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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a83b48 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53226 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53226) diff --git a/old/53226-0.txt b/old/53226-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 24c4934..0000000 --- a/old/53226-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2489 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Oscar Wilde, a study, by André Gide - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Oscar Wilde, a study - -Author: André Gide - -Commentator: Stuart Mason - -Release Date: October 6, 2016 [EBook #53226] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OSCAR WILDE, A STUDY *** - - - - -Produced by Winston Smith. Images provided by The Internet Archive. - - - - - - OSCAR WILDE - - - This Edition consists of 500 copies. - Fifty copies have been printed on - hand-made paper. - - - [Illustration: 'HOW UTTER.'] - - - - - Oscar Wilde - - A STUDY - - FROM THE FRENCH OF - - ANDRÉ GIDE - - WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY - - BY - - STUART MASON - - - - Oxford - - THE HOLYWELL PRESS - - MCMV - - - * * * * * - - - TO - - DONALD BRUCE WALLACE, - - OF NEW YORK, - - IN MEMORY OF A VISIT LAST SUMMER TO - - BAGNEUX CEMETERY, - - A PILGRIMAGE OF LOVE WHEN WE - - WATERED WITH OUR TEARS THE ROSES AND LILIES - - WITH WHICH WE COVERED - - THE POET'S GRAVE. - - - - Oxford, - - September, 1905. - - - - -[The little poem on the opposite page first saw the light in the pages -of the _Dublin University Magazine_ for September, 1876. It has not -been reprinted since. The Greek quotation is taken from the _Agamemnon_ -of Æschylos, l. 120. ] - - - -Αἴλινον, αἴινον εἰπὲ, - -Τὸ δ᾽ ευ̉ νικάτω - - O well for him who lives at ease - With garnered gold in wide domain, - Nor heeds the plashing of the rain, - The crashing down of forest trees. - - O well for him who ne'er hath known - The travail of the hungry years, - A father grey with grief and tears, - A mother weeping all alone. - - But well for him whose feet hath trod - The weary road of toil and strife, - Yet from the sorrows of his life - Builds ladders to be nearer God. - - - Oscar F. O'F. Wills Wilde. - - - _S. M. Magdalen College,_ - - _Oxford._ - - - - NOTE. - -M. Gide's Study of Mr. Oscar Wilde (perhaps the best account yet -written of the poet's latter days) appeared first in _L'Ermitage_, a -monthly literary review, in June, 1902. It was afterwards reprinted -with some few slight alterations in a volume of critical essays, -entitled _Prétextes_, by M. Gide. It is now published in English for -the first time, by special arrangement with the author. - -S. M. - - - CONTENTS. - - PAGE - - Poem by Oscar Wilde .................................... xi - - Introductory ........................................... 1 - - Inscription on Oscar Wilde's Tombstone ................. 11 - - Letters from M. André Gide ............................. 12 - - Oscar Wilde: from the French of André Gide ............. 15 - - Sonnet 'To Oscar Wilde,' by Augustus M. Moore .......... 89 - - List of Published Writings of Oscar Wilde .............. 93 - - Bibliographical Notes on The English Editions .......... 107 - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - PAGE - - Cartoon: 'How Utter' .......................... Frontispiece - (From a Cartoon published by Messrs. Shrimpton at - Oxford about 1880. By permission of Mr. Hubert - Giles, 23 Broad St., Oxford). - - Oscar Wilde at Oxford, 1878 ............................ 16 - (By permission of Mr. Hubert Giles). - - Oscar Wilde in 1893 .................................... 48 - (From a Photograph by Messrs. Gillman & Co., Oxford). - - The Grave at Bagneux ................................... 80 - (By permission of the Proprietors of _The Sphere_ - and _The Tatler_). - - Reduced Facsimile of the Cover of _'The Woman's World'_ 96 - - - * * * * * - - - Oscar Wilde - - Introductory. - - -Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born at 1 Merrion Square, -North, Dublin, on October 16th, 1854. He was the second son of Sir -William Robert Wilde, Knight, a celebrated surgeon who was President -of the Irish Academy and Chairman of the Census Committee. Sir William -Wilde was born in 1799, and died at the age of seventy-seven years. - -Oscar Wilde's mother was Jane Francesca, daughter of Archdeacon Elgee. -She was born in 1826, and married in 1851. She became famous in -literary circles under the pen-names of 'Speranza' and 'John Fenshawe -Ellis,' among her published writings being _Driftwood from Scandinavia_ -(1884), _Legends of Ireland_ (1886), and _Social Studies_ (1893). Lady -Wilde died at her residence in Chelsea on February 3rd, 1896[1]. - -Oscar Wilde received his early education at Portora Royal School, -Enniskillen, which he entered in 1864 at the age of nine years. Here he -remained for seven years, and, winning a Royal scholarship, he entered -Trinity College, Dublin, on October 19th, 1871, being then seventeen -years of age. In the following year he obtained First Class Honours in -Classics in Hilary, Trinity and Michaelmas Terms; he also won the Gold -Medal for Greek[2] and other distinctions. The Trinity College Magazine -_Kottabos_, for the years 1876-9, contains some of his earliest -published poems. In 1874 he obtained a classical scholarship[3], and -went up to Oxford, where, as a demy, he matriculated at Magdalen -College on October 17th, the day after his twentieth birthday. His -career at Oxford was one unbroken success. In Trinity Term (June), -1876, he obtained a First Class in the Honour School of Classical -Moderations (_in literis Græcis et Latinis_), which he followed up two -years later by a similar distinction in 'Greats' or 'Honour Finals' -(_in literis humanioribus_). In this same Trinity Term[4], 1878, he -further distinguished himself by gaining the Sir Roger Newdigate Prize -for English Verse with his poem, 'Ravenna[5],' which he recited at -the Encænia or Annual Commemoration of Benefactors in the Sheldonian -Theatre on June 26th. He proceeded to the degree of B. A. in the -following term[6]. He is described in Foster's _Alumni Oxonienses_ as a -'Professor of Æsthetics and Art critic.' - -He afterwards lectured on Art in America[7], 1882, and in the provinces -on his return to England. About this time he wrote his poems, _The -Sphinx_ and _The Harlot's House_ (1883), and his tragedy in blank -verse, _The Duchess of Padua_. The latter was written specially for -Miss Mary Anderson, but she did not produce it. This was, however, -played in America by the late Lawrence Barrett in 1883, as was also -another play in blank verse, entitled _Vera, or the Nihilists_, during -the previous year. He had already published in America and England a -volume of _Poems_, which went through several editions in a few months. - -In 1884 Oscar Wilde married[8] Miss Constance Mary Lloyd, a daughter -of the well-known Q. C., by whom he had two sons, born in June, 1885, -and November, 1886, respectively. Mrs. Wilde died in 1898, and his only -brother, William, in March of the following year. - -During the next five or six years after his marriage, articles -from his pen appeared in several of the leading reviews, notably -'The Portrait of Mr. W. H.' in _Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine_ for -July, 1889, and those brilliant essays afterwards incorporated in -_Intentions_, in _The Nineteenth Century_ and _The Fortnightly Review_. -In 1888 he was the editor of a monthly journal called _The Woman's -World_. In July, 1890,_ The Picture of Dorian Gray_ appeared in -_Lippincott's Monthly Magazine_. It was the only novel he ever wrote, -and was published in book form with seven additional chapters in the -following year, and is one of the most remarkable books in the English -language. - -With the production and immediate success of _Lady Windermere's Fan_ -early in 1892, he was at once recognised as a dramatist of the first -rank. This was followed a year later by _A Woman of No Importance_, -and after brief intervals by _An Ideal Husband_ and _The Importance of -Being Earnest_[9]. The two latter were being played in London at the -time of the author's arrest and trial. - -Into the melancholy story of his trial it is not proposed to enter here -beyond mentioning the fact that he was condemned by the newspapers, -and, consequently, by the vast majority of the British public, several -weeks before a jury could be found to return a verdict of 'guilty.' On -Saturday, May 25th, 1895, he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment -with hard labour, most of which period was passed at Wandsworth and -Reading. - -On his release from Reading on Wednesday, May 19th, 1897, he at once -crossed to France with friends, and a few days later penned that -pathetic letter, pregnant with pity, in which he pleaded for the -kindlier treatment of little children lying in our English gaols. This -letter, with his own name attached, filled over two columns in _The -Daily Chronicle_ of May 28th. It created considerable sensation--a -well-known Catholic weekly comparing it 'in its crushing power to the -letter with which Stevenson shamed the shameless traducer of Father -Damien.' A second letter on the subject of the cruelties of the English -Prison system appeared in the same paper on March 24th, 1898. It was -headed: 'Don't Read This if You Want to be Happy To-day,' and was -signed 'The Author of _The Ballad of Reading Gaol_.' _The Ballad of -Reading Gaol_ was published early in this same year under the _nom -de plume_ 'C.3.3.,' Oscar Wilde's prison number. Its authorship was -acknowledged shortly afterwards in an autograph edition. Since that -time countless editions of this famous work have been issued in England -and America, and translations have appeared in French, German and -Spanish. Of this poem a reviewer in a London journal said,--'The whole -is awful as the pages of Sophocles. That he has rendered with his -fine art so much of the essence of his life and the life of others in -that _inferno_ to the sensitive, is a memorable thing for the social -scientist, but a much more memorable thing for literature. This is a -simple, a poignant, a great ballad, one of the greatest in the English -language.' - -Of the sorrows and sufferings of the last few years of his life, his -friend Mr. Robert Harborough Sherard has written in _The Story of an -Unhappy Friendship_, and M. Gide refers to them in the following pages. - -After several weeks of intense suffering 'Death the silent pilot' came -at last, and the most brilliant writer of the nineteenth century passed -away on the afternoon of November 30th, 1900, in poverty and almost -alone. The little hotel in Paris--Hotel d'Alsace, 13 rue des Beaux -Arts,--where he died, has become a place of pilgrimage from all parts -of the world for those who admire his genius or pity his sorrows. He -was buried, three days later, in the cemetery at Bagneux, about four -miles out of Paris. - -STUART MASON. - - -[1] In 1890 Lady Wilde received a pension of £50 from the Civil List. - -[2] The subject for this year, 1874, was 'The Fragments of the Greek -Comic Poets, as edited by Meineke.' The medal was presented annually, -from a fund left for the purpose by Bishop Berkeley. - -[3] The demyship was of the annual value of £95, and was tenable for -five years. Oscar Wilde's success was announced in the _University -Gazette_ (Oxford), July 11, 1874. - -[4] On Wednesday, May 1st, Oscar Wilde, dressed as Prince Rupert, was -present at a fancy dress ball given by Mrs. George Herbert Morrell at -Headington Hill Hall. - -[5] 'The Newdigate was listened to with rapt attention and frequently -applauded.'--_Oxford and Cambridge Undergraduates' Journal_, June 27, -1878. - -[6] The degree of B. A. was conferred upon him on Thursday, Novemher -28, 1878. - -[7] Amongst the places he visited were New York, Louisville (Kentucky), -Omaha City and California. In the autumn of this same year, 1882, after -leaving the States, Mr. Wilde went to Canada and thence to Nova Scotia, -arriving at Halifax about October 8th. - -[8] The announcement in _The Times_ of May 31, 1884, was as -follows:--'May 29, at S. James's Church, Paddington, by the Rev. Walter -Abbott, Vicar, Oscar, younger son of the late Sir William Wilde, M. D., -of Dublin, to Constance Mary, only daughter of the late Horace Lloyd, -Esq., Q. C.' - -[9] Of _The Importance of Being Earnest_ the author is reported to have -said, 'The first act is ingenious, the second beautiful, the third -abominably clever.' It was revived by Mr. George Alexander at the St. -James's Theatre on January 7, 1902; and _Lady Windermere's Fan_ on -November 19, 1904. - - - - * * * * * - - - [Illustration: A cross.] - - - Oscar Wilde - - OCT. 16TH, 1854--NOV. 30TH, 1900. - - VERBIS MEIS ADDERE NIHIL AUDEBANT - ET SUPER ILLOS STILLABAT ELOQUIUM - MEUM. - - JOB XXIX, 22 - - R. I. P. - - - _Inscription on Oscar Wilde's Tombstone._ - - - * * * * * - - - - _Letters from M. André Gide._ - - - I. - - - CHÂTEAU DE CUVERVILLE, - - PAR CRIQUETOT L'ESNEVAL, - - SNE. INFERIEURE. - - Monsieur, - - Quelque plaisir que j'aurai de voir mon étude sur Wilde traduite en - anglais, je ne puis vous répondre avant d'avoir correspondu avec mon - éditeur. L'article en question, après avoir paru dans 'l'Ermitage,' - a été réunie à d'autres études dans un volume, _Prétextes_, que le - _Mercure de France_ édita l'an dernier. Un traité me lie à cette - maison et je ne suis pas libre de décider seul. - - Votre lettre a mis quelque temps à me parvenir ici, où pourtant - j'habite. Dès que j'aurai la réponse du _Mercure de France_ je - m'empresserai de vous la faire savoir. - - Veuillez croire, Monsieur, à l'assurance de mes meilleurs sentiments. - - ANDRÉ GIDE. - -_Septembre 9, 1904._ - - - II. - - Monsieur, - - Je laisse à mon éditeur le soin de vous écrire au sujet des conditions - de la publication en anglais de mon étude..... Je désire, comme je - vous le disais, que la traduction que vous proposez de faire se - reporte au texte donné par le _Mercure de France_ dans mon volume - _Prétextes_, et non à celui, fautif, de 'l'Ermitage.'.... - - Le texte des contes de Wilde que je cite s'éloigne, ainsi que vous - pouvez le voir, du texte anglais que Wilde lui-même en a donné. Il - importe que ce _texte oral_ reste différent du texte écrit de ces - 'poems in prose.' Je crois, si ridicule que cela puisse paraître - d'abord, qu'il faut retraduire en anglais le texte francais que j'en - donne (et que j'ai écrit presque sous la dictée de Wilde) et non pas - citer simplement le texte anglais tel que Wilde le rédigea plus tard. - L'effet en est très différent. - - Veuillez croire, Monsieur, à l'assurance de mes sentiments les - meilleurs. - - ANDRÉ GIDE. - -_Septembre 14th, 1904._ - - - * * * * * - - - Oscar Wilde - -I was at Biskra in December, 1900, when I learned through the -newspapers of the lamentable end of Oscar Wilde. Distance, alas! -prevented me from joining in the meagre procession which followed his -body to the cemetery at Bagneux. It was of no use reproaching myself -that my absence would seem to diminish still further the small number -of friends who remained faithful to him--at least I wanted to write -these few pages at once, but for a considerable period Wilde's name -seemed to become once more the property of the newspapers. - -Now that every idle rumour connected with his name, so sadly famous, -is hushed; now that the mob is at last wearied after having praised, -wondered at, and then reviled him, perhaps, a friend may be allowed -to lay, like a wreath on a forsaken grave, these lines of affection, -admiration, and respectful pity. - -When the trial, with all its scandal, which so excited the public mind -in England threatened to wreck his life, certain writers and artists -attempted to carry out, in the name of literature and art, a kind of -rescue. It was hoped that by praising the writer the man would be -excused. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding here, for it must -be acknowledged that Wilde was not a great writer. The leaden buoy -which was thrown to him helped only to weigh him down; his works, far -from keeping him up, seemed to sink with him. In vain were some hands -stretched out: the torrent of the world overwhelmed him--all was over. - -[Illustration: OSCAR WILDE AT OXFORD, 1878.] - -It was not possible at that time to think of defending him in any other -way. Instead of trying to shelter the man behind his work, it was -necessary to show forth first the man as an object of admiration--as -I am going to try to do now--and then the work itself illuminated by -his personality. 'I have put all my genius into my life; I have put -only my talent into my works,' said Wilde once. Great writer, no, but -great _viveur_, yes, if one may use the word in the fullest sense of -the French term. Like certain Greek philosophers of old, Wilde did not -write his wisdom, but spoke and lived it, entrusting it rashly to the -fleeting memory of man, thereby writing it as it were on water. - -Let those who knew him for a longer time than I did, tell the story of -his life. One of those who listened to him the most eagerly relates -here simply a few personal recollections. - - - - I. - - And the mighty nations would have crowned me, who - am crownless now and without name, - And some orient dawn had found me kneeling on the - threshold of the House of Fame. - - - - I. - -Those who became acquainted with Wilde only in the latter years of his -life form a wrong conception of the wonderful creature he formerly was, -if they judge from the enfeebled and crushed being given back to us -from prison, as Ernest Lajeunesse paints him, for instance, in the best -or rather the only passable article on the great reprobate which any -one has had the talent or the courage to write[1]. - -It was in 1891 that I met him for the first time. Wilde had -then what Thackeray calls 'one of the greatest of a great man's -qualities'--success[2]. His manner and his appearance were triumphant. -His success was so assured that it seemed to go in front of him, and -he had only to advance. His books were causing wonder and delight. All -London was soon to rush to see his plays[3]. He was rich, he was great, -he was handsome, he was loaded with happiness and honours. - -Some compared him to an Asiatic Bacchus, others to some Roman Emperor, -and others again to Apollo himself,--in short, he was resplendent. -In Paris his name passed from mouth to mouth as soon as he arrived. -Several absurd sayings went round concerning him, as that after all he -was only the man who smoked gold-tipped cigarettes, and walked about -the streets with a sunflower in his hand. For, skilful in misleading -those who are the heralds of earthly fame, Wilde knew how to hide his -real personality behind an amusing phantom, with which he humorously -deluded the public. - -I had heard him talked about at Stéphane Mallarmé's house, where he was -described as a brilliant conversationalist, and I expressed a wish to -know him, little hoping that I should ever do so. A happy chance, or -rather a friend, gave me the opportunity, and to him I made known my -desire. Wilde was invited to dinner. It was at a restaurant. We were a -party of four, but three of us were content to listen. Wilde did not -converse--he told tales. During the whole meal he hardly stopped. He -spoke in a slow, musical tone, and his very voice was wonderful. He -knew French almost perfectly, but pretended, now and then, to hesitate -a little for a word to which he wanted to call our attention. He had -scarcely any accent, at least only what it pleased him to affect when -it might give a somewhat new or strange appearance to a word--for -instance, he used purposely to pronounce _scepticisme_ as skepticisme. -The stories he told us without a break that evening were not of his -best. Uncertain of his audience he was testing us, for, in his wisdom, -or perhaps in his folly, he never betrayed himself into saying anything -which he thought would not be to the taste of his hearers; so he doled -out food to each according to his appetite. Those who expected nothing -from him got nothing, or only a little light froth, and as at first -he used to give himself up to the task of amusing, many of those who -thought they knew him will have known him only as the amuser. - -When dinner was over we went out. My two friends walking together, -Wilde took me aside and said quite suddenly, 'You hear with your eyes; -that is why I am going to tell you this story.' - -He began:-- - - 'When Narcissus died, the Flowers of the Fields were plunged in grief, - and asked the River for drops of water that they might mourn for him. - - '"Oh," replied the River, "if all my drops of water were tears, I - should not have enough to weep for Narcissus myself--I loved him." - - '"How could you help loving Narcissus?" rejoined the Flowers, "so - beautiful was he." - - '"Was he beautiful?" asked the River. - - '"And who should know that better than yourself?" said the Flowers, - "for, every day, lying on your bank, he would mirror his own beauty in - your waters."' - -Wilde stopped for a moment, and then went on:-- - - '"If I loved him," replied the River, "it is because when he hung over - my waters I saw the reflection of my waters in his eyes."' - -Then Wilde, drawing himself up, added with a strange outburst of -laughter, 'That is called _The Disciple_.' - -We had reached his door, and left him. He asked me to meet him again. -During the course of that year and the next I saw him frequently and -everywhere. - - * * * * * - -In the presence of others, as I have mentioned, Wilde would put on an -air of showing off in order to astonish, or amuse, or even exasperate -people. He never listened to, and scarcely took any notice of an idea -from the moment it was no longer purely his own. When he was no longer -the only one to shine, he would shut himself up, and emerge again -only when one found oneself alone with him once more. But as soon as -we were alone again he would begin, 'Well, what have you been doing -since yesterday?' Now, as at that time my life was passing uneventfully -enough, the telling of what I had been doing was of no interest. So, -to humour him, I began recounting some trifling incidents, and noticed -while I was speaking that Wilde's face was growing gloomy. - -'You really did that?' he said. - -'Yes,' I answered. - -'And you are speaking the truth?' - -'Absolutely.' - -'Then why repeat it? You must see that it is not of the slightest -importance. You must understand that there are two worlds--the one -exists and is never talked about; it is called the real world because -there is no need to talk about it in order to see it. The other is the -world of Art; one must talk about that, because otherwise it would not -exist.' - -Then he went on:-- - - 'Once upon a time there was a man who was beloved in his village - because he used to tell tales. Every morning he left the village, and - when he returned in the evening all the labourers of the village who - had been working all the day would crowd round him and say, "Come, - now, tell us a tale. What have you seen to-day?" - - 'The man said, "I have seen in the forest a Faun playing on a flute - and making a band of little wood-nymphs dance." - - '"Go on with your story; what did you see?" the men would say. - - '"When I reached the sea-shore, I saw three mermaids beside the waves, - combing their green hair with golden combs." - - 'And the villagers loved him because he used to tell them tales. - - 'One morning he left his village as usual, and when he reached the - sea-shore he saw three mermaids at the water's edge combing their - green hair with golden combs. And as he passed on his way he saw, near - a wood, a Faun playing a flute to a band of wood-nymphs. - - 'That evening when he returned