enation, in which a word from the last line of a stanza
is repeated it in the fi rst line of the next one. For exam-
ple, the last line of the fi rst stanza in part one reads “Of
that pryvy perle wythouten spot” (l. 12), and the fi rst
line of the second stanza reads “Sythen in that spote hit
fro me sprange” (l. 13). The word spot has been reiter-
ated as spote. The effect of the concatenatio is to link the
stanzas together like a necklace, or, as many scholars
have pointed out, like a string of pearls. This effect is
underscored by the last line of the poem, “Ande pre-
cious perles unto his pay” (l. 1212), which echoes the
very fi rst line, “Perle, plesaunte to prynces paye” (l. 1).
Thus, the last line is linked to the fi rst, creating the
circular structure of the poem.
The central image of the poem is the pearl; however,
it is not a static image, and its meaning constantly
shifts. Originally, it seems to be a literal jewel, lost in
the garden, but soon it is clear that the maiden is the
narrator’s pearl, his daughter who died in childhood.
The pearl then changes to the “pearl of price,” or salva-
tion, simultaneously representing purity and material-
ism, heavenly immortality and earthly perfection. The
pearl is also the perfectly innocent, the souls who have
been baptized and cleaned of sin through penance. It
becomes the reward of life in the celestial city. Accord-
ingly, the image of the “jeweler” shifts from the narra-
tor to Christ. This is a poem about transformation. It
traces the narrator’s initial ignorance and rejection of
God through to an understanding and embracing of
his human condition.
Likewise, the idea of the garden changes with the
poem. It is a literal garden in the beginning, moves to
an Edenic celestial garden, and fi nally becomes the
new Jerusalem, the city of God. The dreamer’s journey
parallels this: He begins absorbed by the earthly mate-
rial world, receives heavenly instruction, and fi nally
wakes up back in the earthly garden, but with new
knowledge. Thus, the location of the poem, like the
words and structure, is returned to the starting point.
The poem is an explication of Christian beliefs and
doctrines. His misconceptions and ignorance are care-
fully refuted by the maiden, whose lessons are marked
by important biblical passages, notably the parable of
the vineyard, the parable of the merchant and the pearl
of great price, and the apocalyptic descriptions of the
celestial city. The dreamer is not stupid; he is merely
human and has trouble understanding the divine. The
reader can empathize with the speaker and likewise be
educated by the maiden. As well, the dreamer’s start-
ing point of grief and loss is common to humanity—an
effect magnifi ed by the fact that the narrator never
actually names his lost pearl as his daughter but merely
implies this particular relationship.
The poet uses worldly metaphors to describe heaven
but uses the maiden to point out that a simple com-
parison is inadequate. Although the company of maid-
ens is, indeed, courtly and subject to Mary, the
“empress,” and their spouse, the Lamb of God, there is
no other hierarchy in the heavenly court. In the majes-
tic splendor of the procession toward the church elders,
the Lamb—although proudly leading his queens—is
marked by the blood pouring out of his side. It is only
after the dreamer sees this image, and his maiden fol-
lowing the Lamb, that he tries to cross the stream. It is
through these juxtapositions of heavenly and earthly
images and items that the poet ultimately instructs his
audience as the dreamer is instructed.
See also ALLEGORY, ALLITERATION.
FURTHER READING
Andrew, Malcolm, and Ronald Waldron, eds. The Poems of
the Pearl Manuscript. Exeter, U.K.: University of Exeter
Press, 1999.
Conley, John, ed. The Middle English ‘Pearl’: Critical Essays.
Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970.
Fein, Susanna Greer. “Twelve-Line Stanza Forms in Middle
English and the Date of Pearl.” Speculum 72, no. 2 (1997):
367–398.
Robertson, D. W. “The Pearl as a Symbol.” MLN 65, no. 3
(1950): 155–161.
Jennifer N. BrownPEARL-POET See GAWAIN-POET.
PEASANTS’ REVOLT (GREAT RISING;
GREAT REVOLT) (1381) The Peasants’ Revolt
was a violent uprising of the lower strata of society, pri-
marily throughout the southeast of England. Historians
often prefer the contemporary terms—“The Great Revolt”
or “Great Rising”—since the class composition of the
revolt was more varied than its popular title suggests.PEASANTS’ REVOLT 315