"The poem tells of a man who falls asleep in a garden, mourning the loss of his ‘perle’; in a dream, he encounters the 'pearl-maiden' - a beautiful and heavenly woman, who might be his daughter or his lover - standing on the opposite bank of a river in a sublime, unworldly landscape. In response to his questions and evident desire to reach her she shows him an image of the heavenly city, with herself as part of the ‘retinue of Christ the Lamb’. However, when the dreamer attempts to cross the stream to join her, he suddenly awakens, alone in the garden again" - David Lancaster.