Pearl: A New Verse Translation

This book literally changed my life. I read it within one day because it was so awesome. It’s important to know, the writer is talking about himself falling asleep and dreaming about his daughter in heaven who has died. If you know that, the pearl is his dead daughter, the book makes so much sense and is beautiful.

Armitage's translation of Pearl rolls along and captures the sound and rhythm of the original.

Loved the translation and accompanying Middle English text

The book came quickly. I’ve read The Pearl before with little understanding or enjoyment. The same could be said of Sir Gwain and the Green Knight as well as The Death of King Arthur. Simon Armitage has brought all of these classics to life for me. I’m delighted.

Many unique masterpieces emerged, almost as if they vaporized out of nothing, from the 17th century manuscript library of Sir Robert Cotton. This collection, organized and classified by Roman Emperors, preserved not only a 1215 Magna Carta, the Lindisfarne Gospels and an Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but also the only known copies of the Beowulf and Pearl manuscripts. A fire tore through the library in 1731, destroyed some books, damaged others, including Beowulf, but spared the Pearl manuscript, also known as "Cotton Nero A.x." Had the conflagration devoured the Pearl manuscript, history may have forever lost the famous medieval poems it holds, including "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," "Pearl" and two others. These now widely acclaimed works, thought to date to the late 14th century, remained virtually unknown until their rediscovery in the 19th century. Their appeal lies not only in their poetic and storytelling mastery, but also in the nebulous mystery surrounding their composition and authorship. The author, often referred to as "The Pearl Poet" or "The Gawain Poet," since many consider all of the manuscript's poems the product of a single artist, seems completely lost to time. Theories abound, though none have obtained consensus, but scholars and historians know pretty much nothing for certain about this elusive medieval poet. Most critics do seem to agree on the anonymous poet's impressive skills and prowess with prose. Many will probably find it hard to disagree with this conclusion after reading a piece or two from the manuscript. Given the age of the poems, not to mention their particular Middle English regional dialect, non-specialists will need to read these works in modern English translation.English poet Simon Armitage has already applied his translation powers to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" with all its rhyming bobs and wheels and tricky antiquated vocabulary. He now turns his attention to another poem in the Pearl Manuscript, the much shorter work known simply as "Pearl." A short introduction discusses the voluminous challenges and trade-offs of translating a work such as "Pearl." Given the rhyming scheme, obsolete vocabulary and the clever transitions and repeating lines that flow from section to section, something must get sacrificed in the process of modernization. Armitage chooses to sacrifice rhyme to poetic meaning. As such, those looking for a good bouncy ride replete with catchy rhymes will find little of that here. Nonetheless, in this domain where trade-offs reign, rhyming translations often lose some sense while non-rhyming translations seem to capture more sense. Armitage's translation really seems to capture the depth, meaning and voice of the poem while losing some of the metrical feeling. To ameliorate this inevitable but unfortunate trade-off, a Middle English version accompanies the modern English in parallel. Here the rhyme scheme comes alive as do the keyword transitions within and between sections, despite the largely unfamiliar verbiage. In this way the book manages to give a taste of the original while simultaneously preserving poetic meaning for modern readers. Short of learning Middle English, this probably represents the best technique for a modern reader to experience the 14th century text. A bit of meaning here, a bit of rhyme there. Imagination can then help converge the parallel text into a whole.The story itself could arguably provide an example of dealing with loss in the medieval Christian worldview, a lesson in Christianity's workings, or perhaps both. In the beginning, a man mourns in his garden. He has lost his perfect, incomparable pearl. He grieves fervently before falling asleep on the very mound of dirt where he last saw his precious, spotless pearl. Suddenly, he finds himself in a mystical forest filled with rare stones and gems. It seems magical and otherworldly. Soon he sees a young girl dressed in iridescent white and festooned with pearls. She approaches him and he recognizes his lost pearl. Bliss fills him, but she stands out of reach on the other side of a deep stream. The two have a dialog where the girl explains that, though he seems to have found her again, she now dwells in a land inaccessible to all but the most pure and faultless. She has also become a Queen and a "bride of Christ." This perplexes the man and he questions her on how someone who lived only two short years on earth could get accepted into the highest Heavenly realm so quickly. Others, he claims, strive for this all of their lives, yet this young girl just gets launched right into paradise, apparently with no questions asked. She answers him with the Parable of the Vineyard from Matthew. She adds that her short life also left her undefiled of earthly transgressions. The New Jerusalem now serves as her home, along with thousands of other virgin Queens who all bow to the Virgin Mary. The amazed man asks if he can see this city and the girl says she has permission to let him view it, but only from his side of the stream. Crossing the stream implies living a life most pleasing to God. Apparently, few make it across. The man then views paradise from a distance, complete with the Lord on his high throne surrounded by all of his blissful throngs. Everything matches Saint John's visions recorded in Revelations. Then he sees his pearl among the crowd and yearns to join her. In a frenzy he tries to leap into the stream, but instead finds himself awake once more in the garden where he drifted off. He learns that he put his pleasure before the Lord's, repents and think that everyone should live in a way that will lead them to that grand city. His pearl resides in the best of all places, so he should resign himself to that and follow her example.Passages from Revelations and Matthew permeate the poem, sometimes verbatim. It becomes obvious quickly that the grieving man doesn't quite get how Heaven works and he implores the girl to explain her situation. Perhaps the reader, maybe as confused, befuddled and agonized as the man saturated with sorrow, will identify with him, follow his entreaty and ultimately find consolation for their own personal loss? The poem could have found inspiration in the real death of a child. Maybe the author strove to console himself, or perhaps a suffering friend or relative, by composing this piece that offers a moral framework, one fully conceivable to the medieval mind, as a kind of poetic therapy. No one knows. Whether one agrees with the worldview presented or not, no one could probably deny the very heartfelt and passionate attempt at consolation that "Pearl" exemplifies. Armitage's translation really brings out this dimension of the poem and many readers may find themselves carried along by the poignant language and meaning and not even missing the sonorous rhymes. It is a very beautiful work of poetry even in translation. Those who appreciated Armitage's rendering of "Gawain" will also likely enjoy "Pearl." Maybe he will lend his ear to the Pearl Manuscript's remaining two poems, "Cleanness" and "Patience," in the near future? That thought also provides much consolation.

Beautiful and accessible new translation of an essential Early English religious poem

good book delivered as requested

Beautiful poetry.