Pearl

• "I dewyne, fordolked of luf-daungere" [I waste away, terribly wounded by grief ]
• þrych my herte [stabs my heart - later in the poem, it is revealed that Christ was þryȝt through his hands]
• "my breste in bale bot bolne and bele."
• “Þaȝ kynde of Kryst me comfort kenned,/ My wreched wylle in wo ay wraȝte.” [Though the nature of Christ taught me consolation, my wretched will was ever in torment.]
• “More and more, and ȝet wel mare," [more and more, and yet still more]
• Possessive nouns: ‘my jeul’; ‘my precios perle’
• "And much to blame and vncortayse/ Þat leuez oure Lorde wolde make a lyȝe.” [greatly to be blamed and discourteous who believes our Lord would deceive - religious discourtesy]
• “Delyt me drof in yȝe and ere,/ My maneȝ mynde to maddyng malte [...]  þaȝ I þer swalte.” - willingness to die to be reunited with his pearl aligns with the tradition of medieval courtly lovers: possession becomes a matter of life or death.
• Thou ne woste in worlde quat on dos mene/ Thy worde byfore thy wytte con fle.
• Pearl symbolism: purity; virginity; Virgin Mary --> the father is a 'jeuler': material worth + beauty; In the works of Augustine, Christ refers to the soul as 'the most splendid jewel.'