The Pearl | Page 8

device.
Than fleur-de-lys thou art fairer thrice,

Angel-mannered and courtly bred,--
Tell to me truly: in Paradise

What meaneth the pearl unblemished?"
"My spotless Lamb, who all doth heal,"
She answered, "my dear
Destiny,
Chose me in marriage bond to seal;
Unfit, He graced me
regally,
From your world's woe come into weal.
He called me of

His courtesy:
'Come hither to me, my lover leal,
For mote nor spot
is none in thee.'
He gave me my might and great beauty;
He washed
my weeds in His blood so red,
And crowned me, forever clean to be,

And clothed me in pearls unblemishèd."
"Unblemished bride, bright to behold,
That royalty hath so rich and
rare,
What is this Lamb, that thou hast told
How for wedded wife
He called thee there?
Above all others dost thou make bold,
As His
chosen lady His life to share?
So many, comely in combs of gold,

For Christ have lived in strife and care,
Must these to a lower place
repair,
That never any with Him may wed,
Save only thyself, so
proud and fair,
Peerless Queen, and unblemished?"
XIV
"Unblemished," answered she again,
"Without a spot of black or gray,

With honour may I this maintain;
But 'peerless Queen' I did not say.

Brides of the Lamb in bliss we reign,
An hundred and forty
thousand gay,
As in the Apocalypse is made plain,
Saint John
beheld them on a day;
On the hill of Zion he saw them stay,
In
vision his spirit looked on them,
For the wedding clad in bright-array,

At the city of New Jerusalem."
"Of Jerusalem in speech I tell;
And what He is if thou wouldst see--

My Lamb, my Lord, my dear Jewel,
My Joy, my Love, my Bliss so
free,--
The prophet Isaiah writeth well
Of His most mild humility:

'Guiltless, when men upon Him fell
For never a fault nor felony,

As a sheep to the slaughter led was He;
Quiet, the while the crowd
contemn,
As a lamb in the shearer's hands might be,
He was judged
by Jews in Jerusalem.'"
"In Jerusalem was my Lover slain,
Rent on the rood by ruffians bold;


To bear our ills He was full fain,
To suffer our sorrows manifold;

Buffeted until blood did stain
That face so lovely to behold;
He

took upon Him all sin and pain,
Even He of Whom not one sin is told;

On the rude cross stretched faint and cold,
He let men deride him
and condemn;
Meek as a lamb, betrayed and sold,
He died for us in
Jerusalem."
"At Jerusalem, Jordan and Galilee,
Wherever Saint John came to
baptize,
His words with Isaiah's words agree.
On Jesus he lifted up
his eyes,
Speaking of Him this prophecy:
'Behold the Lamb of
God!' he cries:
'Who bears the world's sins, this is He!
The guilt of
all upon Him lies,
Though He wrought evil in no wise.
The
branches springing from that stem
Who can recount? 'T is He who
dies
For our sake in Jerusalem.'"
"In Jerusalem my Lover sweet
Twice as a lamb did thus appear,

Even as the prophets both repeat,
So meek the mien that He did wear;

The third time also, as is meet,
In the Revelation is written clear.

Reading a book on His high seat
Midmost the throne that saints
ensphere,
The Apostle John beheld Him near;
That book seven
sacred seals begem;
And at that sight all folk felt fear
In hell, in
earth and Jerusalem."
XV
This Jerusalem Lamb had never stain
Of other hue than perfect white,

That showeth neither streak nor strain
Of soil, but is like wool to
sight;
And souls that free of sin remain
The Lamb receiveth with
delight;
And, though each day a group we gain,
There comes no
strife for room nor right,
Nor rivalry our bliss to blight.
The more
the merrier, I profess.
In company our love grows bright,
In honour
more and never less.
"Lessening of bliss no comer brings
To us who bear this pearl at
breast;

Nor show they flaws nor tarnishings
Who wear such pure
pearls like a crest.
Though round our corpses the clay clings,
And

though ye mourn us without rest,
Knowledge have we of goodly
things.
Through the first death our hope we test;
Grief goes; at each
mass we are blest
By the Lamb Who gives us happiness;
The bliss
of each is bright and best,
And no one's honour is the less."
"That thou my tale the less may doubt,
In the Revelation 'tis told, and
more:
'I saw,' says John, 'a goodly rout
The hill of Zion covering
o'er,
The Lamb, with maidens round about,
An hundred thousand
and forty and four,
And each brow, fairly written out,
The Lamb's
name and His Father's bore.
Then a sound from heaven I heard
outpour,
As streams, full laden, foam and press,
Or as thunders
among dark crags roar,
The tumult was, and nothing less."
"'Nathless, though high that shout might ring,
And loud the voices
sounding near,
A strain full new I heard them sing,
And sweet and
strange it was to hear.
Like harper's hands upon the string
Was that
new song they sang so clear;
The noble notes went vibrating,
And
gentle words came to my ear.
Close by God's throne, without one fear,

Where the four beasts His power confess,
And the elders stand so
grave of cheer,
They sang their new song, none the less."
"'Nathless is none with skill so fine,
For all the