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Uses of Perle

The following post will display uses of the word ‘Perle’ in the poem, Pearl.

Line 1: “Perle, plesaunte to prynces paye”

Line 24: “My privy perle wythouten spotte.”

Line 41: “On huyle ther perle hit trendeled doun”

Line 53: “I playned my perle that ther was penned”

Line 83: “Wern precious perles of Oryente”

Line 193 - 4: “A precios pyece in perles pyght. / Perles pyghte of ryal prys”

Line 202: “Dubbed with double perle and dyghte,”

Line 204: “Wyth precios perles al umbepyghte.” 

Line 208: “Highe pynakled of cler quyt perle”

Line 219: “Wyth whyte perle and non other gemme,” 

Line 221: “Bot a wonder perle wythouten wemme” 

Line 240: “To sware that swete in perles pyghte.”

Line 242: “Art thou my perle that I haf playned,”

Line 255: “Set on hyr coroun of perle orient”

Line 258: “To say your perle is al awaye” 

Line 273: “To a perle of prys hit is put in pref.” 

Line 283: “I trawed my perle don out of dawes.” 

Line 330: “My precios perle dos me gret pyne.” 

Line 335: “When I am partles of perle myne,” 

Line 376: “I wyste never quere my perle was gon;”

Line 411: “Thow wost wel when thy perle con schede” 

Line 733: “To bye hym a perle was mascelles.” (mascelle - spotless/ flawless)

Line 854: “That beren thys perle upon oure bereste,” 

Line 856: “Of spotles perles tha beren the creste.” 

Line 1038: “A parfyt perle that never fates.” 

Line 1102: “Depaynt in perles and wedes qwyte.” 

Line 1104: “The blysfyl perle with gret delyt.” 

Line 1113: “As praysed perles His wedes wasse.” 

Line 1173: “Ther as my perle to grounde strayd.” 

Line 1192: “As the perle me prayed that was so thryven -” 

Line 1206: “For pyty of my perle enclyin;” 

Line 1214: “And precious perles unto His pay.” 

Through these lines containing the word ‘perle’, we see how the Dreamer depicts the Margery and how he reduces her to a simple little girl. He has lost her and does not know where she has gone and still cries out in agony and continues to patronize her after he learns that she is not incapable of caring for herself and has been made the Queen of Heaven. He fails to acknowledge that his pearl that is so beautiful is composed of more than just beauty: she is wisdom and knowledge. Many of the lines that contain ‘perle’ are omitted from this list after they are just a repetition of the dreamer calling his pearl spotless and in plight. 

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Innocence: The True Meaning?

A central part of the book is the dreamer not believing that the maiden is worthy of being the Queen of Heaven due to her short life span and lack of good deeds throughout her life. The question arises, “Is innocence simply not doing bad things OR is it performing good deeds?” The maiden lived a short life and died as a child so she did not have the opportunity and a possible lack of ability to perform many good deeds. However, because of her youthful age, she also did not have the ability to perform many bad tasks.

The Middle English Dictionary defines ‘innocence’ as:

(a) Sinlessness, guiltlessness, purity; the prelapsarian condition;  the law governing this condition; (b) habitual adoption of a favourable attitude, candor, simplicity, guilelessness, naivete; (c) ignorance, incompetence; (d) forbearance; (e) a simple unoffending person.

So by this definition, it seems that we can say that the maiden is innocent, BUT is innocence the only quality that should make one worthy of being a ruler of Heaven. If I were idle my entire life and simply did what was expected of me instead of taking the extra step to perform good deeds, would I be deserving of being a ruler of Heaven? Additionally, the maiden is a young child who knows little about the way of the world.

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Uses of Innocence

The following post will display uses of the word ‘innocence’ or the concept of innocence (mostly including references to the Lamb of God) in the poem, Pearl.

Line 672: “As inoscente is saf and ryghte.”

Line 408: “My Lorde the Lamb loves ay such chere;”

Line 758: "My makeles Lambe that al may bete,"

Line 771: “Quat kyn thyng may be that Lambe”

Line 785: “The Lambes uyves in blysse we bene,”

Line 815: “As meke as lomp that no playnt tolde”

Line 893: “Bot that meyny the Lombe that swe.”

Line 945: “The Lompe ther wythouten spottes blake”

Line 1046: “The selfe God was her lambe-lyght,”

Line 1141: “The Lombe delyt, non lyste to wene;”

The use of the word ‘lamb’ in the poem refers to the maiden and the use of ‘Lamb’ refers to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. Ultimately, both innocent souls were sacrificed so that a greater world and Heaven could exist. 

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Justice and Fairness

My favourite poem, Pearl, contains the central theme of justice, fairness, and innocence. 

“The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear. Terror seizes the godless. “Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry. “Who can survive this all-consuming fire?” Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong– these are the ones who will dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance. Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.” - Isaiah 33:14-17

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Harmonious work where the work of all is valued!

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This brings me peace and turmoil, all at once! 

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The Value of Labour

One of my favourite parts of the poem is the section dedicated to describing the value of the work done by the lower class. This part shows Jesus leading the richer members of society to work while, in a precession, while bringing the poorer members of society to work last. At the end of the day, even though the rich has laboured for longer and the poor have worked for only an hour, ever person is awarded the same pay. The rich then complain that since they worked for longer and their work was more physically tolling, they should be paid more. This simple scene was constructed by Jesus to show how, in a typical case, the poor would labour longer than the rich and be awarded LESS money than them.

In a way, innocence is also linked to this scene. The rich have exploited the poor and their cheap labour and then proceed to complain when they are given the same pay that would been awarded to the poor. To this day, we see a very similar structure in our society. This problem highlighted by Jesus seems to have persisted through time. But nowadays, we have to ask ourselves, which work do we consider to be more valuable? As a society what we value has shifted over time. BUT, we always have the basis human need of food; which, was being produced by those who Jesus sent to work. 

At the end of the day, we can conclude, after looking at this problem through a modern approach that Jesus’ experiment was meant to teach the rich the value of the work done by the lower class.