Christa Giles

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eternity in a moment. Huysmans and Wilde also have the
tendency to list precious gems in a catalogue, revelling in
the exotic sounding words and erudite allusions. Meaning
was unimportant; words were used in a painterly fashion –
the concern being with surfaces and decorative detail. In
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian not only catalogues
jewels, but discovers ˝wonderful stories˝ 315 about them.
And in Salomé, Herod tries to bribe Salomé with jewels in
an attempt to get her to dance:
I have jewels hidden in this place – jewels that
your mother even has never seen; jewels that
are marvellous. I have a collar of pearls, set in
four rows. They are like unto moons chained
with rays of silver. They are like fifty moons
caught in a golden net. On the ivory of her
breast a queen has worn it. Thou shalt be as
fair as a queen when thou wearest it. I have
amethysts of two kinds, one that is black like
wine, and one that is red like wine which has
been coloured with water. I have topazes,
yellow as are the eyes of tigers, and topazes
that are as the eyes of cats. I have opals that
burn always with an ice-like flame, opals that
make sad men’s minds, and are fearful of the
shadows. I have onyxes like the eyeballs of a
dead woman. I have moonstones that change
when the moon changes, and are wan when