to his village the people said to him - as they did every evening, "Come, tell us a tale: what have you seen?" - - 'And the man answered, "I have seen nothing."' - -Wilde stopped for a moment to allow the effect of the story to sink -into me, and then he continued, 'I do not like your lips; they are -quite straight, like the lips of a man who has never told a lie. I want -you to learn to lie so that your lips may become beautiful and curved -like the lips of an antique mask. - -'Do you know what makes the work of art, and what makes the work of -nature? Do you know what the difference is? For the narcissus is as -beautiful as a work of art, so what distinguishes them cannot be merely -beauty. Do you know what it is that distinguishes them? A work of art -is always unique. Nature, who makes nothing durable, is ever repeating -herself, so that nothing she makes may be lost. A single narcissus -produces many blooms--that is why each one lives but a day. Every time -Nature invents a new form she at once makes a _replica_. A sea-monster -in one sea knows that in another sea there is another monster like -itself. When God creates in history a Nero, a Borgia or a Napoleon -He puts another one on one side. No one knows it, but that does not -matter; the important point is that _one_ may be a success. For God -makes man, and man makes the work of art.' - -Forestalling what I was on the point of saying, he proceeded, 'Yes, -I know ... one day a great restlessness fell upon the earth, as if, -at last, Nature was going to create something unique, something quite -unique, and Christ is born on earth. Yes, I know, quite well, but -listen:-- - - 'When Joseph of Arimathæa came down in the evening from Mount Calvary - where Jesus had just died, he saw on a white stone a young man seated - weeping. And Joseph went near to him and said, "I understand how great - thy grief must be, for certainly that Man was a just Man." But the - young man made answer, "Oh, it is not for that that I am weeping. I am - weeping because I, too, have wrought miracles. I also have given sight - to the blind, I have healed the palsied, and I have raised the dead; - I, too, have caused the barren fig-tree to wither away, and I have - turned water into wine. And yet they have not crucified me[4]."' - -And that Oscar Wilde was convinced of his representative mission was -made quite clear to me on more than one occasion. - -The Gospel disturbed and troubled the pagan Wilde. He could not -forgive it its miracles. The pagan miracle lies in the work of Art; -Christianity encroached on it. Every strong departure from realism in -art demands a realism which is convinced in life. His most ingenious -fables, his most alarming ironies were uttered with a view to confront -the two moralities--I mean, pagan naturalism and Christian idealism, -and to put the latter out of countenance in every respect. This is -another of his stories:-- - - 'When Jesus was minded to return to Nazareth, Nazareth was so changed - that He no longer recognised His own city. The Nazareth where He had - lived was full of lamentations and tears; this city was filled with - outbursts of laughter and song. And Christ entering into the city saw - some slaves laden with flowers, hastening towards the marble staircase - of a house of white marble. Christ entered into the house, and at the - back of a hall of jasper He saw, lying on a purple couch, a man whose - disordered locks were mingled with red roses, and whose lips were - red with wine. Christ drew near to him, and laying His hand on his - shoulder said to him, "Why dost thou lead this life?" The man turned - round, recognized Him and said, "I was a leper once; Thou didst heal - me. Why should I live another life? " - - Christ went out of the house, and behold! in the street He saw a woman - whose face and raiment were painted and whose feet were shod with - pearls. And behind her walked a man who wore a cloak of two colours, - and whose eyes were bright with lust. And Christ went up to the man - and laid His hand on his shoulder, and said to him, "Tell Me why art - thou following this woman, and why dost thou look at her in such - wise?" The man turning round recognized Him and said, "I was blind; - Thou didst heal me; what else should I do with my sight?" - - 'And Christ drew near to the woman and said to her, "This road which - thou art following is the pathway of sin; why follow it?" The woman - recognized Him, and laughing said, "The way which I follow is a - pleasant way, and Thou hast pardoned all my sins." - - 'Then Christ felt His heart filled with sadness, and He was minded to - leave the city. But as He was going out of it He saw sitting by the - bank of the moat of the city, a young man who was weeping. He drew - near to him, and touching the locks of his hair, said to him, "Friend, - why dost thou weep?" The young man raised his eyes, recognized Him and - made answer, "I was dead and Thou hast raised me to life. What else - should I do with my life?"' - -Let me tell this one story more, illustrating one of the strangest -pitfalls into which the imagination can mislead a man, and let any one, -who is able, understand the strange paradox which Wilde here makes use -of:-- - - 'Then there was a great silence in the Judgment Hall of God. And the - Soul of the sinner stood naked before God. - - 'And God opened the Book of the life of the sinner and said, "Surely - thy life hath been very evil. Thou hast" (there followed a wonderful, - a marvellous list of sins[5]). "Since thou hast done all this, surely - I will send thee to Hell." - - 'And the man cried out, "Thou canst not send me to Hell." - - 'And God said to the man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Hell?" - - 'And the man made answer and said, "Because in Hell I have always - lived." - - 'And there was a great silence in the Judgment Hall of God. - - 'And God spake and said to the man, "Seeing that I may not send thee - to Hell, I am going to send thee to Heaven." - - '"Thou canst not send me to Heaven." - - 'And God said to the man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Heaven?" - - 'And the man said, "Because I have never been able to imagine it." - - 'And there was a great silence in the Judgment Hall of God[6].' - -One morning Wilde handed me an article in which a sufficiently dense -critic congratulated him on 'knowing how to write pretty stories in -which the better to clothe his thoughts.' - -'They think,' began Wilde, 'that all thoughts come naked to the birth. -They do not understand that I _cannot_ think otherwise than in stories. -The sculptor does not try to reproduce his thoughts in marble; _he -thinks in marble_, straight away. Listen:-- - - 'There was once a man who could think only in bronze. And this man one - day had an idea, an idea of _The Pleasure that Abideth for a Moment_. - And he felt that he must give expression to it. But in the whole world - there was but one single piece of bronze, for men had used it all up. - And this man felt that he would go mad if he did not give expression - to his idea. And he remembered a piece of bronze on the tomb of his - wife, a statue which he had himself fashioned to set on the tomb of - his wife, the only woman he had ever loved. It was the image of _The - Sorrow that Endureth for Ever_. And the man felt that he was becoming - mad, because he could not give expression to his idea. Then he took - this image of Sorrow, of the _Sorrow that endureth for Ever_, and - broke it up and melted it and fashioned of it an Image of Pleasure, of - the _Pleasure that abideth for a Moment_.' - -Wilde was a believer in a certain fatality besetting the path of the -artist, and that the _Man_ is at the mercy of the Idea. 'There are,' he -used to say, 'artists of two kinds: some supply answers, and others ask -questions. It is necessary to know if one belongs to those who answer -or to those who ask questions; for the one who asks questions is never -the one who answers them. There are certain works which wait for their -interpretation for a long time. It is because they are giving answers -to questions that have not yet been asked--for the question often comes -a terribly long time after the answer.' - -And he added further, 'The soul is born old in the body; it is to -rejuvenate the soul that the body becomes old. Plato is Socrates young -again.' - -Then it was three years before I saw him again. - - -[1] In _La Revue Blanche_. - -[2] _Henry Esmond_, Book II, chap. XI. Thackeray puts these words into -the mouth of the famous Mr. Joseph Addison, who continues:--''T is the -result of all the others; 't is a latent power in him which compels the -favour of the gods, and subjugates fortune.' - -[3] Oscar Wilde's first play, _Lady Windermere's Fan_, was produced -at the St. James's Theatre on February 20, 1892. This was followed by -_A Woman of No Importance_, April 19, 1893, and _An Ideal Husband_, -January, 3, 1895, at Haymarket; and _The Importance of Being Earnest_, -February 14, 1895, at the St. James's. - -[4] This story appeared under the title of 'The Master' with other -Poems in Prose in _The Fortnightly Review_ for July, 1894. Two of them, -'The Disciple' and 'The House of Judgment,' were first published in -_The Spirit Lamp_ in 1893. This was a magazine published at Oxford -under the editorship of Lord Alfred Douglas, who had recently bought it -from the founder and changed its style and form. A complete set of the -fifteen numbers is now exceedingly scarce. - -[5] Henri Davray translated these 'Poems in Prose' in _La Revue -Blanche_. - -[6] Since Villiers de l'Isle-Adam has betrayed it, every one knows, -alas! the great secret of the Church: _There is no Purgatory!_ - - - - II. - - I have made my choice, have lived my poems, and - though youth is gone in wasted days, - I have found the lover's crown of myrtle better than - the poet's crown of bays. - - - - II. - -Here tragic reminiscences begin. - -A persistent rumour, growing louder and louder with the fame of his -successes (in London his plays were being acted in no less than three -different theatres at the same time[1]), attributed to Wilde strange -habits, on hearing of which, some people tempered their indignation -with a smile, while others were not in the least indignant. It was -claimed, moreover, as regards these alleged habits, that he concealed -them little, and often on the other hand paraded them--some said -courageously, others out of cynicism, and others for a pose. I was -filled with astonishment when I heard these rumours. In no way, all the -time that I had been intimate with him, had he given me the slightest -ground for suspicion. But already out of prudence numbers of his old -friends were deserting him. They did not yet actually cut him, but they -no longer made a point of saying they had met him. - -An extraordinary coincidence brought us together again. It was in -January, 1895. I was travelling. A peevish disposition urged me on, -and I sought solitude rather than novelty of scene. The weather was -frightful. I had fled from Algiers to Blidah, and I was about to quit -Blidah for Biskra. Just as I was leaving my hotel, I glanced, through -idle curiosity, at the slate on which visitors' names were inscribed. -What did I see there? By the side of my own name, actually touching it, -was Wilde's. I have said that I was thirsting to be alone, so I took -the sponge and rubbed my name out. Before reaching the railway station, -however, I was not quite sure that a little cowardice did not underlie -that act, so at once retracing my steps I had my bag taken upstairs and -wrote my name on the slate again. - -In the three years since I had seen him--for I can hardly count a short -meeting in Florence the year before--Wilde had certainly changed. -One felt that there was less tenderness in his look, that there was -something harsh in his laughter and a madness in his joy. He seemed, -at the same time, to be more sure of pleasing and less ambitious to -succeed therein. He had grown reckless, hardened, and conceited. -Strangely enough, he no longer spoke in fables, and during several days -that I tarried there I was not once able to draw the shortest tale from -him. My first impression was one of astonishment at finding him in -Algeria. - -'Oh,' he said to me, 'just now I am fleeing from art. I want only to -adore the sun. Have you ever noticed how the sun detests thought? The -sun always causes thought to withdraw itself and take refuge in the -shade. Thought dwelt in Egypt originally, but the sun conquered Egypt; -then it lived for a long time in Greece, and the sun conquered Greece, -then in Italy, and then in France. Nowadays all thought is driven back -as far as Norway and Russia, places where the sun never goes. The sun -is jealous of art.' - -To adore the sun, ah! that was--for him--to adore life. Wilde's lyrical -adoration was fast becoming a frenzied madness. A fatality led him -on; he could not and would not withdraw himself from it. He seemed to -devote all his zeal and all his worth to over-rating his destiny, and -over-reaching himself. '_My_ special duty,' he used to say, 'is to -plunge madly into amusement.' He used to make a point of searching for -pleasure as one faces an appointed duty. Nietzsche surprised me less, -on a later occasion, because I had heard Wilde say, 'No, not happiness! -Certainly not happiness! Pleasure. One must always set one's heart upon -the most tragic.' - -He would walk about the streets of Algiers preceded, escorted, and -followed by an extraordinary mob of young ruffians. He talked to -them all, regarded them all with equal delight, and threw them money -recklessly. 'I hope to have thoroughly demoralized this town,' he told -me. I thought of Flaubert's saying when he was asked what kind of -reputation he most desired--'that of being a demoralizer,' he replied. -In the face of all this I was filled with astonishment, admiration, and -alarm. I knew of his shaky position, the enmities he had created, and -the attacks which were being made upon him, and I knew what dark unrest -lay hidden beneath his outward pretence of pleasure. - -On one of those last evenings in Algiers, Wilde seemed to have made up -his mind not to say a single serious word. At last I became somewhat -annoyed at the exaggerated wit of his paradoxes, and I said to him, -'You have got something better to talk about than this nonsense; you -are talking to me as if I were the public. You ought rather to talk to -the public as you know so well how to talk to your friends. Why is it -your plays are not better? The best that is in you, you talk; why do -you not write it?' 'Oh, well,' he cried immediately, 'my plays are not -good, I know, and I don't trouble about that, but if you only knew how -much amusement they afford! They are nearly all the results of a bet. -So was _Dorian Gray_--I wrote that in a few days because a friend of -mine declared that I could not write a novel. Writing bores me so.' - -[Illustration: OSCAR WILDE, 1893.] - -Then, turning suddenly towards me, he said, 'Would you like to know the -great drama of my life? It is that I have put my genius into my life--I -have put only my talent into my works.' - -It was only too true. The best of his writing is but a poor reflection -of his brilliant conversation. Those who have heard him talk find him -disappointing to read. _Dorian Gray_ in its conception was a wonderful -story, far superior to _La Peau de Chagrin_, and far more significant! -Alas! when written, what a masterpiece spoiled. In his most delightful -tales literary influence makes itself too much felt. However graceful -they may be, one notices too much literary effort; affectation and -delicacy of phrase[2] conceal the beauty of the first conception of -them. One feels in them, and one cannot help feeling in them, the -three periods of their generation. The first idea contained in them is -very beautiful, simple, profound, and certain to make itself heard; -a kind of latent necessity holds the parts firmly together, but from -that point the gift stops. The development of the parts is done in an -artificial manner; there is a lack of arrangement about them, and when -Wilde elaborates his sentences and endeavours to give them their full -value, he does so by overloading them prodigiously with tiny conceits -and quaint and trifling fancies. The result is that one's emotion is -held at bay, and the dazzling of the surface so blinds one's eyes and -mind, that the deep central emotion is lost. - -He spoke of returning to London, as a well-known peer was insulting -him, challenging him, and taunting him with running away. - -'But if you go back what will happen? 'I asked him. 'Do you know the -risk you are running?' - -'It is best never to know,' he answered. 'My friends are -extraordinary--they beg me to be careful. Careful? but can I be -careful? That would be a backward step. I must go on as far as -possible. I cannot go much further. Something is bound to happen ... -something else.' - -Here he broke off, and the next day he left for England. - -The rest of the story is well-known. That 'something else' was hard -labour. - - [I have invented nothing, nor altered anything, in the last few - sentences I have quoted. Wilde's words are fixed in my mind, and, I - might almost say, in my ears. I do not say that Wilde clearly saw the - prison opening to receive him, but I do assert that the great and - unexpected event which astonished and upset London, suddenly changing - Oscar Wilde from accuser into accused, did not cause him any surprise. - - The newspapers, which chose to see in him only a buffoon, - misrepresented, as far as they could, the position taken up for his - defence, even to the extent of wresting all meaning from it. Perhaps - some day in the far future it will be seemly to lift this dreadful - trial out of the mire--but not yet.] - - -[1] _An Ideal Husband_ at the Haymarket and _The Importance of Being -Earnest_ at the St. James's. Possibly _Lady Windermere's Fan_ or _A -Woman of No Importance_ was being played at a suburban theatre at the -same time. - -[2] M. Gide first wrote _euphuisme_ but altered it to _euphémisme_ on -republishing his 'Study' in _Prétextes_. Euphuism or 'extreme nicety -in language' seems to be more appropriate in the present case than -euphemism or 'a softening of offensive expressions.' - - - - III. - - For the crimson flower of our life is eaten by the cankerworm - of truth. - And no hand can gather up the fallen withered petals - of the rose of youth. - - - - III. - -As soon as he came out of prison, Oscar Wilde went back to France. At -Berneval, a quiet little village near Dieppe, a certain 'Sebastian -Melmoth' took up his abode. It was he. As I had been the last of his -French friends to see him, I wanted to be the first to greet him on -his return to liberty, and as soon as I could find out his address I -hastened to him. - -I arrived about midday without having previously announced my proposed -visit. M. Melmoth, whom T----[1] with warm cordiality invited to Dieppe -fairly frequently, was not expected back till the evening. He did not -return till midnight. - -It was as cold as winter. The weather was atrocious. The whole day I -wandered about the deserted beach in low spirits and bored to death. -How could Wilde have chosen Berneval to live in, I wondered. It was -positively mournful. Night came, and I went back to the hotel to engage -a room, the same hotel where Melmoth was living--indeed it was the only -one in the place. The hotel, which was clean and pleasantly situated, -catered only for second-class boarders, inoffensive folk enough, with -whom I had to dine. Rather poor company for Melmoth, I thought. - -Fortunately I had a book to read, but it was a gloomy evening, and at -eleven o'clock I was just going to abandon my intention of waiting up -for him when I heard the rumbling of carriage wheels. M. Melmoth had -arrived, benumbed with cold. He had lost his overcoat on the way. And, -now that he came to think of it, he remembered that a peacock's feather -which his servant had brought him the previous evening was a bad omen, -and had clearly foretold some misfortune about to befall him; luckily -it was no worse. But as he was shivering with cold, the hotel was set -busy to warm some whiskey for him. He hardly said 'How do you do?' to -me. In the presence of others, at least, he did not wish to appear to -be at all moved. And my own emotion was almost immediately stilled on -finding Sebastian Melmoth so plainly like the Oscar Wilde of old--no -longer the frenzied poet of Algeria, but the sweet Wilde of the days -before the crisis; and I found myself taken back not two years, but -four or five. There was the same dreamy look, the same amused smile, -the same voice. - -He occupied two rooms, the best in the hotel, and he had arranged them -with great taste. Several books lay on the table, and among them he -showed me my own _Nourritures Terrestres_, which had been published -lately. A pretty Gothic Virgin stood on a high pedestal in a dark -corner. - -Presently we sat down near the lamp, Wilde drinking his grog in little -sips. I noticed, now that the light was better, that the skin of his -face had become red and common looking, and his hands even more so, -though they still bore the same rings--one to which he was especially -attached had in a reversible bezel an Egyptian scarabæus in lapis -lazuli. His teeth were dreadfully decayed. - -We began chatting, and I reminded him of our last meeting in Algiers, -and asked him if he remembered that I had almost foretold the -approaching catastrophe. - -'Did you not know,' I said, 'almost for certain what was awaiting you -in England? You saw the danger and rushed headlong into it, did you -not?' - -Here I think I cannot do better than copy out the pages on which I -wrote shortly afterwards as much as I could remember of what he said. - -'Oh, naturally,' he replied, 'of course I knew that there would be -a catastrophe, either that or something else; I was expecting it. -There was but one end possible. Just imagine--to go any further was -impossible, and that state of things could not last. That is why there -had to be some end to it, you see. Prison has completely changed me[2]. -I was relying on it for that. ---is terrible. He cannot understand -that--he cannot understand that I am not taking up the same existence -again. He accuses the others of having changed me--but one must never -take up the same existence again. My life is like a work of art. An -artist never begins the same work twice, or else it shows that he has -not succeeded. My life before prison was as successful as possible. Now -all that is finished and done with.' - -He lighted a cigarette and went on: 'The public is so dreadful that it -knows a man only by the last thing he has done. If I were to go back -to Paris now, people would see in me only the convict. I do not want -to show myself again before I have written a play. Till then I must -be left alone and undisturbed.' And he added abruptly, 'Did I not do -well to come here? My friends wanted me to go to the South to recruit, -because at first I was quite worn out. But I asked them to find me, in -the North of France, a very small place at the seaside, where I should -see no one, where it was very cold and there was hardly ever any sun. -Did I not do well to come and live at Berneval? [Outside the weather -was frightful.] Here every one is most good to me--the Curé especially. -I am so fond of the little church, and, would you believe it, it is -called _Notre Dame de Liesse_[3]! Now, is not that charming? And now -I know that I can never leave Berneval, because only this morning the -Curé offered me a perpetual seat in the choir-stalls. - -And the Custom-house men, poor fellows, are so bored here with nothing -to do, that I asked them if they had not anything to read, and now I -am giving them all the elder