Pearl

E67100

"Pearl" is a Middle English alliterative poem, often attributed to the anonymous "Pearl Poet," renowned for its intricate structure and spiritual meditation on loss and salvation.

Aliases (1)

Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Middle English poem
alliterative poem
dream vision
alternativeNameForAuthor The Gawain Poet
surface form: "Gawain Poet"
attributionStatus anonymous
author The Gawain Poet
surface form: "Pearl Poet"
centralMotif pearl as symbol of perfection
pearl as symbol of the soul
character the Pearl-maiden
countryOfOrigin England
criticalReputation one of the masterpieces of Middle English poetry
dateWritten late 14th century
dialect Northwest Midlands Middle English
formalFeature link-and-phrase pattern between stanzas
refrain-like repetition of key words
genre allegorical poetry
didactic poetry
religious poetry
interpretation often read as elegy for a dead child
language Middle English
literaryMovement Alliterative Revival
literaryPeriod Middle English
surface form: "Middle English literature"
manuscript Cotton Nero A.x
manuscriptLocation British Library
metricalForm alliterative verse
narrativeFrame first-person dream vision
protagonist the Dreamer
religiousTradition Christianity
rhymeScheme ababababbcbc
scripturalAllusion Sermon on the Mount
surface form: "Beatitudes"

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
scripturalSource Book of Revelation
setting heavenly city of New Jerusalem
symbolic garden
structure 101 stanzas
12-line stanzas
complex rhyme scheme
theme Christian eschatology
consolation
divine grace
grief
New Jerusalem
surface form: "heavenly Jerusalem"

innocence
loss
salvation
writtenInSameManuscriptAs Cleanness
Patience
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.


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