Pearls, tears of the sea

Heaven has shed a tear
that meant to lose itself in the sea;
but the mussel came and locked it in:
you shall now be my pearl.
You should not fear the waves;
I will carry you peacefully through.
O you my pain, you my joy,
you tear of heaven in my bosom!
Heaven grant that with a pure soul
I may guard the purest of your tears.

Authorship

• by Emily Ezust (b. 1972), "Heaven has shed a tear", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), no title, appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 3. Liebesfrühling, in 1. Erster Strauß. Erwacht, no. 4
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The sea hath its pearls,
The heaven hath its stars;
But my heart, my heart,
My heart has its love.

Great are the sea and the heaven;
Yet greater is my heart,
And fairer than pearls and stars
Flashes and beams my love.

Thou little, youthful maiden,
Come unto my great heart;
My heart, and the sea and the heaven
Are melting away [with]1 love!

Authorship

• by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The sea hath its pearls", appears in The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, first published 1846 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Nordsee, in Erster Zyklus, in 7. Nachts in der Kajüte, no. 1
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¹ White: "for"

Researcher for this text: Joanna Lonergan