Reviews

Pearl by Unknown, Simon Armitage

karencarlson's review

 I came to read this, billed in the Summer 2024 Catherine Project catalog as “a medieval poem about grief,” having never heard of it before. Given that I experienced a loss this past Fall – an odd loss, one involving more questions and confusion than actual pain – I thought that might be an interesting thing to study.
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.

 

gaiebel's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

isabelwest's review

inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

opalfruit's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

aportablemagic's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thereaderintherye's review

challenging sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

gitli57's review against another edition

challenging

3.0

Having the original and Armitage's translation side by side was great. The original is an old English, but more difficult to deal with than Chaucer's old English. Still, I could get most of the rhythm and alliteration even though I don't have much idea how the original would actually be pronounced. Armitage's translation is really beautiful.

That's on the upside. On the downside, the poem is basically a religious tract with extended passages from Revelation and other Bible books made into alliterative verse. Yes, it deals with loss and grief, but entirely from a conventional Medieval Christian viewpoint. If you are into that, this is for you. For me, this was just about enjoying the challenge of the language and the beauty of the translation. Of course, I don't listen to Dufay Masses or Bach Cantatas for the theology either...

beant64's review

1.0

The premise is better than the payoff.
It sounded like a beautiful, quiet, sad story about a father falling asleep on his daughter's grave and in dreams, he meets her again... but, in reality, it became an almost incomprehensible, psychedelic religious fever dream focusing almost entirely on extreme Christianity and recitations of passages from the Bible which don't really make much sense. This made the book lose all sense of the basic premise and turned it into something that I was not expecting, which was disappointing. It has no real characters you can follow, and the "plot" (about the father falling asleep, etc) exists for about 4 or 5 pages, and after this, it enfolds into the mad Christian fever dream mentioned above, about goats and Christ weddings of children or something... And the father is not exactly the nicest guy either. Mhh. I don't really care anymore. It felt like reading a book of religious teachings than an actual story-driven poem that I was looking forward to.
I had high hopes after Simon's "Sir Gawain..." as that is a definite 5 star and one of my favourite books of all time, but this is not good, and it pains me. But maybe this is truly the fault of the Gawain poet?... I will have to read the original Middle English to see.

tsundoku281's review

5.0

so beautiful and complicated and very enjoyable to read :) we'll see if that holds true after dissecting it for essays

oblomov's review

4.0

A jeweller and father loses his 'pearl' and collapses from grief in the garden. Upon awakening he's in another place, radiant and resplendent, and on a 'distant shore' stands a young girl dressed in pearls.

This is an absolutely beautiful poem on parental loss and grief, which attempts to console the reader through Christian teachings. The basic argument is that, though the Jeweller's daughter died young and never lived a life or married, she lives on the other side of the veil in comfort and warmth, finely adorned and married to Jesus no less (as is every other girl who died a virgin. No, I don't know who the virgin males get):

Therefore each soul that had ne'er a touch
Is for that Lamb a worth wife.

The poem argues many such teachings of 'the first shall be last' and innocence rewarded, so the father shouldn't fear that his daughter's short life was meaningless or wasted, because it carries on in greater splender and happiness, which is exactly what a grieving parent would like to think and the poem symbolises the whole idea of the comfort of Heaven.

While it's full of lovely and soothing thoughts, it gets heavy handed at times. The Jeweller is repeatedly slapped down for questioning faith or what his Pearl tells him about the other side:

I hold that jeweler little to praise
who believeth well that he seeth with eye.
And much to blame and discourteous
Who believeth our Lord would make a lie,
Who loyally promised your life to raise,
Tho fortune destined your flesh to die.
[...]
That is a pride unworthy of praise
Which any good man will never indulge--
No tale believing as truth he can trace
Except when his own sense is the judge.

Basically: 'I find your lack of faith disturbing', and bluntly telling the grieving they're being a dick for not having unquestionable faith in a God that essentially took their child seems more than a bit harsh.

The poem loses its punch for me when it starts going into the Book of Revelation and takes ages describing the wondrous city of Heaven as a jewel encrusted castle, which is a far more sober version of upstairs than the surreal rings of Dante's [b: Paradiso|32812|Paradiso (The Divine Comedy, #3)|Dante Alighieri|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347467591l/32812._SY75_.jpg|9771852], but the language never stops being gorgeous.

The poem ends with the Jeweller feeling what the author hoped the reader would: sobered and comforted, content that his daughter is safe and loved, that though he wishes to reach her he obviously can't, but with renewed faith in a God that's loving, though previously seemed cold and unjust.

Despite not following any religion myself and though I am most certainly not converted, it's hard to deny the poignancy of it all and the beauty of the wording, and Pearl is inarguably a wonderful little gem of Middle Season and religious poetry.

(Vernard Eller translation)