Dumas' novels. So I must stay here, you -see. And the children, oh, the children they adore me. On the day of -the Queen's Jubilee I gave a grand fête and a big dinner, when I had -forty children from the school, all of them, and the schoolmaster, to -celebrate it. Is not that absolutely charming? You know that I admire -the Queen very much. I always have her portrait with me.' - -And he showed me her portrait by Nicholson, pinned on the wall. I -got up to look at it. A small bookshelf was close to it, and I began -glancing at the books. I wanted to lead Wilde on to talk to me in a -more serious vein. I sat down again, and rather timidly asked him if he -had read _Souvenirs de la Maison des Morts_. - -He gave me no direct answer, but began:--'Russian writers are -extraordinary. What makes their books so great is the pity they put -into them. You know how fond I used to be of _Madame Bovary_, but -Flaubert would not admit pity into his work, and that is why it has a -petty and restrained character about it. It is sense of pity by means -of which a work gains in expanse, and by which it opens up a boundless -horizon. Do you know, my dear fellow, it was pity that prevented me -from killing myself? During the first six months I was dreadfully -unhappy, so utterly miserable that I wanted to kill myself, but what -kept me from doing so was looking at _the others_, and seeing that they -were as unhappy as I was, and feeling sorry for them. Oh, dear! what a -wonderful thing pity is, and I never knew it.' - -He was speaking in a low voice without any excitement. - -'Have you ever learned how wonderful a thing pity is? For my part I -thank God every night, yes, on my knees I thank God for having taught -it to me. I went into prison with a heart of stone, thinking only of -my own pleasure, but now my heart is utterly broken--pity has entered -into my heart. I have learned now that pity is the greatest and most -beautiful thing in the world. And that is why I cannot bear ill-will -towards those who caused my suffering and those who condemned me; -no, nor to any one, because without them I should not have known all -that. ---- writes me terrible letters. He says he does not understand -me, that he does not understand that I do not wish every one ill, and -that every one has been horrid to me. No, he does not understand me. -He cannot understand me any more. But I keep on telling him that in -every letter: we cannot follow the same road. He has his, and it is -beautiful--I have mine. His is that of Alcibiades; mine is now that of -St. Francis of Assisi. Do you know St. Francis of Assisi? A wonderful -man! Would you like to give me a great pleasure? Send me the best life -of St. Francis you can find.' - -I promised it to him. He went on: - -'Yes, afterwards we had a charming prison Governor, oh, quite a -charming man, but for the first six months I was dreadfully unhappy. -There was a Governor of the prison, a Jew, who was very harsh, because -he was entirely lacking in imagination.' - -This last expression, spoken very quickly, was irresistibly funny; and, -as I laughed heartily, he laughed too, repeated it, and then said: - -'He did not know what to imagine in order to make us suffer. Now, you -shall see what a lack of imagination he showed. You must know that in -prison we are allowed to go out only one hour a day; then, we walk in a -courtyard, round and round, one behind the other, and we are absolutely -forbidden to say a word. Warders watch us, and there are terrible -punishments for any one caught talking. Those who are in prison for the -first time are spotted at once, because they do not know how to speak -without moving their lips. I had already been in prison six weeks and I -had not spoken a word to anyone--not to a soul[4]. - -'One evening we were walking as usual, one behind the other, during the -hour's exercise, when suddenly behind me I heard my name called. It was -the prisoner who followed me, and he said, "Oscar Wilde, I pity you, -because you must suffer more than we do." Then I made a great effort -not to be noticed (I thought I was going to faint), and I said without -turning round, "No, my friend, we all suffer alike." And from that day -I no longer had a desire to kill myself. We talked in that way for -several days. I knew his name and what he had done. His name was P----; -he was such a good fellow; oh! so good. But I had not yet learned to -speak without moving my lips, and one evening,--"C.3.3." (C.3.3. was -myself), "C.3.3. and A.4.8. step out of the ranks." - -'Then we stood out, and the warder said, "You will both have to go -before the Governor." And as pity had already entered into my heart, my -only fear was for him; in fact I was even glad that I might suffer for -his sake. But the Governor was quite terrible. He had P---- in first; -he was going to question us separately, because you must know that the -punishment is not the same for the one who speaks first, and for the -one who answers; the punishment of the one who speaks first is double -that of the other. As a rule the first has fifteen days' solitary -confinement, and the second has eight days only. Then the Governor -wanted to know which of us had spoken first, and naturally P----, good -fellow that he was, said it was he. And afterwards when the Governor -had me in to question me, I, of course, said it was I. Then the -Governor got very red because he could not understand it. "But P---- -also says that it was he who began it. I cannot understand it. I cannot -understand it." - -'Think of it, my dear fellow, he could =not= understand it. He became -very much embarrassed and said, "But I have already given him fifteen -days," and then he added, "Anyhow, if that is the case, I shall give -you both fifteen days." Is not that extraordinary? That man had not a -spark of imagination[5].' - -Wilde was vastly amused at what he was saying, and laughed--he was -happy telling stories. 'And, of course,' he continued, 'after the -fifteen days we were much more anxious to speak to one another than -before. You do not know how sweet that is, to feel that one is -suffering for another. Gradually, as we did not go in the same order -each day, I was able to talk to each of the others, to all of them, -every one of them. I knew each one's name and each one's history, and -when each was due to be released. And to each one I said, "When you get -out of prison, the first thing you must do is to go to the Post Office, -and there you will find a letter for you with some money." And so in -that way I still know them, because I keep up my friendship with them. -And there is something quite delightful in them. Would you believe -it, already three of them have been to see me here? Is not that quite -wonderful?' - -'The successor of the harsh Governor was a very charming man--oh! -remarkably so--and most considerate to me. You cannot imagine how much -good it did me in prison that _Salomé_[6] was being played in Paris -just at that time. In prison, it had been entirely forgotten that I -was a literary person, but when they saw that my play was a success in -Paris, they said to one another, "Well, but that is strange; he has -talent, then." And from that moment they let me have all the books I -wanted to read[7]. I thought, at first, that what would please me most -would be Greek literature, so I asked for Sophocles, but I could not -get a relish for it. Then I thought of the Fathers of the Church, but I -found them equally uninteresting. And suddenly I thought of Dante. Oh! -Dante. I read Dante every day, in Italian, and all through, but neither -the _Purgatorio_ nor the _Paradiso_ seemed written for me. It was his -_Inferno_ above all that I read; how could I help liking it? Cannot you -guess? Hell, we were in it--Hell, that was prison!'[8] - -That same evening he told me a clever story about Judas, and of his -proposed drama on Pharaoh. Next day he took me to a charming little -house[9], about two hundred yards from the hotel, which he had rented -and was beginning to furnish. It was there that he wanted to write his -plays--his _Pharoah_ first, and then one called _Ahab and Jezebel_ (he -pronounced it 'Isabelle'), which he related to me admirably. - -The carriage which was to take me away was waiting, and Wilde got into -it to accompany me part of the way. He began talking to me again about -my book, and praised it, though with some slight reserve, I thought. -At last the carriage stopped; he bade me good-bye, and was just going -to get out, when he suddenly said, 'Listen, my dear friend, you must -promise me one thing. Your _Nourritures Terrestres_ is good, very good, -but promise me you will never write a capital "I" again.' And as I -seemed scarcely to understand what he meant, he finished up by saying, -'In Art, you see, there is no first person.' - - -[1] A literary friend who, a few years later, in collaboration, with -another, translated _Dorian Gray_ into French. - -[2] 'No more beautiful life has any man lived, no more beautiful life -could any man live than Oscar Wilde lived during the short period I -knew him in prison. He wore upon his face an eternal smile; sunshine -was on his face, sunshine of some sort must have been in his heart. -People say he was not sincere: he was the very soul of sincerity when I -knew him. If he did not continue that life after he left prison, then -the forces of evil must have been too strong for him. But he tried, he -honestly tried, and in prison he succeeded.'--_From a Letter written to -the Translator_. - -[3] An archaic French word from the Latin _laetitia_. - -[4] Within the last few years the stringency of this regulation has -been somewhat relaxed, and it is in the discretion of the Governor to -allow conversation at certain times. The Governor of Reading Prison, -in the appendix to the Report of the Commissioners for the year ending -March 31, 1901, stated: 'The privilege of talking at exercise is much -appreciated by the prisoners. They walk and talk in a quiet and orderly -manner, and there have been no reports for misbehaviour.' - -[5] Solitary confinement does not mean in a dark cell. The prisoner -still remains in his own cell, but is debarred from exercising with -the other prisoners, or accompanying them to Divine Service. The -confinement is not consecutive, but applies to every alternate day -only--thus, a prisoner sentenced to seven days' bread and water, or -solitary confinement, does but four days. - -[6] _Salome_ was played in Paris early in 1896. - -[7] Oscar Wilde found the prison library quite unable to satisfy his -wants, and he was allowed to receive books from outside. Such books -are then added to the prison library. Magazines are forbidden, but -novels allowed. In a letter written from prison early in 1897, Oscar -Wilde said that he felt a horror of returning to the world without -possessing a single volume of his own, and suggested that some of his -friends might like to give him some books. 'You know what kind of books -I want,' he says, 'Flaubert, Stevenson, Baudelaire, Maeterlinck, Dumas -père, Keats, Marlowe, Chatterton, Coleridge, Anatole France, Théophile -Gautier, Dante, and Goethe, and so on.' - -[8] During the last three months or so of his imprisonment he did no -work whatever beyond writing _De Profundis_ and keeping his cell clean. -He was allowed gas in his cell up to a late hour, when it was turned -down but not turned out. As everything he wrote was examined by the -Governor, naturally the prison system is not attacked with the same -vehemence in _De Profundis_ as it is in _The Ballad of Reading Gaol_. - -[9] This was the Chalet Bourbat where Wilde lived from July to October, -1897. - - - - IV. - - Ah! what else had I to do but love you, God's own - mother was less dear to me, - And less dear the Cytheræan rising like an argent lily - from the sea. - - - - IV. - -On returning to Paris I went to give news of him to ----. - ----- said to me: 'But all that is quite absurd. He is quite incapable -of bearing the _ennui_. I know him so well. He writes to me every -day. I also am of opinion that he ought to finish his play first, but -after that he will come back here. He has never done anything good in -solitude; he needs to be constantly drawn out of himself. It is by my -side that he has written all his best work. Besides, just look at his -last letter.' - -He thereupon read it to me. In it Wilde begged ---- to let him finish -his _Pharaoh_ in peace, but, in effect, the letter implied that as soon -as his play was written he would come back, he would find him again; -and it ended with these boastful words, 'and then I shall be once more -the King of Life.' - - - - V. - - Rudderless, we drift athwart a tempest, and when once - the storm of youth is past, - Without lyre, without lute or chorus, Death the silent - pilot comes at last. - - -[Illustration: THE GRAVE AT BAGNEUX.] - - - V. - -And a short time afterwards, Wilde went back to Paris.[1] - -His play was not written--it will never be written now. Society well -knows what steps to take when it wants to crush a man, and it has -means more subtle than death. Wilde had suffered too grievously for -the last two years, and in too submissive a manner, and his will had -been broken. For the first few months he might still have entertained -illusions, but he soon gave them up. It was as though he had signed his -abdication. Nothing remained in his shattered life but a mouldy ruin, -painful to contemplate, of his former self. At times he seemed to wish -to show that his brain was still active. Humour there was, but it was -far-fetched, forced, and threadbare. - -I met him again on two occasions only. One evening on the Boulevards, -where I was walking with G----, I heard my name called. I turned round -and saw Wilde. Ah! how changed he was. 'If I appear again before -writing my play, the world will refuse to see in me anything except -the felon,' he had once said to me. He had appeared again, without his -play, and as he found certain doors closed in his face, he no longer -sought admission anywhere. He prowled. - -Friends, at different times, tried to save him[2]. They did all they -could think of, and were for taking him to Italy, but he eluded their -efforts, and began to drift back. Among those who had remained faithful -for the longest time, some had often told me that Wilde was no longer -to be seen, and I was somewhat uneasy, I admit, at seeing him again, -and what is more, in a place where so many people might pass. Wilde was -sitting at a table outside a café. He ordered two cock-tails for G---- -and myself. I was going to sit opposite to him in such a way as to turn -my back to the passers-by, but Wilde, noticed this movement, which he -took as an impulse of absurd shame, (he was not entirely mistaken, I -must admit), and said, 'Oh, sit here, near me,' pointing to a chair at -his side, 'I am so much alone just now.' - -Wilde was still well-dressed, but his hat was not so glossy; his collar -was of the same shape, but it was not so clean, and the sleeves of his -coat were slightly frayed at the edges. - -'When I used to meet Verlaine in days gone by,' he continued with an -outburst of pride, 'I was never ashamed of being seen with him. I was -rich, light-hearted, and covered with glory, but I felt that to be seen -with him was an honour, even when Verlaine was drunk.' Then fearing to -bore G----, I think, he suddenly changed his mood, tried to be witty -and to make jokes. In the effort he became gloomy. My recollections -here are dreadfully sad. At last my friend and I got up. Wilde insisted -on paying for the drinks, and I was about to say good-bye, when he took -me aside, and, with an air of great embarrassment, said in a low voice, -'I say, I must tell you, I am absolutely without a penny[3]. - -Some days afterwards I saw him again, and for the last time. I do -not want to repeat more than one word of our conversation. He told -me of his troubles, of the impossibility of carrying out, or even of -beginning, a piece of work[4]. Sadly I reminded him of the promise he -had made not to show himself in Paris without having finished one book. -'Ah!' I began, 'why did you leave Berneval so soon, when you ought to -have stayed there so long? I cannot say that I am angry with you, but--' - -He interrupted me, laid his hand on mine, looked at me with his most -sorrowful look, and said, 'You must not be angry with _one who has been -crushed_[5].' - - * * * * * - -Oscar Wilde died in a shabby little hotel in the Rue des Beaux Arts. -Seven persons followed the hearse, and even they did not all accompany -the funeral procession to the end. On the coffin were some flowers -and some artificial wreaths, only one of which, I am told, bore any -inscription. It was from the proprietor of the hotel, and on it were -these words: 'A MON LOCATAIRE.' - - -[1] The representatives of his family were willing to guarantee Wilde a -very good position if he would consent to certain stipulations, one of -which was that he should never see ---- again. He was either unable or -unwilling to accept the conditions. - -[2] In October, 1897, he stayed with friends at the Villa Gindice, -Posillipo, and was in Naples till the end of the year, or the beginning -of 1898, when he went to Paris. In the following year he went to the -South of France (Nice) for the spring, but was back in June or July. He -went also to Switzerland in 1899 and stayed some time at Gland. - -[3] M. Gide says that Wilde's words were '_je suis absolument sans -ressources_,' which, I think, need not mean more than a temporary -embarrassment. I have been at some pains to find out what the actual -circumstances were, and I am able to state the following facts on the -authority of Lord Alfred Douglas. When Mr. Wilde came out of prison, -the sum of £800 was subscribed for him by his friends. Lord Alfred -Douglas gave or sent Mr. Wilde, in the last twelve months of his life, -cheques for over £600, as he can show by his bank-book, in addition to -ready money gifts, and several others gave him at various times amounts -totalling up to several hundreds of pounds. 'It is true,' Lord Alfred -Douglas writes, 'he was always hard up and short of money, but that was -because he was incurably extravagant and reckless. I think these facts -ought to be known in justice to myself and many others of his friends, -all poor men.' In another letter Lord Alfred Douglas says that Mr. -Wilde, when he was well off, before his disaster, was the most generous -of men. After 1897 received also large sums of money as advance fees -for plays which he never finished. 'I hope,' Lord Alfred Douglas -continues, 'you will not think that I blame him, or have any grievance -against him on any account. What I gave him I considered I owed him, -as he had often lent and given me money before he came to grief. I was -delighted that he should have it, and I wish I had had time to give him -more.' It was not, however, till after the death of his father, that -Lord Alfred Douglas was in a position to help Mr. Wilde to the extent -that he did, and Mr. Wilde died within a few months of the death of -Lord Queensberry. - -Lord Alfred Douglas adds that he thinks 'it is about time that some of -the poisonous nonsense which has been written about Mr. Wilde should be -qualified by a little fact.' - -It must be remembered, however, that large as the sums of money were -which Mr. Wilde received during the last few years of his life, they -would not appear so to him, as in the days of his highest success he -was receiving several thousands a year from his plays and other works. - -It is since the first sheets of this book passed through the press that -I have been favoured with the information that Lord Alfred Douglas has -been good enough to give me, and I now wish to qualify the statement in -my introductory remarks that Mr. Wilde died 'in poverty.' It would be -more accurate to say 'in comparative poverty.' - -[4] Two plays produced in London shortly hefore his death have been -attributed to Oscar Wilde. One of these, _The Tyranny of Tears_, does -not contain a single line of his. The other is _Mr. and Mrs. Daventry_, -the plot of which was originally Oscar Wilde's, and he sketched out -the scenario. The play was then sold to Mr. Frank Harris, who has -always acknowledged Wilde's share in it, but the piece was entirely -transformed, and except one or two of the situations in it there was -very little left of Wilde's idea. - -Referring to such works as the translations of _Ce Qui ne Meurt pas_ -and the _Satyricon_ which have heen issued under Oscar Wilde's name, -Mr. Robert Ross (the editor of _De Profundis_), writes:--'No one can -produce even a scrap of MS. in the author's handwriting of these -so-called "last works."' - -[5] 'Scandals used to lend charm, or at least interest, to a man--now -they crush him.'--_An Ideal Husband_, Act I. - - - - * * * * * - - - TO OSCAR WILDE, - - AUTHOR OF 'RAVENNA.' - - BY AUGUSTUS M. MOORE. - - - No Marsyas am I, who singing came - To challenge King Apollo at a Test, - But a love-wearied singer at the best. - The myrtle leaves are all that I can claim, - While on thy brow there burns a crown of flame, - Upon thy shield Italia's eagle crest; - Content am I with Lesbian leaves to rest, - Guard thou thy laurels and thy mother's name. - - I buried Love within the rose I meant - To deck the fillet of thy Muse's hair; - I take this wild-flower, grown against her feet, - And kissing its half-open lips I swear, - Frail though it be and widowed of its scent, - I plucked it for your sake and find it sweet. - - - MOORE HALL, - - SEPTEMBER, 1878. - - - From _The Irish Monthly_, Vol. vi, No. 65. - - - * * * * * - - - LIST OF PUBLISHED WRITINGS OF OSCAR WILDE. - - -Αἴλινον, αἴινον εἰπὲ, Τὸ δ᾽ ευ̉ νικάτω. _Dublin University Magazine_, -September, 1876. - -APOLOGIA. _Poets and Poetry of the Century_, Edited by A. H. Miles, -Vol. viii, 1891, 1898. - -ARTIST, THE. 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In 'The Happy Prince and Other Tales.' - -SEN ARTYSTY; OR, THE ARTIST'S DREAM. See 'Artist's Dream, The.' - -SHAKESPEARE AND STAGE COSTUME. _Nineteenth Century_, May, 1885. In -'Intentions.' - -SOME CRUELTIES OF PRISON LIFE. See 'Case of Warder Martin, The,' and -'Children in Prison.' - -SOME LITERARY NOTES. _Woman's World_, January to June, 1889. - -RELATION OF DRESS TO ART, THE. _Pall Mall Gazette_, February 28, 1885. - -SOUL OF MAN UNDER SOCIALISM, THE. _Fortnightly Review_, February, -1891[9]. - -SPHINX, THE. Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1894 (September 29). - -SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRET, THE. See 'Lady Alroy.' - -STAR-CHILD, THE. In 'A House of Pomegranates.' - -TEACHER OF WISDOM, THE. In 'Poems in Prose.' - -THEOCRITUS. _Ballades and Rondeaus_. Selected by Gleeson White. Walter -Scott Publishing Co., 1889 (June 30)[10]. - -Θρηνῳδία. _Kottabos_, Michaelmas Term, 1876. - -TO MILTON. _Poets and Poetry of the Century_, Edited by A. H. Miles, -Vol. viii, 1891, 1898. - -TO MY WIFE: WITH A COPY OF MY POEMS. _Book-Song_, Elliot Stock, 1893. - -TO SARAH BERNHARDT. _World_, June 11, 1879. - -TOMB OF KEATS, THE. _Irish Monthly_, July, 1877. - -TRUE FUNCTION AND VALUE OF CRITICISM, THE. See 'Critic as Artist, The,' -and 'On Criticism.' - -TRUE KNOWLEDGE, THE. _Irish Monthly_, September, 1876[11]. - -TRUTH OF MASKS, THE. See 'Shakespeare and Stage Costume.' - -UNDER THE BALCONY. _Shaksperean Show-Book_ (May 29, 1884). See 'Oh! -Beautiful Star!' - -UN AMANT DE NOS JOURS. _Court and Society Review_, December 13, 1887. -See 'New Remorse, The.' - -VERA, OR THE NIHILISTS. Privately printed for the Author; America, 1882. - -VITA NUOVA. See Πόντος Ἀτρύγετος. - -WASTED DAYS (From a Picture Painted by Miss V. T.). _Kottabos_, -Michaelmas Term, 1877. - -WHISTLER, CORRESPONDENCE WITH. _World_, November 14, 1883; February 25, -1885; November 24, 1886. _Truth_, January 9, 1890. - -WHISTLER'S LECTURES REVIEWED. See 'Mr. Whistler's Ten O'Clock 'and -'Relation of Dress to Art, The.' - -WITH A COPY OF 'A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES.' _Book-Song_, Elliot Stock, -1893. - -WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, A. John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1894 (October 9). - -WOMAN'S WORLD, THE. Edited by Oscar Wilde, 1887-9. Cassell & Co. - -YOUNG KING, THE. Illustrations by Bernard Partridge. _Lady's -Pictorial_, Christmas Number, 1888. In 'A House of Pomegranates.' - - -[1] The title-page reads:--The Duchess of Padua A Tragedy of the XVI -Century by Oscar Wilde Author of "Vera," etc. Written in Paris in the -XIX Century. Privately printed as Manuscript. March 15, 1883 A. D. - -The cover is inscribed 'Op. II.' Twenty copies were printed, of which -one only is known to exist in England, the property of Mr. Robert Ross. -It is in grey paper wrappers, 8vo., pp. 122. The play was acted in -America in 1883 by the late Lawrence Barrett, shortly before his death. -It is sometimes known as _Guido Ferranti_. - -[2] The original publication of 'The Harlot's House' has not yet been -traced. The approximate date is known by a parody on the poem, called -'The Public House, 'which appeared in _The Sporting Times_ of June 13, -1885. In 1904 a privately printed edition, on folio paper, with five -illustrations by Althea Gyles, was issued by 'The Mathurin Press,' -London. In 1905 another edition was privately printed in London, pp. 8, -wrappers. - -[3] See _Notes and Queries_, Series ix., vol. xii., page 85. - -[4] Continental Edition issued by Messrs. Heinemann and Balestier in -'The English Library,' No. 54. 1891. - -[5] See _Sonnets of this Century_. Edited by William Sharp. Walter -Scott Publishing Co., 1888 (March 22). - -[6] Early in 1894, Messrs. Elkin Mathews and John Lane announced as -being in preparation, 'The incomparable and ingenious history of Mr. W. -H., being the true secret of Shakespear's sonnets, now for the first -time here fully set forth. With initial letters and cover design by -Charles Ricketts.' On the evening of his arrest, April 5, 1895, the -publishers returned the MS. to Mr. Wilde's house, and it is said to -have been stolen from there a few hours later. - -[7] See _Saturday Review_, July 2, 1892. - -[8] The authenticity of this work is not vouched for. - -[9] It was the author's wish that 'The Soul of Man under Socialism' -should be known as 'The Soul of Man,' and by this title he himself -refers to it in _De Profundis_. A privately printed edition was -published by Mr. Arthur L. Humphreys under this title in 1895, and -again in 1904 in 'Sebastian Melmoth.' It appeared also in _Wilshire's -Magazine_, Toronto, Canada, for June, 1902; and, under its original -title, in a pirated edition issued in London, 1904; and in a beautiful -edition published by Mr. Thos. B. Mosher, of Portland, Maine, U.S.A., -April, 1905. - -[10] See _Literature_, December 8, 1900. - -[11] Re-printed in _Dublin Verses_, 1895; and _The Tablet_, December 8, -1900. - - - * * * * * - - - NOTE. - - -In the foregoing list the following particulars are given:-- - -(1) Titles of books with name of publisher and date of publication of -each edition. - -(2) Contributions to magazines and periodicals whether re-printed in -book-form later or not. - -(3) Poems which have been re-printed in collections of verse of later -date than Bogue's edition of the 'Poems,' 1881. These will be found -under their respective titles, but when a poem has been included in -more than one such collection the reference is given, as a rule, to the -book of earliest date. - -The publications of Messrs. Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and of Mr. -John Lane, were issued simultaneously in America by Messrs. Copeland -and Day, of Boston. _De Profundis_ was published in America by Messrs. -G. P. Putnam's Sons, of New York. Seven editions have been issued. _The -Decay of Lying, The Portrait of Mr. W. H._, and _The Soul of Man under -Socialism_, appeared in the 'Eclectic Magazine' of New York a few weeks -after publication in this country. - -No notice is taken in this Bibliography of many unauthorised and -pirated reprints, and those works which have been falsely attributed to -Mr. Wilde by unscrupulous publishers are all rejected. Of the latter -'The Priest and the Acolyte,' and translations of 'Ce Qui ne Meurt pas' -and the 'Satyricon' of Petronius are examples. - - - * * * * * - - - _Books containing Selections from the Works of Oscar Wilde._ - - -BEST OF OSCAR WILDE, THE. (Collection of Poems and Prose Extracts). -Collected by C. Herrmann. Brentano, New York, 1905 (March). - -EPIGRAMS AND APHORISMS. Edited by G. H. Sargent. John W. Luce & Co., -Boston, U.S.A., 1905 (July). - -ESSAYS, CRITICISMS AND REVIEWS. Now first collected. (From _The Woman's -World_). Privately printed. London, 1901. - -OSCARIANA. EPIGRAMS. Arthur Humphreys, 1895[1]. - -SEBASTIAN MELMOTH (Selection from Prose Writings; and 'The Soul of -Man'). Arthur L. Humphreys, 1904 (September). - - -[1] Only one copy bore the publisher's name. The rest were issued as -'privately printed.' The edition consisted of 25 copies only, but -forged reprints are numerous. The selection of epigrams is said to have -been made by Mrs. Wilde. - - - * * * * * - - - _Bibliographical Notes on the English Editions._ - - -A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES. - -The following is the author's own description of 'the decorative -designs that make lovely' this book of 'beautiful tales,' and of 'the -delicate dreams that separate and herald each story':-- - -'Mr. Shannon is the drawer of the dreams, and Mr. Ricketts is the -subtle and fantastic decorator. Indeed, it is to Mr. Ricketts that -the entire decorative design of the book is due, from the selection -of the type and the placing of the ornamentation, to the completely -beautiful cover that encloses the whole.... The artistic beauty of -the cover resides in the delicate tracing, arabesques, and massing of -many coral-red lines on a ground of white ivory, the colour effect -culminating in certain high gilt notes, and being made still more -pleasurable by the overlapping band of moss-green cloth that holds the -book together.' - -THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL. - -1st edition, 8vo, pp. 31, 800 copies on hand-made paper, and 30 on -Japan vellum, February, 1898. Before the 2nd edition was published, in -March, the author made several alterations in the text. The 3rd edition -was 99 copies only, each signed by the author; bound in purple cloth -sides, 4to. Editions 4, 5, and 6 (1898) are similar to the 2nd edition -and the number of each edition is printed on the back of title-page. -The 7th edition (1899) bears the author's name on the title-page. It is -the last of Smithers' editions on hand-made paper. All his subsequent -editions are printed in a new type from stereotyped plates, on thick -wove paper, and bear no number to distinguish the edition. They are all -dated 1899. - -DE PROFUNDIS. - -Of the 1st edition 200 copies were printed on hand-made paper at 21/- -and 50 on Japan vellum at 42/-. Of the ordinary 5/- edition four -impressions were issued within a month of publication. - -THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES. - -Of the 1st edition 75 copies (65 for sale) were printed on large paper -with the plates in two states. Of the small paper copies the 1st -edition was published at 5/-, the 2nd and 3rd at 3/6 each. - -AN IDEAL HUSBAND AND THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. - -Each edition consists of 1000 copies, 7/6 net, and 100 on large paper, -21/- net. Twelve copies of each, signed by the author, were issued on -Japan vellum. Of this edition No. 4 of each play is in the British -Museum. - -INTENTIONS. - -1st edition, 1891, 7/6; new edition, 1894, 3/6. - -LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN AND A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. - -With a specially designed binding to each volume by Charles Shannon. -500 copies, sm. 4to, 7/6 net, and 50 copies large paper, 15/- net. - -THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. - -Of the 1st edition 250 copies on hand-made paper, signed by the author, -were issued at 21/-, dated 1891. The small paper editions are not -dated. The 2nd (1894) can be distinguished from the 1st (1891) by the -publisher's name, Ward, Lock and Bowden, Limited, on the title-page. -The published price of each was 6/-. - -POEMS. - -Bogue's 1st, 2nd and 3rd editions are dated 1881, pp. 236. The 4th and -5th editions (1882) have several alterations made by the author in -the text, and contain 234 pages only. The edition published by Elkin -Mathews and John Lane in 1892 consisted of 220 copies (200 for sale), -on hand-made paper, with cover design by Charles Ricketts, price 15/-. -The text is a reprint of Bogue's 1882 editions. - -RAVENNA. - -Forged imitations of Messrs. Shrimpton and Son's edition are common. -They can be distinguished from the originals by the omission of the -Arras of Oxford University on cover and title-page. - -SALOMÉ. - -The edition in French, limited to 600 copies (500 for sale), printed -in Paris, was published by the Librairie de l'Art Indépendant, Paris, -and Messrs. Matthews and Lane, London; pp. 84, purple wrappers lettered -in silver, 5/- net. The English edition was translated by Lord Alfred -Douglas and pictured by Aubrey Beardsley with 10 illustrations, -title-page, tail-piece, and cover design. 500 copies, small 4to, 15/- -net; 100 copies large paper, 30/- net. - -THE SPHINX. - -Decorated throughout in line and colour and bound in a design by -Charles Ricketts. 250 copies at £2/2/- net, and 25 on large paper at -£5/5/- net. - - - * * * * * - - -Translations of many of Oscar Wilde's works have appeared in French, -German, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and other foreign -languages. Full particulars of all editions will be included in 'A -Bibliography of Oscar Wilde' by Walter Ledger and Stuart Mason, now in -preparation. - - - - IN PREPARATION. - - - The - - Sonnets of Oscar Wilde - - Now First Collected. - - EDITED, WITH NOTES, BY - - STUART MASON. - - - - - Views and Reviews - - The Uncollected Prose Writings and - - Letters of Oscar Wilde. - - EDITED BY - - STUART MASON. - - - - - The - - Bibliography of Oscar Wilde - - BY - - Walter Ledger and Stuart Mason. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Oscar Wilde, a study, by André Gide - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OSCAR WILDE, A STUDY *** - -***** This file should be named 53226-0.txt or 53226-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/2/2/53226/ - -Produced by Winston Smith. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Oscar Wilde, a study - -Author: André Gide - -Commentator: Stuart Mason - -Release Date: October 6, 2016 [EBook #53226] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OSCAR WILDE, A STUDY *** - - - - -Produced by Winston Smith. Images provided by The Internet Archive. - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="cover"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - - -<h1>OSCAR WILDE</h1> - - -<p class="center">This Edition consists of 500 copies.</p> -<p class="center">Fifty copies have been printed on -hand-made paper.</p> - -<hr class="r35" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"><a id="HOW_UTTER"></a> -<img src="images/ill01.jpg" width="450" height="629" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">'HOW UTTER.'</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="title">Oscar Wilde<br /> - -<span style="font-size: 60%;">A STUDY</span></p> - -<p class="author"><span style="font-size: smaller;">FROM THE FRENCH OF</span><br /> - -ANDRÉ GIDE</p> - -<p class="edition"><span style="font-size: smaller;">WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY<br /> - -BY</span><br /> - -STUART MASON</p> - - - -<p class="editor">Oxford<br /> - -THE HOLYWELL PRESS<br /> - -MCMV</p> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="center">To</p> - -<p class="center">Donald Bruce Wallace,</p> - -<p class="center">of New York,</p> - -<p class="center">in Memory of a Visit last Summer to</p> - -<p class="center">Bagneux Cemetery,</p> - -<p class="center">A Pilgrimage of Love when we</p> - -<p class="center">watered with our Tears the Roses and Lilies</p> - -<p class="center">with which we covered</p> - -<p class="center">The Poet's Grave. -</p> - - -<p style="margin-left: 1em;">Oxford,</p> - -<p class="date">September, 1905.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>[The little poem on the opposite page first saw the light in the -pages of the <i>Dublin University Magazine</i> for September, -1876. It has not been reprinted since. The Greek quotation -is taken from the <i>Agamemnon</i> of Æschylos, l. 120. ]</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span style="font-size: smaller;">Αἴλινον, αἴινον εἰπὲ,<br /> - -Τὸ δ᾽ ευ̉ νικάτω</span></h2> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O well for him who lives at ease<br /></span> -<span class="i2">With garnered gold in wide domain,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Nor heeds the plashing of the rain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The crashing down of forest trees.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">O well for him who ne'er hath known<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The travail of the hungry years,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">A father grey with grief and tears,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A mother weeping all alone.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">But well for him whose feet hath trod<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The weary road of toil and strife,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Yet from the sorrows of his life<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Builds ladders to be nearer God.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i10">Oscar F. O'F. Wills Wilde.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><i>S. M. Magdalen College,</i><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i5"><i>Oxford.</i><br /></span> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>NOTE.</h2> - -<p>M. Gide's Study of Mr. Oscar Wilde (perhaps the -best account yet written of the poet's latter days) appeared -first in <i>L'Ermitage</i>, a monthly literary review, -in June, 1902. It was afterwards reprinted with some -few slight alterations in a volume of critical essays, -entitled <i>Prétextes</i>, by M. Gide. It is now published in -English for the first time, by special arrangement with -the author.</p> - -<p class="signature">S. M.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table class="toc"> -<tr><td> </td><td class="tdr">Page</td></tr> -<tr><td>Poem by Oscar Wilde</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_xi">xi</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Introductory</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Inscription on Oscar Wilde's Tombstone</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Letters from M. André Gide</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Oscar Wilde: from the French of André Gide</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Sonnet 'To Oscar Wilde,' by Augustus M. Moore</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>List of Published Writings of Oscar Wilde</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Bibliographical Notes on The English Editions</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></p> - -<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> - -<table class="toc"> -<tr><td> </td><td class="tdr">Page</td></tr> -<tr><td>Cartoon: 'How Utter' <br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From a Cartoon published by Messrs. Shrimpton at -Oxford about 1880. By permission of Mr. Hubert Giles, 23 Broad St., Oxford).</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#HOW_UTTER">Frontispiece</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Oscar Wilde at Oxford, 1878<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(By permission of Mr. Hubert Giles).</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#OSCAR_WILDE_1878">16</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Oscar Wilde in 1893<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From a Photograph by Messrs. Gillman & Co., Oxford).</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#OSCAR_WILDE_1893">48</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>The Grave at Bagneux<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(By permission of the Proprietors of <i>The Sphere</i> -and <i>The Tatler</i>).</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GRAVE_AT_BAGNEUX">80</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>Reduced Facsimile of the Cover of <i>'The Woman's World'</i></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOMANS_WORLD">96</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Oscar Wilde<br /> - -Introductory.</h2> - -<p class="p2">Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde -was born at 1 Merrion Square, North, Dublin, -on October 16th, 1854. He was the second -son of Sir William Robert Wilde, Knight, a celebrated -surgeon who was President of the Irish -Academy and Chairman of the Census Committee. -Sir William Wilde was born in 1799, and died at -the age of seventy-seven years.</p> - -<p>Oscar Wilde's mother was Jane Francesca, -daughter of Archdeacon Elgee. She was born in -1826, and married in 1851. She became famous -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>in literary circles under the pen-names of 'Speranza' -and 'John Fenshawe Ellis,' among her published -writings being <i>Driftwood from Scandinavia</i> -(1884), <i>Legends of Ireland</i> (1886), and <i>Social Studies</i> -(1893). Lady Wilde died at her residence in -Chelsea on February 3rd, 1896<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>.</p> - -<p>Oscar Wilde received his early education at Portora -Royal School, Enniskillen, which he entered -in 1864 at the age of nine years. Here he remained -for seven years, and, winning a Royal -scholarship, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, -on October 19th, 1871, being then seventeen years -of age. In the following year he obtained First -Class Honours in Classics in Hilary, Trinity and -Michaelmas Terms; he also won the Gold Medal -for Greek<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> and other distinctions. The Trinity -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>College Magazine <i>Kottabos</i>, for the years 1876–9, -contains some of his earliest published poems. In -1874 he obtained a classical scholarship<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>, and went -up to Oxford, where, as a demy, he matriculated -at Magdalen College on October 17th, the day -after his twentieth birthday. His career at Oxford -was one unbroken success. In Trinity Term -(June), 1876, he obtained a First Class in the -Honour School of Classical Moderations (<i>in literis -Græcis et Latinis</i>), which he followed up two years -later by a similar distinction in 'Greats' or 'Honour -Finals' (<i>in literis humanioribus</i>). In this same -Trinity Term<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>, 1878, he further distinguished himself -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>by gaining the Sir Roger Newdigate Prize -for English Verse with his poem, 'Ravenna<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>,' -which he recited at the Encænia or Annual Commemoration -of Benefactors in the Sheldonian -Theatre on June 26th. He proceeded to the -degree of B. A. in the following term<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>. He is -described in Foster's <i>Alumni Oxonienses</i> as a -'Professor of Æsthetics and Art critic.'</p> - -<p>He afterwards lectured on Art in America<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>, 1882, -and in the provinces on his return to England. -About this time he wrote his poems, <i>The Sphinx</i> -and <i>The Harlot's House</i> (1883), and his tragedy in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>blank verse, <i>The Duchess of Padua</i>. The latter -was written specially for Miss Mary Anderson, -but she did not produce it. This was, however, -played in America by the late Lawrence Barrett in -1883, as was also another play in blank verse, -entitled <i>Vera, or the Nihilists</i>, during the previous -year. He had already published in America and -England a volume of <i>Poems</i>, which went through -several editions in a few months.</p> - -<p>In 1884 Oscar Wilde married<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Miss Constance -Mary Lloyd, a daughter of the well-known Q. C., -by whom he had two sons, born in June, 1885, -and November, 1886, respectively. Mrs. Wilde -died in 1898, and his only brother, William, in -March of the following year.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>During the next five or six years after his marriage, -articles from his pen appeared in several of -the leading reviews, notably 'The Portrait of Mr. -W. H.' in <i>Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine</i> for -July, 1889, and those brilliant essays afterwards -incorporated in <i>Intentions</i>, in <i>The Nineteenth -Century</i> and <i>The Fortnightly Review</i>. In 1888 he -was the editor of a monthly journal called <i>The -Woman's World</i>. In July, 1890,<i> The Picture of -Dorian Gray</i> appeared in <i>Lippincott's Monthly -Magazine</i>. It was the only novel he ever wrote, -and was published in book form with seven -additional chapters in the following year, and -is one of the most remarkable books in the -English language.</p> - -<p>With the production and immediate success of -<i>Lady Windermere's Fan</i> early in 1892, he was at -once recognised as a dramatist of the first rank. -This was followed a year later by <i>A Woman of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>No Importance</i>, and after brief intervals by <i>An -Ideal Husband</i> and <i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i><a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>. -The two latter were being played in London -at the time of the author's arrest and trial.</p> - -<p>Into the melancholy story of his trial it is not -proposed to enter here beyond mentioning the -fact that he was condemned by the newspapers, -and, consequently, by the vast majority of the -British public, several weeks before a jury could -be found to return a verdict of 'guilty.' On Saturday, -May 25th, 1895, he was sentenced to two -years' imprisonment with hard labour, most of -which period was passed at Wandsworth and -Reading.</p> - -<p>On his release from Reading on Wednesday, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>May 19th, 1897, he at once crossed to France with -friends, and a few days later penned that pathetic -letter, pregnant with pity, in which he pleaded for -the kindlier treatment of little children lying in -our English gaols. This letter, with his own name -attached, filled over two columns in <i>The Daily -Chronicle</i> of May 28th. It created considerable -sensation—a well-known Catholic weekly comparing -it 'in its crushing power to the letter with -which Stevenson shamed the shameless traducer -of Father Damien.' A second letter on the subject -of the cruelties of the English Prison system -appeared in the same paper on March 24th, 1898. -It was headed: 'Don't Read This if You Want to -be Happy To-day,' and was signed 'The Author -of <i>The Ballad of Reading Gaol</i>.' <i>The Ballad of -Reading Gaol</i> was published early in this same -year under the <i>nom de plume</i> 'C.3.3.,' Oscar Wilde's -prison number. Its authorship was acknowledged -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>shortly afterwards in an autograph edition. Since -that time countless editions of this famous work -have been issued in England and America, and -translations have appeared in French, German and -Spanish. Of this poem a reviewer in a London -journal said,—'The whole is awful as the pages of -Sophocles. That he has rendered with his fine art -so much of the essence of his life and the life of -others in that <i>inferno</i> to the sensitive, is a memorable -thing for the social scientist, but a much more -memorable thing for literature. This is a simple, -a poignant, a great ballad, one of the greatest in -the English language.'