Front matter
Reading edition
THE PEARL
A MIDDLE ENGLISH POEM
A MODERN VERSION IN THE METRE OF THE ORIGINAL
BY
SOPHIE JEWETT
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN WELLESLEY COLLEGE
1908
To KATHARINE LEE BATES
THE TRANSLATOR TO THE AUTHOR
Poet of beauty, pardon me If touch of mine have tarnishèd Thy Pearl's pure luster, loved by thee; Or dimmed thy vision of the dead Alive in light and gaiety. Thy life is like a shadow fled; Thy place we know not nor degree, The stock that bore thee, school that bred; Yet shall thy fame be sung and said. Poet of wonder, pain, and peace, Hold high thy nameless, laurelled head Where Dante dwells with Beatrice.