Pearl Read Free

stood bright coloured woods –
    trees with trunks of Indian blue.
    Layers of leaves like burnished silver
    shivered and shook on every bough;
    when clear daylight glided across them
    they glinted and glimmered with a dazzling gleam.
    The grinding gravel which crunched underfoot
    was precious pearl of the Orient,
    so even sunbeams seemed dark and dim,
    outshone by opulent ornament.

 
    8
    The image of highly ornamented hills
    made my spirit forget all feelings of grief.
    The air was so fresh with the scent of fruit
    it nourished and fed me as if it were food.
    All shape and size of shimmering fowl
    flocked and flew as one through the wood;
    no stringed instrument making its sound
    could mimic the glorious music they made:
    when they beat their wings, out of those birds
    came a song of heavenly harmony.
    What person could hope for a pleasure more pure
    than to hear and see their ornament?

 
    9
    Where rich ornament was arrayed all around
    I followed as Fortune led me through a forest;
    no tongue could tell of its true nature
    for in beauty and wonder it went beyond words.
    In a state of ecstasy I strolled along,
    no bank high enough to prove a barrier.
    Flowers were fairer the further I went,
    among sedges, shrubs, spices and pears,
    hedges, wetlands and splendid streams
    with steep slopes like spun gold,
    and arrived at the shore of a winding river,
    overwhelming, oh Lord, in its ornament.

 
    10
    At the water’s edge, ornamenting its depths,
    were bountiful banks of bright beryl.
    The surface swirled as it swept by,
    pouring forward, murmuring as it flowed.
    And the bed was studded with brilliant stones,
    glinting and glowing like light through glass,
    as radiance streams from distant stars
    in the winter sky while the world sleeps.
    Because every pebble set into that pool
    was an emerald or sapphire or another jewel;
    the river looked luminous along its length
    so gleaming were those gem-like ornaments.

III
    11
    T he ornamented dazzle of downs and dales,
    of wood and water and splendid meadows
    infused me with bliss, eased my burdens,
    soothed my sorrows and dispelled my hurt,
    and I followed that freely flowing stream,
    light-headed with elation, alive with joy.
    Venturing further through brook-filled valleys
    my spirit gained strength with every step;
    when Fortune puts a person to the test
    by offering solace or ordering suffering
    the person she turns her attention towards
    finds more of either pleasure or pain.

 
    12
    There was more splendour displayed in that scene
    than time would ever allow me to tell,
    and a human heart could hardly hold
    one tenth of the rapturous gladness it aroused.
    I felt, therefore, that Paradise itself
    must be there beyond those broad banks,
    and supposed the stream a border of sorts,
    a dividing line through lovely lands,
    and that somewhere over the shore of the brook
    I would find the site of its walled city.
    The water was deep and I didn’t dare wade,
    but more and more I longed to cross.

 
    13
    That longing mounted, till more than ever
    I desired to see beyond the stream,
    and though it was wonderful here where I walked
    it appeared more wonderful over the water.
    I stopped and stared, surveyed my surroundings,
    impatient to find a fording place,
    but the dangers were great, and grew greater
    the further I strayed along the strand.
    I told myself not to hesitate,
    to fear no harm in those happy acres,
    but a curious image now caught my eye
    which moved my mind more and more.

 
    14
    A more marvellous matter amazed me now:
    beyond that beautiful water I witnessed
    a crystal cliff, brilliantly bright,
    radiant with glorious gleaming rays,
    and seated at the foot of that summit was a child,
    a noble girl, a young woman of grace,
    wearing a gown of iridescent white.
    And I knew her so well – I had seen her before.
    Like sawn gold that glistens inside
    she sat at the base of the cliff, and she shone.
    I stared, astonished, and the longer I looked
    the