Uploaded on May 14, 2012
Pearl, delighting a prince’s pleasure,
Chastely imprisoned in purest gold!
There never came a costlier treasure
From all the East, I firmly hold;
So fine, so smooth on every side,
So round, so radiant, however set,
That I gave this Pearl the place of pride
Above all jewels I judged as yet.
Alas! In a garden I lost it, let
It go to the ground on a grassy plot.
Bereft of love, I am racked by regret
For Pearl, my own Pearl without a spot. …
—From “The Pearl” in Medieval English Verse
published by Penguin Classics
05.14.2024: This reminds me of Steinbeck’s Pearl. I haven’t read it decades. That might be an interesting one to pick up.