</p> - -<p>Of the sorrows and sufferings of the last few -years of his life, his friend Mr. Robert Harborough -Sherard has written in <i>The Story of an Unhappy -Friendship</i>, and M. Gide refers to them in the following -pages.</p> - -<p>After several weeks of intense suffering 'Death -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>the silent pilot' came at last, and the most brilliant -writer of the nineteenth century passed away on -the afternoon of November 30th, 1900, in poverty -and almost alone. The little hotel in Paris—Hotel -d'Alsace, 13 rue des Beaux Arts,—where -he died, has become a place of pilgrimage from all -parts of the world for those who admire his genius -or pity his sorrows. He was buried, three days -later, in the cemetery at Bagneux, about four -miles out of Paris.</p> - -<p class="signature"><span class="smcap">Stuart Mason.</span></p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In 1890 Lady Wilde received a pension of £50 from the -Civil List.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The subject for this year, 1874, was 'The Fragments of -the Greek Comic Poets, as edited by Meineke.' The medal -was presented annually, from a fund left for the purpose by -Bishop Berkeley.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The demyship was of the annual value of £95, and was -tenable for five years. Oscar Wilde's success was announced -in the <i>University Gazette</i> (Oxford), July 11, 1874.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> On Wednesday, May 1st, Oscar Wilde, dressed as Prince -Rupert, was present at a fancy dress ball given by Mrs. George -Herbert Morrell at Headington Hill Hall.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 'The Newdigate was listened to with rapt attention and -frequently applauded.'—<i>Oxford and Cambridge Undergraduates' -Journal</i>, June 27, 1878.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The degree of B. A. was conferred upon him on Thursday, -Novemher 28, 1878.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Amongst the places he visited were New York, Louisville -(Kentucky), Omaha City and California. In the autumn of -this same year, 1882, after leaving the States, Mr. Wilde went -to Canada and thence to Nova Scotia, arriving at Halifax about -October 8th.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The announcement in <i>The Times</i> of May 31, 1884, was as -follows:—'May 29, at S. James's Church, Paddington, by the -Rev. Walter Abbott, Vicar, Oscar, younger son of the late -Sir William Wilde, M. D., of Dublin, to Constance Mary, only -daughter of the late Horace Lloyd, Esq., Q. C.'</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Of <i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i> the author is reported -to have said, 'The first act is ingenious, the second beautiful, -the third abominably clever.' It was revived by Mr. George -Alexander at the St. James's Theatre on January 7, 1902; and -<i>Lady Windermere's Fan</i> on November 19, 1904.</p></div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 119px;"> -<img src="images/ill02.png" width="119" height="160" alt="A cross." /> -</div> - -<p class="center">Oscar Wilde</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Oct. 16th, 1854—Nov. 30th, 1900.</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">verbis meis addere nihil audebant -et super illos stillabat eloquium -meum.</span></p> - -<p class="center">JOB XXIX, 22</p> - -<p class="center">R. I. P.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Inscription on Oscar Wilde's Tombstone.</i> -</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> - -<h2><i>Letters from M. André Gide.</i></h2> - -<h3>I.</h3> - - -<div class="letter"> - -<div style="margin-left: 50%;"> -<p><span class="smcap">Château de Cuverville,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">par Criquetot L'Esneval,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Sne. Inferieure.</span></span></p> -</div> - -<p class="dest">Monsieur,</p> - -<p>Quelque plaisir que j'aurai de voir mon -étude sur Wilde traduite en anglais, je ne puis -vous répondre avant d'avoir correspondu avec -mon éditeur. L'article en question, après avoir -paru dans 'l'Ermitage,' a été réunie à d'autres -études dans un volume, <i>Prétextes</i>, que le <i>Mercure -de France</i> édita l'an dernier. Un traité me lie -à cette maison et je ne suis pas libre de décider -seul.</p> - -<p>Votre lettre a mis quelque temps à me parvenir -ici, où pourtant j'habite. Dès que j'aurai la réponse -du <i>Mercure de France</i> je m'empresserai de -vous la faire savoir.</p> - -<p>Veuillez croire, Monsieur, à l'assurance de mes -meilleurs sentiments.</p> - -<p class="signature">ANDRÉ GIDE.</p> - -<p class="date"><i>Septembre 9, 1904.</i></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<h3>II.</h3> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p class="dest">Monsieur,</p> - -<p>Je laisse à mon éditeur le soin de vous -écrire au sujet des conditions de la publication en -anglais de mon étude..... Je désire, comme je -vous le disais, que la traduction que vous proposez -de faire se reporte au texte donné par le <i>Mercure -de France</i> dans mon volume <i>Prétextes</i>, et non -à celui, fautif, de 'l'Ermitage.'....</p> - -<p>Le texte des contes de Wilde que je cite s'éloigne, -ainsi que vous pouvez le voir, du texte anglais que -Wilde lui-même en a donné. Il importe que ce -<i>texte oral</i> reste différent du texte écrit de ces 'poems -in prose.' Je crois, si ridicule que cela puisse -paraître d'abord, qu'il faut retraduire en anglais le -texte francais que j'en donne (et que j'ai écrit -presque sous la dictée de Wilde) et non pas citer -simplement le texte anglais tel que Wilde le rédigea -plus tard. L'effet en est très différent.</p> - -<p>Veuillez croire, Monsieur, à l'assurance de mes -sentiments les meilleurs.</p> - -<p class="signature">ANDRÉ GIDE.</p> - -<p class="date"><i>Septembre 14th, 1904.</i></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>Oscar Wilde</h2> - -<p class="p2">I was at Biskra in December, 1900, when I -learned through the newspapers of the -lamentable end of Oscar Wilde. Distance, alas! -prevented me from joining in the meagre procession -which followed his body to the cemetery -at Bagneux. It was of no use reproaching myself -that my absence would seem to diminish still -further the small number of friends who remained -faithful to him—at least I wanted to write these -few pages at once, but for a considerable period -Wilde's name seemed to become once more the -property of the newspapers.</p> - -<p>Now that every idle rumour connected with -his name, so sadly famous, is hushed; now that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>the mob is at last wearied after having praised, -wondered at, and then reviled him, perhaps, a friend -may be allowed to lay, like a wreath on a forsaken -grave, these lines of affection, admiration, and -respectful pity.</p> - -<p>When the trial, with all its scandal, which so -excited the public mind in England threatened to -wreck his life, certain writers and artists attempted -to carry out, in the name of literature and art, a -kind of rescue. It was hoped that by praising the -writer the man would be excused. Unfortunately, -there was a misunderstanding here, for it must be -acknowledged that Wilde was not a great writer. -The leaden buoy which was thrown to him helped -only to weigh him down; his works, far from -keeping him up, seemed to sink with him. In -vain were some hands stretched out: the torrent -of the world overwhelmed him—all was over.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"><a id="OSCAR_WILDE_1878"></a> -<img src="images/ill03.jpg" width="450" height="640" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">OSCAR WILDE AT OXFORD, 1878.</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>It was not possible at that time to think of defending -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>him in any other way. Instead of trying -to shelter the man behind his work, it was necessary -to show forth first the man as an object of -admiration—as I am going to try to do now—and -then the work itself illuminated by his personality. -'I have put all my genius into my life; I have put -only my talent into my works,' said Wilde once. -Great writer, no, but great <i>viveur</i>, yes, if one may -use the word in the fullest sense of the French -term. Like certain Greek philosophers of old, -Wilde did not write his wisdom, but spoke and -lived it, entrusting it rashly to the fleeting memory -of man, thereby writing it as it were on water.</p> - -<p>Let those who knew him for a longer time than -I did, tell the story of his life. One of those who -listened to him the most eagerly relates here -simply a few personal recollections.</p> - -<hr class="r35" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - - -<h3>I.</h3> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And the mighty nations would have crowned me, who<br /></span> -<span class="i5">am crownless now and without name,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And some orient dawn had found me kneeling on the<br /></span> -<span class="i5">threshold of the House of Fame.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2">Those who became acquainted with Wilde -only in the latter years of his life form a -wrong conception of the wonderful creature he -formerly was, if they judge from the enfeebled -and crushed being given back to us from prison, -as Ernest Lajeunesse paints him, for instance, in -the best or rather the only passable article on the -great reprobate which any one has had the talent -or the courage to write<a name="FNanchor_1_10" id="FNanchor_1_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_10" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was in 1891 that I met him for the first time. -Wilde had then what Thackeray calls 'one of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>greatest of a great man's qualities'—success<a name="FNanchor_2_11" id="FNanchor_2_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_11" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>. His -manner and his appearance were triumphant. -His success was so assured that it seemed to go -in front of him, and he had only to advance. His -books were causing wonder and delight. All -London was soon to rush to see his plays<a name="FNanchor_3_12" id="FNanchor_3_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_12" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>. He -was rich, he was great, he was handsome, he was -loaded with happiness and honours.</p> - -<p>Some compared him to an Asiatic Bacchus, -others to some Roman Emperor, and others again -to Apollo himself,—in short, he was resplendent. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>In Paris his name passed from mouth to -mouth as soon as he arrived. Several absurd -sayings went round concerning him, as that after -all he was only the man who smoked gold-tipped -cigarettes, and walked about the streets with a -sunflower in his hand. For, skilful in misleading -those who are the heralds of earthly fame, Wilde -knew how to hide his real personality behind an -amusing phantom, with which he humorously deluded -the public.</p> - -<p>I had heard him talked about at Stéphane Mallarmé's -house, where he was described as a brilliant -conversationalist, and I expressed a wish to know -him, little hoping that I should ever do so. A -happy chance, or rather a friend, gave me the -opportunity, and to him I made known my desire. -Wilde was invited to dinner. It was at a restaurant. -We were a party of four, but three of -us were content to listen. Wilde did not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>converse—he told tales. During the whole meal he -hardly stopped. He spoke in a slow, musical -tone, and his very voice was wonderful. He knew -French almost perfectly, but pretended, now and -then, to hesitate a little for a word to which he -wanted to call our attention. He had scarcely -any accent, at least only what it pleased him to -affect when it might give a somewhat new or -strange appearance to a word—for instance, he -used purposely to pronounce <i>scepticisme</i> as skepticisme. -The stories he told us without a break -that evening were not of his best. Uncertain of -his audience he was testing us, for, in his wisdom, -or perhaps in his folly, he never betrayed himself -into saying anything which he thought would not -be to the taste of his hearers; so he doled out -food to each according to his appetite. Those -who expected nothing from him got nothing, or -only a little light froth, and as at first he used -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>to give himself up to the task of amusing, many -of those who thought they knew him will have -known him only as the amuser.</p> - -<p>When dinner was over we went out. My two -friends walking together, Wilde took me aside and -said quite suddenly, 'You hear with your eyes; -that is why I am going to tell you this story.'</p> - -<p>He began:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'When Narcissus died, the Flowers of the -Fields were plunged in grief, and asked the -River for drops of water that they might -mourn for him.</p> - -<p>'"Oh," replied the River, "if all my drops -of water were tears, I should not have enough -to weep for Narcissus myself—I loved him."</p> - -<p>'"How could you help loving Narcissus?" -rejoined the Flowers, "so beautiful was he."</p> - -<p>'"Was he beautiful?" asked the River.</p> - -<p>'"And who should know that better than -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>yourself?" said the Flowers, "for, every day, -lying on your bank, he would mirror his own -beauty in your waters."'</p></blockquote> - -<p>Wilde stopped for a moment, and then went -on:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'"If I loved him," replied the River, "it is -because when he hung over my waters I saw -the reflection of my waters in his eyes."'</p></blockquote> - -<p>Then Wilde, drawing himself up, added with a -strange outburst of laughter, 'That is called <i>The -Disciple</i>.'</p> - -<p>We had reached his door, and left him. He -asked me to meet him again. During the course -of that year and the next I saw him frequently -and everywhere.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the presence of others, as I have mentioned, -Wilde would put on an air of showing off in order -to astonish, or amuse, or even exasperate people. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>He never listened to, and scarcely took any notice -of an idea from the moment it was no longer -purely his own. When he was no longer the -only one to shine, he would shut himself up, and -emerge again only when one found oneself alone -with him once more. But as soon as we were -alone again he would begin, 'Well, what have you -been doing since yesterday?' Now, as at that -time my life was passing uneventfully enough, -the telling of what I had been doing was of no -interest. So, to humour him, I began recounting -some trifling incidents, and noticed while I was -speaking that Wilde's face was growing gloomy.</p> - -<p>'You really did that?' he said.</p> - -<p>'Yes,' I answered.</p> - -<p>'And you are speaking the truth?'</p> - -<p>'Absolutely.'</p> - -<p>'Then why repeat it? You must see that it -is not of the slightest importance. You must -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>understand that there are two worlds—the one -exists and is never talked about; it is called the -real world because there is no need to talk about -it in order to see it. The other is the world of -Art; one must talk about that, because otherwise -it would not exist.'</p> - -<p>Then he went on:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'Once upon a time there was a man who -was beloved in his village because he used to -tell tales. Every morning he left the village, -and when he returned in the evening all the -labourers of the village who had been working -all the day would crowd round him and -say, "Come, now, tell us a tale. What have -you seen to-day?"</p> - -<p>'The man said, "I have seen in the forest -a Faun playing on a flute and making a band -of little wood-nymphs dance."</p> - -<p>'"Go on with your story; what did you -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>see?" the men would say.</p> - -<p>'"When I reached the sea-shore, I saw -three mermaids beside the waves, combing -their green hair with golden combs."</p> - -<p>'And the villagers loved him because he -used to tell them tales.</p> - -<p>'One morning he left his village as usual, -and when he reached the sea-shore he saw -three mermaids at the water's edge combing -their green hair with golden combs. And as -he passed on his way he saw, near a wood, -a Faun playing a flute to a band of wood-nymphs.</p> - -<p>'That evening when he returned to his -village the people said to him as they did -every evening, "Come, tell us a tale: what -have you seen?"</p> - -<p>'And the man answered, "I have seen nothing."'</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Wilde stopped for a moment to allow the effect -of the story to sink into me, and then he continued, -'I do not like your lips; they are quite -straight, like the lips of a man who has never -told a lie. I want you to learn to lie so that your -lips may become beautiful and curved like the lips -of an antique mask.</p> - -<p>'Do you know what makes the work of art, -and what makes the work of nature? Do you -know what the difference is? For the narcissus -is as beautiful as a work of art, so what distinguishes -them cannot be merely beauty. Do -you know what it is that distinguishes them? -A work of art is always unique. Nature, who -makes nothing durable, is ever repeating herself, -so that nothing she makes may be lost. A single -narcissus produces many blooms—that is why -each one lives but a day. Every time Nature -invents a new form she at once makes a <i>replica</i>. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>A sea-monster in one sea knows that in another -sea there is another monster like itself. When -God creates in history a Nero, a Borgia or a -Napoleon He puts another one on one side. -No one knows it, but that does not matter; the -important point is that <i>one</i> may be a success. For -God makes man, and man makes the work of art.'</p> - -<p>Forestalling what I was on the point of saying, -he proceeded, 'Yes, I know ... one day a great -restlessness fell upon the earth, as if, at last, -Nature was going to create something unique, -something quite unique, and Christ is born on -earth. Yes, I know, quite well, but listen:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'When Joseph of Arimathæa came down in -the evening from Mount Calvary where Jesus -had just died, he saw on a white stone a -young man seated weeping. And Joseph -went near to him and said, "I understand -how great thy grief must be, for certainly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>that Man was a just Man." But the young -man made answer, "Oh, it is not for that -that I am weeping. I am weeping because -I, too, have wrought miracles. I also have -given sight to the blind, I have healed the -palsied, and I have raised the dead; I, too, -have caused the barren fig-tree to wither -away, and I have turned water into wine. -And yet they have not crucified me<a name="FNanchor_4_13" id="FNanchor_4_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_13" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>."'</p></blockquote> - -<p>And that Oscar Wilde was convinced of his representative -mission was made quite clear to me -on more than one occasion.</p> - -<p>The Gospel disturbed and troubled the pagan -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>Wilde. He could not forgive it its miracles. The -pagan miracle lies in the work of Art; Christianity -encroached on it. Every strong departure from -realism in art demands a realism which is convinced -in life. His most ingenious fables, his -most alarming ironies were uttered with a view -to confront the two moralities—I mean, pagan -naturalism and Christian idealism, and to put the -latter out of countenance in every respect. This -is another of his stories:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'When Jesus was minded to return to -Nazareth, Nazareth was so changed that He -no longer recognised His own city. The -Nazareth where He had lived was full of -lamentations and tears; this city was filled -with outbursts of laughter and song. And -Christ entering into the city saw some slaves -laden with flowers, hastening towards the -marble staircase of a house of white marble. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>Christ entered into the house, and at the -back of a hall of jasper He saw, lying on a -purple couch, a man whose disordered locks -were mingled with red roses, and whose lips -were red with wine. Christ drew near to him, -and laying His hand on his shoulder said -to him, "Why dost thou lead this life?" The -man turned round, recognized Him and said, -"I was a leper once; Thou didst heal me. -Why should I live another life? "</p> - -<p>Christ went out of the house, and behold! -in the street He saw a woman whose face and -raiment were painted and whose feet were -shod with pearls. And behind her walked -a man who wore a cloak of two colours, -and whose eyes were bright with lust. And -Christ went up to the man and laid His -hand on his shoulder, and said to him, "Tell -Me why art thou following this woman, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>why dost thou look at her in such wise?" -The man turning round recognized Him and -said, "I was blind; Thou didst heal me; -what else should I do with my sight?"</p> - -<p>'And Christ drew near to the woman and -said to her, "This road which thou art following -is the pathway of sin; why follow -it?" The woman recognized Him, -and laughing said, "The way which I follow -is a pleasant way, and Thou hast pardoned -all my sins."</p> - -<p>'Then Christ felt His heart filled with sadness, -and He was minded to leave the city. -But as He was going out of it He saw sitting -by the bank of the moat of the city, a young -man who was weeping. He drew near to -him, and touching the locks of his hair, said -to him, "Friend, why dost thou weep?" The -young man raised his eyes, recognized Him -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>and made answer, "I was dead and Thou -hast raised me to life. What else should I -do with my life?"'</p></blockquote> - -<p>Let me tell this one story more, illustrating one -of the strangest pitfalls into which the imagination -can mislead a man, and let any one, who is able, -understand the strange paradox which Wilde here -makes use of:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'Then there was a great silence in the Judgment -Hall of God. And the Soul of the -sinner stood naked before God.