THE PEARL"

"THE PEARL"

George Herbert

The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one, sold all that he had and bought it.—Matthew 13.45

I Know the wayes of Learning; both the head

And pipes that feed the presse, and make it runne;

What reason hath from nature borrowed,

Or of it self, like a good huswife, spunne

In laws and policie; what the starres conspire,

What willing nature speaks, what forc’d by fire;

Both th’ old discoveries, and the new-found seas,

The stock and surplus, cause and historie:

All these stand open, or I have the keyes:

Yet I love thee.

I know the wayes of Honour,

what maintainsThe quick returns of courtesie and wit:

In vies of favours whether partie gains,

When glorie swells the heart, and moldeth it

To all expressions both of hand and eye,

Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie,

And bear the bundle, wheresoe’re it goes:

How many drammes of spirit there must be To sell my life unto my friends or foes:

Yet I love thee.

I know the wayes of Pleasure, the sweet strains,

The lullings and the relishes of it;

The propositions of hot bloud and brains;

What mirth and musick mean; what love and wit

Have done these twentie hundred yeares, and more:

I know the projects of unbridled store:

My stuffe is flesh, not brasse; my senses live,

And grumble oft, that they have more in me

Then he that curbs them, being but one to five:

Yet I love thee.

I know all these, and have them in my hand:

Therefore not sealed, but with open eyes

I flie to thee, and fully understand

Both the main sale, and the commodities;

And at what rate and price I have thy love;

With all the circumstances that may move:

Yet through these labyrinths, not my groveling wit,

But thy silk twist let down from heav’n to me,

Did both conduct and teach me, how by it

To climbe to thee.

In the first part of the poem “The Pearl” appears an abstract about the scriptural or biblical passage cited in Matthew 13:45 where a merchant, who is a buyer and seller of pearls, finds a very expensive pearl and he sells his other ones in order to purchase the one of great price and great value.

The poem is about faith4, the man’s love for God. In the poem, the speaker is the writer1 George Herbert who addresses God and attempts to demonstrate his love for him. He has renounced all those worldly goods (Learning, Honour and Pleasure) for God’s sake, so God should allow to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Also he thinks he has done much to earn this.

The poems has a formal, elegant and reflective written2, and in the final of each stanza, the writer or speaker concludes “Yet I love thee” that is would be say "I love God so much" or "I love God mainly". ALso we can find the following literary figures3:

Metaphors:
What reason hath from nature borrowed (means what pearl…)
But thy silk twist let down from heav'n to me,

Did both conduct and teach me, how by it
(is a continuum between this life and the next)

Personifications:
What willing nature speaks, what forced by fire;
The quick returns of courtesy and wit:
What willing nature speaks, what forced by fire;
But thy silk twist let down from heav'n to me, Did both conduct and teach me, how by it

Simile:
Or of itself, like a good huswife, spun

Alliterations:
“To all expressions both of hand and eye

Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie”

”And bear the bundle, wheresoe'er it goes:

How many drams of spirit there must be

To sell my life unto my friends or foes:

Yet I love thee.”

In my opinion5, the speaker must be desperated to obtain the God's love. Therefore, he wants to leave everything and demonstrates his faith. It gives me the impression that the speaker needs a concrete test of God, that God sacrifies by him.

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS:

1- Who's the speaker and who's speaking to?
2- Type of vocabulary (loving, violent, angry, etc)
3- Alliterations, metaphors, comparisons, assonances, personifications (that is to say any literary figure you find in it)
4- What's the poem about? (love, hate, faith, life, death)
5- Your opinion about the poem.