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THE BOOK OF THE PEARL
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crystallized the hope entertained for a baby daughter by enriching her with this beautiful name.
Poets
seem never to tire of using the pearl as a symbol of perfection in
form, in purity, in luster, and in sweetness. But probably none has
made a more lovely comparison than Owen Meredith :
As pure as a pearl, And as perfect : a noble and innocent girl.1
The
Oriental poets unite with those of the West in their love for this gem,
and those gifted writers are lavish in its use. Let us but add the
lament of Shabl Abdullah on the death of Nozami :
Nozami 's gone, our fairest pearl is lost.
From purest dew, kind Heaven had given her birth,
And then had fashioned her the pearl supreme.
She softly shone, but hidden from mankind,
So God has now restored her to her shell.
Far more crude, but possibly equally pathetic, is that old epitaph from Yorkshire, England :
In shells and gold pearls are not kept alone, A Margaret here lies beneath a stone.
In the seventeenth century, Pierre de Rosnel wrote in a burst of enthusiasm :
The
pearl is a jewel so perfect that its excellent beauty demands the love
and esteem of the whole universe. Suidas expresses himself in regard to
it thus : "The possession of the pearl is one of love's greatest
delights ; the delight of possessing it suffices to feed love." In a
painting, Philostratus, who had the same ideas, has represented cupids
with bows enriched with pearls; and the ancients were all agreed to
dedicate the pearl to Venus. Now, to my thinking, the reason for their
so doing was, that inasmuch as this goddess of love, the fairest of all
divinities, is descended from heaven and is formed of the sea, so in
like manner the pearl—the loveliest of all gems—is formed in the sea
and is the offspring of the dew of heaven. But he that would learn more
oT the excellence of the pearl, let him inquire of the ladies, who will
relate much more in its praise than I can write, and who will doubtless
confess that nothing else so well adorns them.2
Emblematic
as the pearl is of maidenly purity and sweetness, it is deemed
especially appropriate as a wedding gift. This use dates
J "Lucile," Pt. II, c. 6, st. 16. s "Le Mercure Indien, ou le Trésor des
Indes," Paris, 1672, p. 160.
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