glittering

[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.

Gaur was an example of a man without a BA who seemed infinitely better educated than the fellows who left Fort Hare with glittering degrees.