</p> - -<p>'And God opened the Book of the life of -the sinner and said, "Surely thy life hath -been very evil. Thou hast" (there followed a -wonderful, a marvellous list of sins<a name="FNanchor_5_14" id="FNanchor_5_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_14" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>). "Since -thou hast done all this, surely I will send thee -to Hell."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>'And the man cried out, "Thou canst not -send me to Hell."</p> - -<p>'And God said to the man, "Wherefore can -I not send thee to Hell?"</p> - -<p>'And the man made answer and said, "Because -in Hell I have always lived."</p> - -<p>'And there was a great silence in the Judgment -Hall of God.</p> - -<p>'And God spake and said to the man, "Seeing -that I may not send thee to Hell, I am -going to send thee to Heaven."</p> - -<p>'"Thou canst not send me to Heaven."</p> - -<p>'And God said to the man, "Wherefore can -I not send thee to Heaven?"</p> - -<p>'And the man said, "Because I have never -been able to imagine it."</p> - -<p>'And there was a great silence in the Judgment -Hall of God<a name="FNanchor_6_15" id="FNanchor_6_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_15" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>.'</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>One morning Wilde handed me an article in -which a sufficiently dense critic congratulated him -on 'knowing how to write pretty stories in which -the better to clothe his thoughts.'</p> - -<p>'They think,' began Wilde, 'that all thoughts -come naked to the birth. They do not understand -that I <i>cannot</i> think otherwise than in stories. The -sculptor does not try to reproduce his thoughts -in marble; <i>he thinks in marble</i>, straight away. -Listen:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>'There was once a man who could think -only in bronze. And this man one day had -an idea, an idea of <i>The Pleasure that Abideth -for a Moment</i>. And he felt that he must give -expression to it. But in the whole world there -was but one single piece of bronze, for men -had used it all up. And this man felt that -he would go mad if he did not give expression -to his idea. And he remembered a piece of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>bronze on the tomb of his wife, a statue which -he had himself fashioned to set on the tomb of -his wife, the only woman he had ever loved. -It was the image of <i>The Sorrow that Endureth -for Ever</i>. And the man felt that he was becoming -mad, because he could not give expression -to his idea. Then he took this image of -Sorrow, of the <i>Sorrow that endureth for Ever</i>, -and broke it up and melted it and fashioned of -it an Image of Pleasure, of the <i>Pleasure that -abideth for a Moment</i>.'</p></blockquote> - -<p>Wilde was a believer in a certain fatality besetting -the path of the artist, and that the <i>Man</i> is -at the mercy of the Idea. 'There are,' he used to -say, 'artists of two kinds: some supply answers, -and others ask questions. It is necessary to know -if one belongs to those who answer or to those -who ask questions; for the one who asks questions -is never the one who answers them. There are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>certain works which wait for their interpretation -for a long time. It is because they are giving -answers to questions that have not yet been -asked—for the question often comes a terribly -long time after the answer.'</p> - -<p>And he added further, 'The soul is born old in -the body; it is to rejuvenate the soul that the -body becomes old. Plato is Socrates young -again.'</p> - -<p>Then it was three years before I saw him -again.</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_10" id="Footnote_1_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_10"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In <i>La Revue Blanche</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_11" id="Footnote_2_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_11"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Henry Esmond</i>, Book II, chap. <span class="smcap">xi</span>. Thackeray puts these -words into the mouth of the famous Mr. Joseph Addison, who -continues:—''T is the result of all the others; 't is a latent -power in him which compels the favour of the gods, and subjugates -fortune.'</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_12" id="Footnote_3_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_12"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Oscar Wilde's first play, <i>Lady Windermere's Fan</i>, was -produced at the St. James's Theatre on February 20, 1892. -This was followed by <i>A Woman of No Importance</i>, April 19, -1893, and <i>An Ideal Husband</i>, January, 3, 1895, at Haymarket; -and <i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i>, February 14, -1895, at the St. James's.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_13" id="Footnote_4_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_13"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> This story appeared under the title of 'The Master' with -other Poems in Prose in <i>The Fortnightly Review</i> for July, 1894. -Two of them, 'The Disciple' and 'The House of Judgment,' -were first published in <i>The Spirit Lamp</i> in 1893. This was -a magazine published at Oxford under the editorship of Lord -Alfred Douglas, who had recently bought it from the founder -and changed its style and form. A complete set of the fifteen -numbers is now exceedingly scarce.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_14" id="Footnote_5_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_14"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Henri Davray translated these 'Poems in Prose' in <i>La -Revue Blanche</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_15" id="Footnote_6_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_15"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Since Villiers de l'Isle-Adam has betrayed it, every one -knows, alas! the great secret of the Church: <i>There is no Purgatory!</i></p></div> - -<hr class="r35" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> - -<h3>II.</h3> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I have made my choice, have lived my poems, and<br /></span> -<span class="i5">though youth is gone in wasted days,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I have found the lover's crown of myrtle better than<br /></span> -<span class="i5">the poet's crown of bays.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2">Here tragic reminiscences begin.</p> - -<p>A persistent rumour, growing louder and -louder with the fame of his successes (in London -his plays were being acted in no less than three -different theatres at the same time<a name="FNanchor_1_16" id="FNanchor_1_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_16" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>), attributed to -Wilde strange habits, on hearing of which, some -people tempered their indignation with a smile, -while others were not in the least indignant. It -was claimed, moreover, as regards these alleged -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>habits, that he concealed them little, and often on -the other hand paraded them—some said courageously, -others out of cynicism, and others for a -pose. I was filled with astonishment when I -heard these rumours. In no way, all the time -that I had been intimate with him, had he given -me the slightest ground for suspicion. But already -out of prudence numbers of his old friends were -deserting him. They did not yet actually cut him, -but they no longer made a point of saying they -had met him.</p> - -<p>An extraordinary coincidence brought us together -again. It was in January, 1895. I was travelling. -A peevish disposition urged me on, and I -sought solitude rather than novelty of scene. The -weather was frightful. I had fled from Algiers to -Blidah, and I was about to quit Blidah for Biskra. -Just as I was leaving my hotel, I glanced, through -idle curiosity, at the slate on which visitors' names -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>were inscribed. What did I see there? By the -side of my own name, actually touching it, was -Wilde's. I have said that I was thirsting to be -alone, so I took the sponge and rubbed my name -out. Before reaching the railway station, however, -I was not quite sure that a little cowardice did not -underlie that act, so at once retracing my steps -I had my bag taken upstairs and wrote my name -on the slate again.</p> - -<p>In the three years since I had seen him—for -I can hardly count a short meeting in Florence -the year before—Wilde had certainly changed. -One felt that there was less tenderness in his -look, that there was something harsh in his -laughter and a madness in his joy. He seemed, -at the same time, to be more sure of pleasing and -less ambitious to succeed therein. He had grown -reckless, hardened, and conceited. Strangely -enough, he no longer spoke in fables, and during -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>several days that I tarried there I was not once -able to draw the shortest tale from him. My first -impression was one of astonishment at finding him -in Algeria.</p> - -<p>'Oh,' he said to me, 'just now I am fleeing from -art. I want only to adore the sun. Have you ever -noticed how the sun detests thought? The sun -always causes thought to withdraw itself and take -refuge in the shade. Thought dwelt in Egypt originally, -but the sun conquered Egypt; then it lived -for a long time in Greece, and the sun conquered -Greece, then in Italy, and then in France. Nowadays -all thought is driven back as far as Norway -and Russia, places where the sun never goes. -The sun is jealous of art.'</p> - -<p>To adore the sun, ah! that was—for him—to -adore life. Wilde's lyrical adoration was fast becoming -a frenzied madness. A fatality led him on; -he could not and would not withdraw himself from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>it. He seemed to devote all his zeal and all his -worth to over-rating his destiny, and over-reaching -himself. '<i>My</i> special duty,' he used to say, 'is to -plunge madly into amusement.' He used to make -a point of searching for pleasure as one faces an -appointed duty. Nietzsche surprised me less, on -a later occasion, because I had heard Wilde say, -'No, not happiness! Certainly not happiness! -Pleasure. One must always set one's heart upon -the most tragic.'</p> - -<p>He would walk about the streets of Algiers -preceded, escorted, and followed by an extraordinary -mob of young ruffians. He talked to them -all, regarded them all with equal delight, and -threw them money recklessly. 'I hope to have -thoroughly demoralized this town,' he told me. -I thought of Flaubert's saying when he was asked -what kind of reputation he most desired—'that of -being a demoralizer,' he replied. In the face of all -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>this I was filled with astonishment, admiration, and -alarm. I knew of his shaky position, the enmities -he had created, and the attacks which were being -made upon him, and I knew what dark unrest lay -hidden beneath his outward pretence of pleasure.</p> - -<p>On one of those last evenings in Algiers, Wilde -seemed to have made up his mind not to say a -single serious word. At last I became somewhat -annoyed at the exaggerated wit of his paradoxes, -and I said to him, 'You have got something better -to talk about than this nonsense; you are talking -to me as if I were the public. You ought rather -to talk to the public as you know so well how -to talk to your friends. Why is it your plays -are not better? The best that is in you, -you talk; why do you not write it?' 'Oh, -well,' he cried immediately, 'my plays are not -good, I know, and I don't trouble about that, but -if you only knew how much amusement they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>afford! They are nearly all the results of a bet. -So was <i>Dorian Gray</i>—I wrote that in a few days -because a friend of mine declared that I could not -write a novel. Writing bores me so.'</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> -<a id="OSCAR_WILDE_1893"></a><img src="images/ill04.jpg" width="450" height="637" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">OSCAR WILDE, 1893.</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Then, turning suddenly towards me, he said, -'Would you like to know the great drama of -my life? It is that I have put my genius into -my life—I have put only my talent into my -works.'</p> - -<p>It was only too true. The best of his writing is -but a poor reflection of his brilliant conversation. -Those who have heard him talk find him disappointing -to read. <i>Dorian Gray</i> in its conception -was a wonderful story, far superior to <i>La Peau de -Chagrin</i>, and far more significant! Alas! when -written, what a masterpiece spoiled. In his most -delightful tales literary influence makes itself too -much felt. However graceful they may be, one -notices too much literary effort; affectation and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>delicacy of phrase<a name="FNanchor_2_17" id="FNanchor_2_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_17" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> conceal the beauty of the first -conception of them. One feels in them, and one -cannot help feeling in them, the three periods of -their generation. The first idea contained in them -is very beautiful, simple, profound, and certain to -make itself heard; a kind of latent necessity holds -the parts firmly together, but from that point -the gift stops. The development of the parts is -done in an artificial manner; there is a lack of -arrangement about them, and when Wilde elaborates -his sentences and endeavours to give them -their full value, he does so by overloading them -prodigiously with tiny conceits and quaint and -trifling fancies. The result is that one's emotion -is held at bay, and the dazzling of the surface so -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>blinds one's eyes and mind, that the deep central -emotion is lost.</p> - -<p>He spoke of returning to London, as a well-known -peer was insulting him, challenging him, -and taunting him with running away.</p> - -<p>'But if you go back what will happen? 'I asked -him. 'Do you know the risk you are running?'</p> - -<p>'It is best never to know,' he answered. 'My -friends are extraordinary—they beg me to be -careful. Careful? but can I be careful? That -would be a backward step. I must go on as far -as possible. I cannot go much further. Something -is bound to happen ... something else.'</p> - -<p>Here he broke off, and the next day he left for -England.</p> - -<p>The rest of the story is well-known. That -'something else' was hard labour.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>[I have invented nothing, nor altered anything, in the last -few sentences I have quoted. Wilde's words are fixed in my -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>mind, and, I might almost say, in my ears. I do not say that -Wilde clearly saw the prison opening to receive him, but I do -assert that the great and unexpected event which astonished -and upset London, suddenly changing Oscar Wilde from accuser -into accused, did not cause him any surprise.</p> - -<p>The newspapers, which chose to see in him only a buffoon, -misrepresented, as far as they could, the position taken up for -his defence, even to the extent of wresting all meaning from it. -Perhaps some day in the far future it will be seemly to lift this -dreadful trial out of the mire—but not yet.]</p></blockquote> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_16" id="Footnote_1_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_16"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>An Ideal Husband</i> at the Haymarket and <i>The Importance -of Being Earnest</i> at the St. James's. Possibly <i>Lady Windermere's -Fan</i> or <i>A Woman of No Importance</i> was being played -at a suburban theatre at the same time.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_17" id="Footnote_2_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_17"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> M. Gide first wrote <i>euphuisme</i> but altered it to <i>euphémisme</i> -on republishing his 'Study' in <i>Prétextes</i>. Euphuism or 'extreme -nicety in language' seems to be more appropriate in -the present case than euphemism or 'a softening of offensive -expressions.'</p></div> - -<hr class="r35" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<h3>III.</h3> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For the crimson flower of our life is eaten by the cankerworm<br /></span> -<span class="i5">of truth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And no hand can gather up the fallen withered petals<br /></span> -<span class="i5">of the rose of youth.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2">As soon as he came out of prison, Oscar -Wilde went back to France. At Berneval, -a quiet little village near Dieppe, a certain 'Sebastian -Melmoth' took up his abode. It was he. As -I had been the last of his French friends to see -him, I wanted to be the first to greet him on -his return to liberty, and as soon as I could find -out his address I hastened to him.</p> - -<p>I arrived about midday without having previously -announced my proposed visit. M. Melmoth, -whom T——<a name="FNanchor_1_18" id="FNanchor_1_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_18" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> with warm cordiality invited to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>Dieppe fairly frequently, was not expected back -till the evening. He did not return till midnight.</p> - -<p>It was as cold as winter. The weather was -atrocious. The whole day I wandered about the -deserted beach in low spirits and bored to death. -How could Wilde have chosen Berneval to live in, -I wondered. It was positively mournful. Night -came, and I went back to the hotel to engage -a room, the same hotel where Melmoth was -living—indeed it was the only one in the place. -The hotel, which was clean and pleasantly situated, -catered only for second-class boarders, inoffensive -folk enough, with whom I had to dine. -Rather poor company for Melmoth, I thought.</p> - -<p>Fortunately I had a book to read, but it was a -gloomy evening, and at eleven o'clock I was just -going to abandon my intention of waiting up for -him when I heard the rumbling of carriage wheels. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>M. Melmoth had arrived, benumbed with cold. -He had lost his overcoat on the way. And, now -that he came to think of it, he remembered that a -peacock's feather which his servant had brought -him the previous evening was a bad omen, and -had clearly foretold some misfortune about to -befall him; luckily it was no worse. But as he -was shivering with cold, the hotel was set busy -to warm some whiskey for him. He hardly said -'How do you do?' to me. In the presence of -others, at least, he did not wish to appear to be at -all moved. And my own emotion was almost immediately -stilled on finding Sebastian Melmoth so -plainly like the Oscar Wilde of old—no longer the -frenzied poet of Algeria, but the sweet Wilde -of the days before the crisis; and I found -myself taken back not two years, but four or -five. There was the same dreamy look, the same -amused smile, the same voice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>He occupied two rooms, the best in the hotel, -and he had arranged them with great taste. -Several books lay on the table, and among them -he showed me my own <i>Nourritures Terrestres</i>, -which had been published lately. A pretty Gothic -Virgin stood on a high pedestal in a dark corner.</p> - -<p>Presently we sat down near the lamp, Wilde -drinking his grog in little sips. I noticed, now -that the light was better, that the skin of his face -had become red and common looking, and his -hands even more so, though they still bore the -same rings—one to which he was especially attached -had in a reversible bezel an Egyptian -scarabæus in lapis lazuli. His teeth were dreadfully -decayed.</p> - -<p>We began chatting, and I reminded him of our -last meeting in Algiers, and asked him if he remembered -that I had almost foretold the approaching -catastrophe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>'Did you not know,' I said, 'almost for certain -what was awaiting you in England? You saw -the danger and rushed headlong into it, did you -not?'</p> - -<p>Here I think I cannot do better than copy out -the pages on which I wrote shortly afterwards as -much as I could remember of what he said.</p> - -<p>'Oh, naturally,' he replied, 'of course I knew -that there would be a catastrophe, either that or -something else; I was expecting it. There was -but one end possible. Just imagine—to go any -further was impossible, and that state of things -could not last. That is why there had to be some -end to it, you see. Prison has completely changed -me<a name="FNanchor_2_19" id="FNanchor_2_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_19" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>. I was relying on it for that. —-is terrible. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>He cannot understand that—he cannot understand -that I am not taking up the same existence again. -He accuses the others of having changed me—but -one must never take up the same existence again. -My life is like a work of art. An artist never -begins the same work twice, or else it shows that -he has not succeeded. My life before prison was -as successful as possible. Now all that is finished -and done with.'</p> - -<p>He lighted a cigarette and went on: 'The public -is so dreadful that it knows a man only by the last -thing he has done. If I were to go back to Paris -now, people would see in me only the convict. I -do not want to show myself again before I have -written a play. Till then I must be left alone and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>undisturbed.' And he added abruptly, 'Did I not -do well to come here? My friends wanted me to -go to the South to recruit, because at first I was -quite worn out. But I asked them to find me, in -the North of France, a very small place at the seaside, -where I should see no one, where it was very -cold and there was hardly ever any sun. Did I -not do well to come and live at Berneval? [Outside -the weather was frightful.] Here every one -is most good to me—the Curé especially. I am -so fond of the little church, and, would you believe -it, it is called <i>Notre Dame de Liesse</i><a name="FNanchor_3_20" id="FNanchor_3_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_20" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>! Now, is not -that charming? And now I know that I can never -leave Berneval, because only this morning the Curé -offered me a perpetual seat in the choir-stalls.</p> - -<p>And the Custom-house men, poor fellows, are so -bored here with nothing to do, that I asked them if -they had not anything to read, and now I am giving -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>them all the elder Dumas' novels. So I must stay -here, you see. And the children, oh, the children -they adore me. On the day of the Queen's Jubilee -I gave a grand fête and a big dinner, when I had -forty children from the school, all of them, and -the schoolmaster, to celebrate it. Is not that -absolutely charming? You know that I admire -the Queen very much. I always have her portrait -with me.'</p> - -<p>And he showed me her portrait by Nicholson, -pinned on the wall. I got up to look at it. A -small bookshelf was close to it, and I began -glancing at the books. I wanted to lead Wilde -on to talk to me in a more serious vein. I sat -down again, and rather timidly asked him if he -had read <i>Souvenirs de la Maison des Morts</i>.