64 Pearls. 



acquired a more pathetic significance, and became 

 the symbol of tears, as already mentioned. Re- 

 ference is frequently made to them in this connec- 

 tion by many of our English poets. In his Epigram 

 on the Marchioness of Winchester, Milton says — 



" And those Pearls of dew she wears, 

 Prove to be presaging tears." 



Shakespeare in King John, makes Constance allude 

 to tears as — 



"Those heaven-moving Pearls from his poor eyes," 

 Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee." 



Indeed they form a frequent metaphor in many of 

 Shakespeare's plays. In "The Two Gentlemen of 

 Verona," for instance, they assist in making up a 

 pleasing picture of Valentine's great wealth in the 

 possession of Silvia's love — 



"Why man, she is mine own: 

 And I as rich in having such a jewel 

 As twenty seas, if all their sand were Pearls, 

 The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold." 



In Othello's last, and perhaps most frequently quoted 



address after the death of Desdemona, he prays that 



they might speak of him as — 



"Of one whose hand 

 Like the base Indian, threw a Pearl away 

 Richer than all his tribe.*' 



Pearls have been employed from very ancient 

 times in the East, in the interpretation of dreams, 



