In "Arethusa" he uses them to enhance the idea of regal magnificence in these lines:
Where the Ocean Powers
Sit on their pearlèd thrones.
The poets rarely refer to the gem as a symbol of spiritual attributes though it is peculiarly adapted by its natural qualities to illustrate purity, innocence, and other qualities of the human soul: nor is it often connected with religious ideas. Among the few, Andrew Marvell in his "Song of the Emigrants in Burmuda," avails himself of it somewhat prosaically thus,
He cast (of which we rather boast)
The Gospel's pearl upon our coast.
One of the most poetically beautiful references ever made to the Ocean's modest jewel occurs in the "The Rosary" by Robert Cameron Rogers.
The hours I spend with thee, dear heart,
Are as a string of pearls to me;
I count them over every one apart,