiletic paraphrase of See also:

Jonah—he appears to be autobiographical, reminding himself, while teaching others, that " Poverty and Patience are needs playfellows." He had evidently fallen on evil days. It is noteworthy that soon after 1358 See also:

BOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI (1313-1375)

Boccaccio wrote his Latin See also:

ECLOGUE

eclogue See also:

OLYMPIA

Olympia in memory of his See also:

young daughter Violante. A See also:

COMPARATIVE

comparative study of the two poems is full of See also:

INTEREST

interest; the direct influence of the Latin on the English poem is not so clear as has been maintained. Pearl cannot be placed earlier than 136o; it is most probably later than Olympia. See also:

LITERARY

Literary See also:

HISTORY

History: Tenbrink, History of English Literature (translated by H. M. See also:

Kennedy, 1889, i.

336–351); G. See also:

Nelson, Huchown of the Awle Ryale (See also:

GLASGOW

Glasgow, 1902) ; See also:

CARLETON, WILLIAM (1794-1869)

Carleton See also:

Brown, The Author of the Pearl, considered in the See also:

LIGHT

Light of his Theological Opinions (publications of the See also:

MODERN

Modern See also:

LANGUAGES

Languages Association of See also:

AMERICA

America, xix. 115–153; 1904); W. G. See also:

SCHOFIELD, JOHN

Schofield, The Nature and Fabric of the Pearl (ibid. pp. 154–215; 1904) ; also Symbolism, Allegory and Autobiography (ibid. See also:

XXIV

xxiv. 585–675; 1909); I. Gollancz, See also:

Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. i. ch. xv. See also:

WORKS

Works connected with Pearl: Sir Gawayne, a Collection of See also:

Ancient Romance Poems (edited by Sir F. See also:

MADDEN, SIR FREDERIC (1801-1873)

Madden; See also:

LONDON

London, 1839); Sir Gawayne (re-edited by See also:

Richard See also:

Morris, E.E.T.S., 1864, 1869; See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text revised by I. Gollancz, 1893) ; The See also:

PARLEMENT (see PARLIAMENT)

Parlement of the Thee Ages, and Wynnere and Wastoure (edited by I. Gollancz: London, 1897); See also:

HYMNS

Hymns to the Virgin and See also:

Christ (edited by F.

J. See also:

FURNIVALL, FREDERICK JAMES (1825-1910)

Furnivall, E.E.T.S., 1867) ; See also:

POLITICAL

Political, Religious and Love Poems (edited by F. J. Furnivall, E.E.T.S., 1866, 1903). Metre.—See also:

Clark S. Northup, Study of the Metrical Structure of the Pearl (publications of the Modern Languages Association, xii. 326-340). Phonology.—W. Fick, Zum mittelenglischen Gedicht von der Perle (See also:

KIEL

Kiel, 1885). (I.

End of Article: PEARL, THE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PEARL

[next]
PEARS