</p> - -<p>He gave me no direct answer, but began:—'Russian -writers are extraordinary. What makes -their books so great is the pity they put into -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>them. You know how fond I used to be of -<i>Madame Bovary</i>, but Flaubert would not admit -pity into his work, and that is why it has a petty -and restrained character about it. It is sense -of pity by means of which a work gains in -expanse, and by which it opens up a boundless -horizon. Do you know, my dear fellow, -it was pity that prevented me from killing myself? -During the first six months I was dreadfully -unhappy, so utterly miserable that I wanted -to kill myself, but what kept me from doing so -was looking at <i>the others</i>, and seeing that they -were as unhappy as I was, and feeling sorry for -them. Oh, dear! what a wonderful thing pity is, -and I never knew it.'</p> - -<p>He was speaking in a low voice without any -excitement.</p> - -<p>'Have you ever learned how wonderful a thing -pity is? For my part I thank God every night, yes, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>on my knees I thank God for having taught it to -me. I went into prison with a heart of stone, -thinking only of my own pleasure, but now my heart -is utterly broken—pity has entered into my heart. -I have learned now that pity is the greatest and -most beautiful thing in the world. And that is why -I cannot bear ill-will towards those who caused -my suffering and those who condemned me; no, -nor to any one, because without them I should -not have known all that. —— writes me terrible -letters. He says he does not understand me, -that he does not understand that I do not wish -every one ill, and that every one has been horrid -to me. No, he does not understand me. He -cannot understand me any more. But I keep -on telling him that in every letter: we cannot -follow the same road. He has his, and it is -beautiful—I have mine. His is that of Alcibiades; -mine is now that of St. Francis of Assisi. Do -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>you know St. Francis of Assisi? A wonderful -man! Would you like to give me a great -pleasure? Send me the best life of St. Francis -you can find.'</p> - -<p>I promised it to him. He went on:</p> - -<p>'Yes, afterwards we had a charming prison -Governor, oh, quite a charming man, but for the -first six months I was dreadfully unhappy. There -was a Governor of the prison, a Jew, who was -very harsh, because he was entirely lacking in -imagination.'</p> - -<p>This last expression, spoken very quickly, was -irresistibly funny; and, as I laughed heartily, he -laughed too, repeated it, and then said:</p> - -<p>'He did not know what to imagine in order to -make us suffer. Now, you shall see what a lack of -imagination he showed. You must know that in -prison we are allowed to go out only one hour -a day; then, we walk in a courtyard, round and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>round, one behind the other, and we are absolutely -forbidden to say a word. Warders watch us, -and there are terrible punishments for any one -caught talking. Those who are in prison for the -first time are spotted at once, because they do -not know how to speak without moving their -lips. I had already been in prison six weeks -and I had not spoken a word to anyone—not to -a soul<a name="FNanchor_4_21" id="FNanchor_4_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_21" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>.</p> - -<p>'One evening we were walking as usual, one -behind the other, during the hour's exercise, when -suddenly behind me I heard my name called. It -was the prisoner who followed me, and he said, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>"Oscar Wilde, I pity you, because you must suffer -more than we do." Then I made a great effort -not to be noticed (I thought I was going to faint), -and I said without turning round, "No, my friend, -we all suffer alike." And from that day I no -longer had a desire to kill myself. We talked -in that way for several days. I knew his name -and what he had done. His name was P——; -he was such a good fellow; oh! so good. But -I had not yet learned to speak without moving -my lips, and one evening,—"C.3.3." (C.3.3. was -myself), "C.3.3. and A.4.8. step out of the ranks."</p> - -<p>'Then we stood out, and the warder said, "You -will both have to go before the Governor." And -as pity had already entered into my heart, my -only fear was for him; in fact I was even glad -that I might suffer for his sake. But the Governor -was quite terrible. He had P—— in first; he -was going to question us separately, because you -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>must know that the punishment is not the same -for the one who speaks first, and for the one -who answers; the punishment of the one who -speaks first is double that of the other. As a rule -the first has fifteen days' solitary confinement, -and the second has eight days only. Then -the Governor wanted to know which of us had -spoken first, and naturally P——, good fellow -that he was, said it was he. And afterwards -when the Governor had me in to question me, -I, of course, said it was I. Then the Governor -got very red because he could not understand it. -"But P—— also says that it was he who began -it. I cannot understand it. I cannot understand -it."</p> - -<p>'Think of it, my dear fellow, he could <b>not</b> understand -it. He became very much embarrassed and -said, "But I have already given him fifteen days," -and then he added, "Anyhow, if that is the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>case, I shall give you both fifteen days." Is not -that extraordinary? That man had not a spark -of imagination<a name="FNanchor_5_22" id="FNanchor_5_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_22" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>.'</p> - -<p>Wilde was vastly amused at what he was saying, -and laughed—he was happy telling stories. -'And, of course,' he continued, 'after the fifteen -days we were much more anxious to speak to one -another than before. You do not know how -sweet that is, to feel that one is suffering for -another. Gradually, as we did not go in the same -order each day, I was able to talk to each of the -others, to all of them, every one of them. I knew -each one's name and each one's history, and when -each was due to be released. And to each one -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>I said, "When you get out of prison, the first -thing you must do is to go to the Post Office, and -there you will find a letter for you with some -money." And so in that way I still know them, -because I keep up my friendship with them. And -there is something quite delightful in them. Would -you believe it, already three of them have been to -see me here? Is not that quite wonderful?'</p> - -<p>'The successor of the harsh Governor was a -very charming man—oh! remarkably so—and -most considerate to me. You cannot imagine -how much good it did me in prison that <i>Salomé</i><a name="FNanchor_6_23" id="FNanchor_6_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_23" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> -was being played in Paris just at that time. In -prison, it had been entirely forgotten that I was -a literary person, but when they saw that my play -was a success in Paris, they said to one another, -"Well, but that is strange; he has talent, then." -And from that moment they let me have all the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>books I wanted to read<a name="FNanchor_7_24" id="FNanchor_7_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_24" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>. I thought, at first, that -what would please me most would be Greek literature, -so I asked for Sophocles, but I could not get -a relish for it. Then I thought of the Fathers of -the Church, but I found them equally uninteresting. -And suddenly I thought of Dante. Oh! -Dante. I read Dante every day, in Italian, and -all through, but neither the <i>Purgatorio</i> nor the -<i>Paradiso</i> seemed written for me. It was his -<i>Inferno</i> above all that I read; how could I help -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>liking it? Cannot you guess? Hell, we were in -it—Hell, that was prison!'<a name="FNanchor_8_25" id="FNanchor_8_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_25" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>That same evening he told me a clever story -about Judas, and of his proposed drama on -Pharaoh. Next day he took me to a charming -little house<a name="FNanchor_9_26" id="FNanchor_9_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_26" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>, about two hundred yards from the -hotel, which he had rented and was beginning to -furnish. It was there that he wanted to write his -plays—his <i>Pharoah</i> first, and then one called -<i>Ahab and Jezebel</i> (he pronounced it 'Isabelle'), -which he related to me admirably.</p> - -<p>The carriage which was to take me away was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>waiting, and Wilde got into it to accompany me -part of the way. He began talking to me again -about my book, and praised it, though with some -slight reserve, I thought. At last the carriage -stopped; he bade me good-bye, and was just going -to get out, when he suddenly said, 'Listen, my -dear friend, you must promise me one thing. -Your <i>Nourritures Terrestres</i> is good, very good, -but promise me you will never write a capital -"I" again.' And as I seemed scarcely to understand -what he meant, he finished up by saying, -'In Art, you see, there is no first person.'</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_18" id="Footnote_1_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_18"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> A literary friend who, a few years later, in collaboration, -with another, translated <i>Dorian Gray</i> into French.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_19" id="Footnote_2_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_19"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> 'No more beautiful life has any man lived, no more beautiful -life could any man live than Oscar Wilde lived during the -short period I knew him in prison. He wore upon his face an -eternal smile; sunshine was on his face, sunshine of some -sort must have been in his heart. People say he was not sincere: -he was the very soul of sincerity when I knew him. If -he did not continue that life after he left prison, then the forces -of evil must have been too strong for him. But he tried, he -honestly tried, and in prison he succeeded.'—<i>From a Letter -written to the Translator</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_20" id="Footnote_3_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_20"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> An archaic French word from the Latin <i>laetitia</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_21" id="Footnote_4_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_21"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Within the last few years the stringency of this regulation -has been somewhat relaxed, and it is in the discretion of the -Governor to allow conversation at certain times. The Governor -of Reading Prison, in the appendix to the Report of the Commissioners -for the year ending March 31, 1901, stated: 'The -privilege of talking at exercise is much appreciated by the -prisoners. They walk and talk in a quiet and orderly manner, -and there have been no reports for misbehaviour.'</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_22" id="Footnote_5_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_22"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Solitary confinement does not mean in a dark cell. The -prisoner still remains in his own cell, but is debarred from -exercising with the other prisoners, or accompanying them to -Divine Service. The confinement is not consecutive, but -applies to every alternate day only—thus, a prisoner sentenced -to seven days' bread and water, or solitary confinement, does -but four days.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_23" id="Footnote_6_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_23"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Salome</i> was played in Paris early in 1896.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_24" id="Footnote_7_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_24"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Oscar Wilde found the prison library quite unable to -satisfy his wants, and he was allowed to receive books from -outside. Such books are then added to the prison library. -Magazines are forbidden, but novels allowed. In a letter -written from prison early in 1897, Oscar Wilde said that he -felt a horror of returning to the world without possessing -a single volume of his own, and suggested that some of his -friends might like to give him some books. 'You know what -kind of books I want,' he says, 'Flaubert, Stevenson, Baudelaire, -Maeterlinck, Dumas père, Keats, Marlowe, Chatterton, -Coleridge, Anatole France, Théophile Gautier, Dante, and -Goethe, and so on.'</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_25" id="Footnote_8_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_25"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> During the last three months or so of his imprisonment he -did no work whatever beyond writing <i>De Profundis</i> and keeping -his cell clean. He was allowed gas in his cell up to a late -hour, when it was turned down but not turned out. As everything -he wrote was examined by the Governor, naturally the -prison system is not attacked with the same vehemence in <i>De -Profundis</i> as it is in <i>The Ballad of Reading Gaol</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_26" id="Footnote_9_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_26"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> This was the Chalet Bourbat where Wilde lived from -July to October, 1897.</p></div> - -<hr class="r35" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> - -<h3>IV.</h3> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Ah! what else had I to do but love you, God's own<br /></span> -<span class="i5">mother was less dear to me,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And less dear the Cytheræan rising like an argent lily<br /></span> -<span class="i5">from the sea.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2">On returning to Paris I went to give news of -him to ——.</p> - -<p>---- said to me: 'But all that is quite absurd. -He is quite incapable of bearing the <i>ennui</i>. I -know him so well. He writes to me every day. -I also am of opinion that he ought to finish his -play first, but after that he will come back here. -He has never done anything good in solitude; he -needs to be constantly drawn out of himself. It -is by my side that he has written all his best -work. Besides, just look at his last letter.'</p> - -<p>He thereupon read it to me. In it Wilde -begged —— to let him finish his <i>Pharaoh</i> in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>peace, but, in effect, the letter implied that as -soon as his play was written he would come back, -he would find him again; and it ended with these -boastful words, 'and then I shall be once more the -King of Life.'</p> - -<hr class="r35" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> - -<h3>V.</h3> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rudderless, we drift athwart a tempest, and when once<br /></span> -<span class="i5">the storm of youth is past,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Without lyre, without lute or chorus, Death the silent<br /></span> -<span class="i5">pilot comes at last.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="THE_GRAVE_AT_BAGNEUX"></a><img src="images/ill05.jpg" width="300" height="507" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE GRAVE AT BAGNEUX.</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2">And a short time afterwards, Wilde went back -to Paris.<a name="FNanchor_1_27" id="FNanchor_1_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_27" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>His play was not written—it will never be written -now. Society well knows what steps to take when -it wants to crush a man, and it has means more -subtle than death. Wilde had suffered too grievously -for the last two years, and in too submissive -a manner, and his will had been broken. For the -first few months he might still have entertained -illusions, but he soon gave them up. It was as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>though he had signed his abdication. Nothing -remained in his shattered life but a mouldy ruin, -painful to contemplate, of his former self. At -times he seemed to wish to show that his brain -was still active. Humour there was, but it was -far-fetched, forced, and threadbare.</p> - -<p>I met him again on two occasions only. One -evening on the Boulevards, where I was walking -with G——, I heard my name called. I turned -round and saw Wilde. Ah! how changed he -was. 'If I appear again before writing my play, -the world will refuse to see in me anything -except the felon,' he had once said to me. He -had appeared again, without his play, and as he -found certain doors closed in his face, he no longer -sought admission anywhere. He prowled.</p> - -<p>Friends, at different times, tried to save him<a name="FNanchor_2_28" id="FNanchor_2_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_28" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>They did all they could think of, and were for -taking him to Italy, but he eluded their efforts, -and began to drift back. Among those who had -remained faithful for the longest time, some -had often told me that Wilde was no longer -to be seen, and I was somewhat uneasy, I admit, -at seeing him again, and what is more, in a place -where so many people might pass. Wilde was -sitting at a table outside a café. He ordered two -cock-tails for G—— and myself. I was going to -sit opposite to him in such a way as to turn my -back to the passers-by, but Wilde, noticed this -movement, which he took as an impulse of absurd -shame, (he was not entirely mistaken, I must -admit), and said, 'Oh, sit here, near me,' pointing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>to a chair at his side, 'I am so much alone just -now.'</p> - -<p>Wilde was still well-dressed, but his hat was -not so glossy; his collar was of the same shape, -but it was not so clean, and the sleeves of his coat -were slightly frayed at the edges.</p> - -<p>'When I used to meet Verlaine in days gone -by,' he continued with an outburst of pride, 'I was -never ashamed of being seen with him. I was -rich, light-hearted, and covered with glory, but I -felt that to be seen with him was an honour, even -when Verlaine was drunk.' Then fearing to bore -G——, I think, he suddenly changed his mood, -tried to be witty and to make jokes. In the effort -he became gloomy. My recollections here are -dreadfully sad. At last my friend and I got up. -Wilde insisted on paying for the drinks, and -I was about to say good-bye, when he took -me aside, and, with an air of great embarrassment, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>said in a low voice, 'I say, I must tell you, -I am absolutely without a penny<a name="FNanchor_3_29" id="FNanchor_3_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_29" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>.</p> - -<p>Some days afterwards I saw him again, and for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>the last time. I do not want to repeat more than -one word of our conversation. He told me of his -troubles, of the impossibility of carrying out, or -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>even of beginning, a piece of work<a name="FNanchor_4_30" id="FNanchor_4_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_30" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>. Sadly I reminded -him of the promise he had made not to -show himself in Paris without having finished one -book. 'Ah!' I began, 'why did you leave Berneval -so soon, when you ought to have stayed there -so long? I cannot say that I am angry with you, -but—'</p> - -<p>He interrupted me, laid his hand on mine, -looked at me with his most sorrowful look, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>said, 'You must not be angry with <i>one who has -been crushed</i><a name="FNanchor_5_31" id="FNanchor_5_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_31" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>.'</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Oscar Wilde died in a shabby little hotel in the -Rue des Beaux Arts. Seven persons followed -the hearse, and even they did not all accompany -the funeral procession to the end. On the coffin -were some flowers and some artificial wreaths, -only one of which, I am told, bore any inscription. -It was from the proprietor of the hotel, -and on it were these words: '<span class="smcap">A Mon Locataire.</span>'</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_27" id="Footnote_1_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_27"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The representatives of his family were willing to guarantee -Wilde a very good position if he would consent to certain -stipulations, one of which was that he should never see —— -again. He was either unable or unwilling to accept the -conditions.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_28" id="Footnote_2_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_28"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> In October, 1897, he stayed with friends at the Villa -Gindice, Posillipo, and was in Naples till the end of the year, -or the beginning of 1898, when he went to Paris. In the -following year he went to the South of France (Nice) for the -spring, but was back in June or July. He went also to -Switzerland in 1899 and stayed some time at Gland.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_29" id="Footnote_3_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_29"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> M. Gide says that Wilde's words were '<i>je suis absolument -sans ressources</i>,' which, I think, need not mean more than -a temporary embarrassment. I have been at some pains to -find out what the actual circumstances were, and I am able to -state the following facts on the authority of Lord Alfred -Douglas. When Mr. Wilde came out of prison, the sum of -£800 was subscribed for him by his friends. Lord Alfred -Douglas gave or sent Mr. Wilde, in the last twelve months -of his life, cheques for over £600, as he can show by his -bank-book, in addition to ready money gifts, and several -others gave him at various times amounts totalling up to -several hundreds of pounds. 'It is true,' Lord Alfred Douglas -writes, 'he was always hard up and short of money, but that -was because he was incurably extravagant and reckless. I -think these facts ought to be known in justice to myself and -many others of his friends, all poor men.' In another letter -Lord Alfred Douglas says that Mr. Wilde, when he was well -off, before his disaster, was the most generous of men. After -1897 received also large sums of money as advance fees for -plays which he never finished. 