We know that the poet was a contemporary of Geofrey Chaucer's, and it is tantalizing to imagine that Chaucer is referring to the Pearl Poet when he says that he is incapable of writing interlocking lines the way others do. Other than this very small amount, nothing is known at all about the author. His Pearl speaks of a daughter, and the poetry is exceptionally conversant with learning. However, the Pearl Poet never refers to contemporary scholarship, the way that Chaucer does, and shows much more of a tendency to refer to legendary materials from the past than any new learning, so it is impossible to place the poet at court, the universities, or monasteries.
External link
The text of Pearl (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed-new?id=AnoPear&tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/lv1/Archive/mideng-parsed)
The "PearlPoet", or the "Gawain Poet", is the name given to the author of Pearl, an alliterative poem written in Middle English.
We know that the poet was a contemporary of Geofrey Chaucer's, and it is tantalizing to imagine that Chaucer is referring to the PearlPoet when he says that he is incapable of writing interlocking lines the way others do.
However, the PearlPoet never refers to contemporary scholarship, the way that Chaucer does, and shows much more of a tendency to refer to legendary materials from the past than any new learning, so it is impossible to place the poet at court, the universities, or monasteries.
Pearl symbolism: Lunar; the power of the waters; the essence of the moon and controller of tides; the embroyo; cosmic life; the divine essence; the life-giving power of the Great Mother; the feminine principle of the ocean; the self-luminous initiation; law in cosmic life; justice.
The pearl was thought to be the result of lightning penetrating the oyster, hence it was regarded as the union of fire and water, both fecundating forces, and so denotes birth and rebirth; fertility.
With the dragon of China, it is suggested as either the 'night-shining pearl', the moon, which the dragon of light swallows, or as a roll of thunder from which the flame of lightning emerges, the pearl being belched forth by the dragon of the sky.
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