describes the Scarlet Lady in "The Faerie Queene " as—
A goodly Lady clad in scarlet red, Purfled with gold and pearle of rich assay.
and Hymen in " Epithalamion "------
Her long loose yellow locks lyke golden wyre, Sprinckled with perle.
There
is a passing breath of spice-laden gales and the wonder magic of ships
in far-off seas, carrying to perils and adventure men seeking the
treasures of strange lands, while he tells in Virgil's Gnat of the
shepherd's content:
Ne ought the whelky pearles esteemeth hee, Which are from Indian seas brought far away.
Poets
are reminded not only of the teeth and neck of beauty by the luster of
the pearl but of the forehead also. Whittier like Tennyson gives to
woman a brow of pearl. In "Memories " the girl has—
Eyes glad with smiles, and brow of pearl,
and in " Stanzas," he places the beauty of flesh above that of the dainty jewel thus:
O'er a forehead more pure than the Parian stone—
Shaming the light of those Orient pearls
Which bind o'er its whiteness thy soft wreathing curls.
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