Section 13 expounds on the concept of innocence;
everyone must enter the kingdom of heaven “as a
chylde” (l. 723), guiltless and humble. Invoking
Christ’s parable of the pearl in which a merchant sells
everything to gain it, where it represents the kingdom
of heaven, she then points out the pearl she wears on
her breast and tells him that it is “lyke the reme of
heavenesse clere” (like the realm of heaven, l. 735),
and that the Lord had placed it there as an emblem of
his peace. The dreamer expounds on the beauty of the
pearl “of prys” (l. 746) and the maiden (the “perle in
perles pure,” l. 745) who wears it. He asks her who
formed her “fayre fi gure” (l. 746) and what sort of
“offys” (l. 755) does the pearl she wears hold? The
maiden reiterates that she is a bride of Christ, who
called to her: “Cum hyder to me, my lemman [beloved]
swete, / For mote ne spot is non in the” (there is no
spot on you, ll. 763–764), then washed her in his
blood, crowned her, and dressed her in pearls. The
dreamer, however, is still confused: How was she cho-
sen above so many women to be the bride of Christ? Is
she the only “a makeles may and maskelles” (both a
matchless [peerless] and spotless maiden in the eyes of
God, l. 780)?
In part 14, the maiden answers that she is, indeed,
“maskelles” (l. 781), “unblemyst” and “wythouten blot”
(l. 782), as the dreamer has suggested, but she is not a
“makeles quene” (l. 784) as he also said. She again
reminds the dreamer that she is not the only heavenly
queen, but says that she is one of 140,000 in heaven as
“in the Apocalyppes hit is sene” (l. 787). She continues
with this explanation in part 15, telling the dreamer
that the queens of heaven wear the pearls on their
breasts, spotless like their Lord. Even though their bod-
ies are rotting in the earth, they are unblemished and
rejoicing in heaven. The dreamer, more humble now in
his questions, persists in asking for explanations.
In part 16, the dreamer wonders about the maiden’s
dwelling place, sure it is Jerusalem. He is speaking of
the “old Jerusalem” (l. 941), however, which the maiden
points out—she dwells in the new, celestial Jerusalem
referenced in Bible’s Book of Revelation. He cannot
enter, though she has permission to show it to him.
Parts 17 and 18 reveal the heavenly city to the
dreamer as if it is coming down from heaven to the other
side of the stream. It has 12 types of gems, each outlined
and explained, and 12 steps, and it is 12 furlongs long,
reinforcing the numerological signifi cance of Revelation
and its descriptions. The city is exactly square and has
streets of gold. There is no sun: “God was her lambe-
lyght” (l. 1046). A river runs from his throne “bryghter
than bothe the sunne and mone” (l. 1056).
In part 19, the dreamer sees a procession of maid-
ens—at least 100,000 crowned with clothes of pearls.
The Lamb is there, too, but the dreamer notices that he
has a wound in his side from which “blod outsprent” (l.
1137). The dreamer wonders: “[W]ho did that spyt?” (l.
1138), but then he notices his pearl in the procession.
He longs to join her across the water, and in the fi nal
section, part 20, the dreamer prepares to throw himself
into the stream, even though he recognizes it may be
his death, so that he can join the maiden in the celestial
city. This displeases the Lord, however, and he is awak-
ened, fi nding himself once more in the garden. This
time there is no maiden to rebuke him for not heeding
the lessons. He rebukes himself for attempting to go
against God’s will and refl ects that at least he knows the
maiden is saved in heaven, even though he is left in sor-
row on earth. He realizes that by doing God’s will and
accepting Christ’s blessings, everyone may become a
pearl of God: “He gef uus to be his homly hyne / Ande
precious perles unto his pay” (ll. 1211–12).
This poem encompasses two genres of medieval
poetry, the dream vision and the debate poem, but is
more generally considered part of the ALLITERATIVE
REVIVAL. As such, it imitates Anglo-Saxon conventions
with alliterated consonants on either side of a CAESURA,
usually two before and one afterward. This structure is
clearly evident throughout Pearl from its fi rst two lines:
“Perle, plesaunte to prynces paye / To clanly clos in
golde so clere” (ll. 1–2). Structurally, the poem is also
concerned with numerology as its subject, particularly
in the description of the celestial city, but is also inter-
ested in representing that numerological perfection
within its lines. As a result, the poem has 101 stanzas of
12 lines each, making it 1,212 lines long, reiterating the
importance of the biblical number 12. Each of the 20
parts is fi ve stanzas long, except part 15, which has six.
The rhyme scheme for the 12-line stanza is abababab-
bcbc. In addition, the poet uses concatenatio, or concat-314 PEARL