The Unifying Image of Nature in Pearl

Abstract: Nature and the Natural World in “Pearl”

The medieval poem “Pearl” can be read as a reconciliation of loss through religion, as well as an elegy celebrating the beauty of the departed. In the poem, the sense of loss, the consolation of the poet, Christianity and Christian beliefs, and the beauty of the departed are all associated with nature, landscape and plants. This essay thus seeks to examine how images and associations with nature permeates the content and structure of the poem, and how these repeated images help to unify the poem as a whole.

Keywords:

Pearl Medieval poetry Nature Loss Christianity Elegy

Key texts:

Clark, S.L., and Julian N. Wasserman. “THE SPATIAL ARGUMENT OF ‘PEARL’: PERSPECTIVES ON A VENERABLE BEAD.” Interpretations, vol. 11, no. 1, 1979, pp. 1–12.

J.R.R. Tolkein (trans.) Pearl, from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, C.Tolkein (ed.), Harper Collins, 2006, London.

Petroff, Elizabeth. “Landscape in ‘Pearl’: The Transformation of Nature.” The Chaucer Review, vol. 16, no. 2, 1981, pp. 181–193.

Stern, Milton R. “An Approach to ‘The Pearl.’” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 54, no. 4, 1955, pp. 684–692.

Vasta, Edward. “‘Pearl’: Immortal Flowers and the Pearl's Decay.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 66, no. 4, 1967, pp. 519–531.