[Caitlin]

Here are some more quotes copied from the public domain book, Pearls and Pearling Life by Edwin Streeter:

" The floor is of sand like the mountain drift, And the Pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow; From coral-rock^ the sea-plants lift
Their boughs where 'the tides and· billows flow."

—James Percival (American Poet).

" Errors like straws upon the surface flow, He who would search for Pearls must dive below."

Dryden.

" The sea-born shell conceals the Unio round, Called by that name, as always single'found, One in one shell, for ne'er a larger race Within their pearly walls the valves embrace.

Marbodus.

" And precious the tear as the rain from the sky, Which turns into Pear! as it falls in the sea."

—Thomas Moore.

Some asked how Pearls did grow and where ? Then spoke I to my girl : To part her lips, and showed them there— The quarelets of Pearl."

—Robert Herrick.

" Pearls and gems of lustre bright, All sleep beneath the wave."

Barton

The diamond sleeps within the mine, the pearl beneath the water

“Ocean’s gem the purest of nature’s works! What days of weary journeyings, what sleepless nights, what toils on land and sea Are born by men to gain thee!

These spoils of Neptune, th’Indian oceanboasts”

Marbodus

" The floor is of sand like the mountain drift, And the Pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow; From coral-rock^ the sea-plants lift
Their boughs where 'the tides and· billows flow."

—James Percival (American Poet

" She meets with Conway first, which lyeth next at hand Whose precious orient Pearle that breedeth in her sand, Above the other floods of Britalne doth her grace."

—Drayton's Polyolbion

Brighter the offspring of the morning dew, The evening yields a duskier birth to view ; The younger shells produce a whiter race, We greater age in darker colours trace."

marbodus

" The fair Pearl Necklace of the Queen,
That burst in dancing, and the Pearls were spilt ;
Some lost, some stolen, some as relics kept,
But nevermore the same two Sister Pearls,
Ran down the silken thread to kiss each other
On her white neck."

— Tennyson's " Merlin and Vivien."

Fresh from the merchant, diamonds convey no sentiment but wealth;

To thee as thy loadstars resplendently burn.
In their clear depths of blue, with devotion I turn. Bright Cross of the South! and beholding thee shine, Scarce regret the loved land of the olive and vine."

—Mrs. Hemans

“So pray you add my diamonds to her pearls”