JaneDraycott AversionofthefirsttwosectionsofPearl
The 14th-centurydream-visionknownas Pearl has enjoyeda somewhat narrower readershipandagreat deal less attention fromtranslatorsthanitssisterpoemfromthe same manuscript SirGawainandtheGreenKnight(BritishMuseum–MSCotton Nero A. x). Widely interpreted as a devotional work of consolationonthe deathof aninfant daughter, the poemis admiredas muchfor the strikingintricacyof its lexical and harmonic patterningas for its elegiac power, andthe most recent–andveryvivid–scholarlytranslationbyMarieBorroff (W.W.Norton, 1999) skilfully re-animates that formal patterninginall itsprincipal aspects. Thisversion (from which the following two sectionsare the firstoftwenty) aimsto move awayfromsomeof thestrictregularityof theoriginal towards a more fluidandechoingcharacter, andis indebtedto the invaluableinterest andadviceof BernardO’Donoghueandto thesupportof ArtsCouncil SouthEast.