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Greenstone of Angelina
| Open Poetry #37 |
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Greenstone of Angelina |
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poettothecars Senior Member
since 2006-02-10
Posts 1093New Zealand 
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5408 Greenstone of Angelina 20 May 2006 What was jade, a precious gem a Greenstone carved in grace Beauty to the eye, mineral to partake waters sweet to taste, as to tingle upon a tongue Her smile, her eyes, that grin, colours of blue to green. An echo heard from afar a locket, a necklace, an embrace Amber to mercy, an Angelina to speak God’s angel in spirit given To rest, to sleep, her breath upon a shoulder borne Jadeite and Nephrite, ornamental in kind This was jade, her wonder her heart, an essence to find Jade is a name given to ornamental stones that were being brought to Europe from China and Central America. When it was not until 1863 that it was realized that the naming of “Jade” was being applied to two different minerals, Jadeite and Nephrite. The two minerals in relation to jade and are hard to distinguish from each other. So both are known as being Jade. Jade is said to have a strength greater than steel and was used by many early civilizations for axes, knives and weapons. It was only later during the 19th century that jade became a symbolic stone used in ornaments and other religious artefacts. Jade is valued for its beauty, its many colours and its the emerald green colour that jadeite produces so well, that is highly sought after by artwork collectors. This emerald green jade called "Imperial Jade" is coloured by chromium. Nephrite is usually only green and creamy white, while jadeite can have the full range of jade's colours. Greenstone is the name commonly used for the predominantly greenish-coloured rock from New Zealand which the Maori (Polynesian peoples) once used as weapons and tools. They also used greenstone for ornaments such as neck and ear pendants. New Zealand greenstone is mainly the mineral nephrite (in the Maori language known as pounamu). Amber is a fossil resin used for the manufacture of ornamental objects. Although not mineralized it is considered and used as a gemstone. © 2006 Christopher W Herbert (a New Zealand Poet) a poet who cares |
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| © Copyright 2006 Christopher W Herbert - All Rights Reserved | |||
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