What Is Vermeer's Girl With A Pearl Ear Ring Really Thinking?

VERMEER'S GIRL WITH A PEARL EAR RING?


"Listen, lady, listen",
I cried.
"It sings in my ear"
and in my head
The Orient shimmered.
His gift was exquisite
a world unto itself.
Perfect,
powerful with secrets, it shone,
and whole worlds
danced before us
in the pearl gleam.

Amused, my lady placed
the ring in my ear
and I stood
among the beauties and mysteries,
a servant girl,
recorded in the pearl glow,
adding gratefully
to its silent wisdom.
And sparkling seas
that flow out
to strange, unknowable lives
passed before my eyes.

But,
my lady, though rich
and handsome,
is spoiled and bored,
without the wit to understand,
the value of the gift
love lays in her hand.


John R. Nicoll.