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Of six preceding ancestors, that gem, Conferr’d by testament to the sequent issue, Hath it been owed and worn. This is his wife; That ring’s a thousand proofs.
1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost., London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker; nd by Robert Boulter; nd Matthias Walker,, →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books:, London: Basil Montagu Pickering, 1873, →OCLC, lines 647-649:
[…] then silent Night With this her solemn Bird and this fair Moon, And these the Gemms of Heav’n, her starrie train:
2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 June 2012, page 128:
Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.
2017 January 20, Annie Zaleski, “AFI sounds refreshed and rejuvenated on its 10th album, AFI (The Blood Album)”, in The Onion AV Club:
Standout “Hidden Knives” is the kind of new wave-leaning punk gem John Hughes would’ve loved, while “So Beneath You” is a teeth-baring, roiling tune.
Anything of small size, or expressed within brief limits, which is regarded as a gem on account of its beauty or value, such as a small picture, a verse of poetry, or an epigram.
c.1668, John Denham (translator), Of Old Age by Cato the Elder, Part 3, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: H. Herringman, 4th edition, 1773, p. 35,
Among the crooked Lanes, on every Hedge, / The Glow-Worm lights his Gem[…].
1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, p. xcii,
In about twelve days the sprouts from the gems of the planted cane are seen
[T]he fair star / That gems the glittering coronet of morn, / Sheds not a light so mild, so powerful, / As that which, bursting from the Fairy's form, / Spread a purpureal halo round the scene, / Yet with an undulating motion, / Swayed to her outline gracefully.
1827, Various, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10,:
A few bright and beautiful stars gemmed the wide concave of heaven[…].
1872, J. Fenimore Cooper, The Bravo:
Above was the firmament, gemmed with worlds, and sublime in immensity.
1920, John Freeman, Poems New and Old:
The rain Shook from fruit bushes in new showers again As I brushed past, and gemmed the window pane.
1922 February, Miriam Campbell, “A Dream of Brittany”, in The Educational Times: A Review of Ideas and Methods, volume IV (new series)/LXXIV (old series), page 64, column 1:
And those salt tears your lashes gemmed / Were but the breath of flame distilled; / Flame white and pure, and diademmed / With suffering,—pain with joy fulfilled.