'I hope,' Lord Alfred Douglas -continues, 'you will not think that I blame him, or have -any grievance against him on any account. What I gave -him I considered I owed him, as he had often lent and given -me money before he came to grief. I was delighted that he -should have it, and I wish I had had time to give him more.' -It was not, however, till after the death of his father, that -Lord Alfred Douglas was in a position to help Mr. Wilde to -the extent that he did, and Mr. Wilde died within a few -months of the death of Lord Queensberry. -</p> -<p> -Lord Alfred Douglas adds that he thinks 'it is about time -that some of the poisonous nonsense which has been written -about Mr. Wilde should be qualified by a little fact.' -</p> -<p> -It must be remembered, however, that large as the sums of -money were which Mr. Wilde received during the last few -years of his life, they would not appear so to him, as in the -days of his highest success he was receiving several thousands -a year from his plays and other works. -</p> -<p> -It is since the first sheets of this book passed through the -press that I have been favoured with the information that -Lord Alfred Douglas has been good enough to give me, and -I now wish to qualify the statement in my introductory remarks -that Mr. Wilde died 'in poverty.' It would be more -accurate to say 'in comparative poverty.'</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_30" id="Footnote_4_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_30"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Two plays produced in London shortly hefore his death -have been attributed to Oscar Wilde. One of these, <i>The -Tyranny of Tears</i>, does not contain a single line of his. The -other is <i>Mr. and Mrs. Daventry</i>, the plot of which was originally -Oscar Wilde's, and he sketched out the scenario. The -play was then sold to Mr. Frank Harris, who has always -acknowledged Wilde's share in it, but the piece was entirely -transformed, and except one or two of the situations in it there -was very little left of Wilde's idea. -</p> -<p> -Referring to such works as the translations of <i>Ce Qui ne -Meurt pas</i> and the <i>Satyricon</i> which have heen issued under -Oscar Wilde's name, Mr. Robert Ross (the editor of <i>De Profundis</i>), -writes:—'No one can produce even a scrap of MS. in -the author's handwriting of these so-called "last works."'</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_31" id="Footnote_5_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_31"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 'Scandals used to lend charm, or at least interest, to -a man—now they crush him.'—<i>An Ideal Husband</i>, Act I.</p></div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>TO OSCAR WILDE,</h2> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap"><b>Author of 'Ravenna.'</b></span><br /><br /> - -<span class="smcap">By Augustus M. Moore.</span></p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No Marsyas am I, who singing came<br /></span> -<span class="i4">To challenge King Apollo at a Test,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">But a love-wearied singer at the best.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The myrtle leaves are all that I can claim,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While on thy brow there burns a crown of flame,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Upon thy shield Italia's eagle crest;<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Content am I with Lesbian leaves to rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Guard thou thy laurels and thy mother's name.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">I buried Love within the rose I meant<br /></span> -<span class="i4">To deck the fillet of thy Muse's hair;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I take this wild-flower, grown against her feet,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">And kissing its half-open lips I swear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Frail though it be and widowed of its scent,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">I plucked it for your sake and find it sweet.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> - -<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Moore Hall,</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">September, 1878.</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> - -<span class="i10">From <i>The Irish Monthly</i>, Vol. vi, No. 65.<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> - -<h2>LIST OF PUBLISHED WRITINGS -OF OSCAR WILDE.</h2> - -<p>Αἴλινον, αἴινον εἰπὲ, Τὸ δ᾽ ευ̉ νικάτω. <i>Dublin University -Magazine</i>, September, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Apologia</span>. <i>Poets and Poetry of the Century</i>, Edited by -A. H. Miles, Vol. viii, 1891, 1898.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Artist, The</span>. In 'Poems in Prose.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Artist's Dream, The</span>. <i>Green Room</i>, Routledge's Christmas -Annual, 1880.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ave Imperatrix! A Poem on England</span>. <i>World</i>, August -25, 1880.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ave! Maria</span>. <i>Kottabos</i>, Michaelmas Term, 1879.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ballad of Reading Gaol, The</span>. Leonard Smithers, 1898 -(February), 7th Edition, 1899.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Birthday of the Infanta, The</span>. (<i>Le Figaro Illustré</i>, -Christmas Number?). In 'A House of Pomegranates.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Canterville Ghost, The</span>. Illustrations by F. H. -Townsend. <i>Court and Society Review</i>, February 23, -March 2, 1887. In 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and -Other Stories.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Case of Warder Martin, The</span>. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, May -28, 1897.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Children in Prison</span>. Murdoch & Co., 1898 (February).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span><span class="smcap">Chinese Sage, A</span>. <i>Speaker</i>, February 8, 1890</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Conqueror of Time, The</span>. <i>Time</i>, April, 1879.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Critic as Artist, The</span>. In 'Intentions.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">De Profundis</span>. Methuen & Co., 1905 (February 23), -4th Edition, March, 1905.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Decay of Lying, The. A Dialogue</span>. <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, -January, 1889. In 'Intentions.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Devoted Friend, The</span>. In 'The Happy Prince and Other -Tales.'</p> - -<p>Δηξίθυμον Ἔρωτος Ἄνθος. <i>Kottabos</i>, Trinity Term, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Disciple, The</span>. <i>Spirit Lamp</i>, June 6, 1893. In 'Poems in -Prose.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Doer of Good, The</span>. In 'Poems in Prose.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dole of the King's Daughter, The</span>. <i>Dublin University -Magazine</i>, June, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Don't Read This if You Want to be Happy To-day</span>. -<i>Daily Chronicle</i>, March 24, 1898.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Duchess of Padua, The</span>. Privately printed for the -Author; America, 1883<a name="FNanchor_1_32" id="FNanchor_1_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_32" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">English Poetesses</span>. <i>Queen</i>, December 8, 1888.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span><span class="smcap">English Renaissance, Lecture on the</span>. G. Munro's -<i>Seaside library</i>, Vol. 58, No. 1183. New York, -January 19, 1882.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ethics of Journalism, The</span>. <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, September -20, 25, 1894.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fascinating Book, A</span>. <i>Womans World</i>, November, 1888.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fisherman and his Soul, The</span>. In 'A House of Pomegranates.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fragment from the Agamemnon of Æschylos, A</span>. <i>Kottabos</i>, -Hilary Term, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">From Spring Days to Winter</span> (for Music). <i>Dublin University -Magazine</i>, January, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Graffiti d'Italia</span> (Arona. Lago Maggiore). <i>Month and -Catholic Review</i>, September, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Graffiti d'Italia</span> (San Miniato). <i>Dublin University -Magazine</i>, March, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Grave of Keats, The</span>. <i>Burlington</i>, January, 1881.</p> - -<p>'<span class="smcap">Green Carnation, The</span>.' <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, Oct. 2, 1894.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Grosvenor Gallery, The</span>. <i>Dublin University Magazine</i>, -July, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Guido Ferranti</span> (Selection from 'The Duchess of Padua'). -Werner's <i>Readings and Recitations</i>, New York, 1891.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Happy Prince and other Tales, The</span>. David Nutt, -1888 (May), 1889 (January), 1902 (February).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Helas!</span> <i>Poets and Poetry of the Century</i>. Edited by -A. H. Miles, Vol. viii, 1891, 1898.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Harlot's House, The</span>. 1885<a name="FNanchor_2_33" id="FNanchor_2_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_33" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span><span class="smcap">Heu Miserande Puer!</span> See 'Tomb of Keats, The.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">House of Judgment, The</span>. <i>Spirit Lamp</i>, February 17, -1893. In 'Poems in Prose.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">House of Pomegranates, A</span>. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., -1891 (November).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">House of Pomegranates, A</span> (Reply to Criticism of). -<i>Speaker</i>, December 5, 1891.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ideal Husband, An</span>. Leonard Smithers & Co., 1899 -(July)</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Importance of being Earnest, The</span>. Leonard Smithers -& Co., 1899 (February).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Impression de Matin</span>. <i>World</i>, March 2, 1881<a name="FNanchor_3_34" id="FNanchor_3_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_34" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Intentions</span>. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1891 (May). -New Edition, 1894<a name="FNanchor_4_35" id="FNanchor_4_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_35" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Keats' Love Letters, Sonnet on the Recent Sale by -Auction of</span>. <i>Dramatic Review</i>, January 23, 1886.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Keats' Sonnet on Blue</span>. <i>Century Guild Hobby Horse</i>, -July, 1886.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">La Belle Marguerite</span>. Ballade du Moyen Age. -<i>Kottabos</i>, Hilary Term, 1879.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">La Fuite de la Lune</span>. <i>Poems and Lyrics of Nature</i>, -Edited by E. W. Rinder, Walter Scott, 1894 (May 9).</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 440px;"> -<a id="THE_WOMANS_WORLD"></a><img src="images/ill06.jpg" width="440" height="548" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">'THE WOMAN'S WORLD.'<br /> -Edited by Oscar Wilde from November, 1887, to September, 1889.<br /> -Reduced facsimile of the Cover (12 by 9¼).]<br /> -</div></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span><span class="smcap">Lady Alroy</span>. <i>World</i>, May 25, 1887. In 'Lord Arthur -Savile's Crime and other Stories.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Windermere's Fan</span>. Elkin Mathews & John -Lane, 1893 (November 8).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Le Jardin des Tuileries</span>. <i>In a Good Cause</i>, Wells -Gardner, Darton & Co., 1885 (June).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">L'Envoi</span>. <i>Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf</i>, by Rennell Rodd. -J. M. Stoddart & Co., Philadelphia, 1882.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Le Reveillon</span>. <i>Poems and Lyrics of Nature</i>. Edited by -E. W. Rinder. Walter Scott, 1894 (May 9).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Les Silhouettes</span>. <i>Poems and Lyrics of Nature</i>. Edited -by E. W. Rinder. Walter Scott, 1894 (May 9).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Libel Action against Lord Queensberry, The</span>. -<i>Evening News</i>, April 5, 1895.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Libertatis Sacra Fames</span>. <i>World</i>, November 10, 1880<a name="FNanchor_5_36" id="FNanchor_5_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_36" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Literary and other Notes</span>. <i>Woman's World</i>, -November, December, 1887; January to March, 1888.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">London Models</span>. Illustrations by Harper Pennington. -<i>English Illustrated Magazine</i>, January, 1889.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lord Arthur Savile's Crime</span>. A story of Cheiromancy. -Illustrations by F. H. Townsend. <i>Court and Society -Review</i>, May 11, 18, 25, 1887. In 'Lord Arthur -Savile's Crime and Other Stories.'</p> - -<p><i>Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and other Stories</i>. -Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1891 (July).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lotus Leaves</span>. <i>Irish Monthly</i>, February, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Magdalen Walks</span>. <i>Irish Monthly</i>, April, 1878.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span><span class="smcap">Master, The</span>. In 'Poems and Prose.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Model Millionaire, The</span>. <i>World</i>, June 22, 1887. In -'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and other Stories.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">More Radical Ideas on Dress Reform</span>. <i>Pall Mall -Gazette</i>, November 11, 1884.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Pater's Last Volume</span>. <i>Speaker</i>, March 22, 1890.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Whistler's Ten O'Clock</span>. <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, -February 21, 1885.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">New Helen, The</span>. <i>Time</i>, July, 1879.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">New Remorse, The</span>. <i>Spirit Lamp</i>, December 6, 1892.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Night Vision, A</span>. <i>Kottabos</i>, Hilary Term, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Nightingale and the Rose, The</span>. <i>La Plume</i>, December -15, 1900. In 'The Happy Prince and Other -Tales.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Note on Some Modern Poets, A</span>. <i>Woman's World</i>, -December, 1888.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Oh! Beautiful Star</span>. (Three verses of 'Under the -Balcony'). Set to music by Lawrence Kellie. -Robert Cocks & Co., 1892.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">On Criticism; with some Remarks on the Importance -of doing Nothing</span>. <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, July, -September, 1890. In 'Intentions.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Pen, Pencil, and Poison: A Study</span>. <i>Fortnightly -Review</i>, January, 1889. In 'Intentions.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the -Young</span>. <i>Chameleon</i>, 1894 (December).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Phêdre</span>. See 'To Sarah Bernhardt.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Picture of Dorian Gray, The</span> (13 Chapters).<i> Lippincott's -Monthly Magazine</i>, July, 1890.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span><span class="smcap">Picture of Dorian Gray, The</span> (20 Chapters). Ward, -Lock & Co., 1891 (July 1). New Edition, 1894 -(October 1).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Picture of Dorian Gray, The</span>. (Replies to Criticism -of). <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, July 2, 1890. <i>Scots Observer</i>, -July 12, August 2, 16, 1890.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Poems</span>. David Bogue, 1881 (July). 5th Edition, 1882. -Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1892 (May 26).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Poems in Prose</span>. <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, July, 1894.</p> - -<p>Πόντος Ἀτρύγετος. <i>Irish Monthly</i>, December, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Portia</span>. <i>World</i>, January 14, 1880.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Portrait of Mr. W. H., The</span>. <i>Blackwood's Edinburgh -Magazine</i>, July, 1889<a name="FNanchor_6_37" id="FNanchor_6_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_37" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Preface to 'Dorian Gray,' A</span>. <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, -March, 1891.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Puppets and Actors</span>. <i>Daily Telegraph</i>, February?, -1892<a name="FNanchor_7_38" id="FNanchor_7_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_38" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Queen Henrietta Maria</span> (<i>Charles I., act iii.</i>). <i>World</i>, -July 16, 1879.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ravenna</span>. T. Shrimpton & Son, Oxford, 1878 (June).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span><span class="smcap">Remarkable Rocket, The</span>. In 'The Happy Prince and -Other Tales.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Requiescat</span>. <i>Dublin Verses</i>, by Members of Trinity -College. Elkin Mathews, 1895.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Rise of Historical Criticism, The</span>. Privately printed. -America, 1905<a name="FNanchor_8_39" id="FNanchor_8_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_39" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Rose of Love and with a Rose's Thorns</span>. See -Δηξίθυμον Ἔρωτος Ἄνθος.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Roses and Rue</span>. <i>Midsummer Dreams</i>, Summer Number -of <i>Society</i>, July, 1885.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Salomé</span> (French Edition.) Librairie de l'Art Indépendant, -Paris, 1893 (February 22).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Salome</span> (English Edition). Elkin Mathews & John -Lane, 1894 (February 9).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Salve Saturnia Tellus</span>. <i>Irish Monthly</i>, June, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Selfish Giant, The</span>. In 'The Happy Prince and Other -Tales.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sen Artysty; or, the Artist's Dream</span>. See 'Artist's -Dream, The.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Shakespeare and Stage Costume</span>. <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, -May, 1885. In 'Intentions.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Some Cruelties of Prison Life</span>. See 'Case of Warder -Martin, The,' and 'Children in Prison.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Some Literary Notes</span>. <i>Woman's World</i>, January to -June, 1889.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Relation of Dress to Art, The</span>. <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, -February 28, 1885.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span><span class="smcap">Soul of Man under Socialism, The</span>. <i>Fortnightly -Review</i>, February, 1891<a name="FNanchor_9_40" id="FNanchor_9_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_40" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sphinx, The</span>. Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1894 -(September 29).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sphinx without a Secret, The</span>. See 'Lady Alroy.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Star-Child, The</span>. In 'A House of Pomegranates.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Teacher of Wisdom, The</span>. In 'Poems in Prose.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Theocritus</span>. <i>Ballades and Rondeaus</i>. Selected by -Gleeson White. Walter Scott Publishing Co., 1889 -(June 30)<a name="FNanchor_10_41" id="FNanchor_10_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_41" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>.</p> - -<p>Θρηνῳδία. <i>Kottabos</i>, Michaelmas Term, 1876.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">To Milton</span>. <i>Poets and Poetry of the Century</i>, Edited by -A. H. Miles, Vol. viii, 1891, 1898.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">To My Wife: with a Copy of My Poems</span>. <i>Book-Song</i>, -Elliot Stock, 1893.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">To Sarah Bernhardt</span>. <i>World</i>, June 11, 1879.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Tomb of Keats, The</span>. <i>Irish Monthly</i>, July, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">True Function and Value of Criticism, The</span>. See -'Critic as Artist, The,' and 'On Criticism.'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span><span class="smcap">True Knowledge, The</span>. <i>Irish Monthly</i>, September, -1876<a name="FNanchor_11_42" id="FNanchor_11_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_42" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Truth of Masks, The</span>. See 'Shakespeare and Stage -Costume.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Under the Balcony</span>. <i>Shaksperean Show-Book</i> (May -29, 1884). See 'Oh! Beautiful Star!'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Un Amant de nos Jours</span>. <i>Court and Society Review</i>, -December 13, 1887. See 'New Remorse, The.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Vera, or the Nihilists</span>. Privately printed for the -Author; America, 1882.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Vita Nuova</span>. See Πόντος Ἀτρύγετος.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wasted Days</span> (From a Picture Painted by Miss V. T.). -<i>Kottabos</i>, Michaelmas Term, 1877.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Whistler, Correspondence with</span>. <i>World</i>, November -14, 1883; February 25, 1885; November 24, 1886. -<i>Truth</i>, January 9, 1890.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Whistler's Lectures Reviewed</span>. See 'Mr. Whistler's -Ten O'Clock 'and 'Relation of Dress to Art, The.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">With a Copy of 'A House of Pomegranates.'</span> <i>Book-Song</i>, -Elliot Stock, 1893.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Woman of no Importance, A</span>. John Lane, The Bodley -Head, 1894 (October 9).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Woman's World, The</span>. Edited by Oscar Wilde, -1887–9. Cassell & Co.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Young King, The</span>. Illustrations by Bernard Partridge. -<i>Lady's Pictorial</i>, Christmas Number, 1888. In 'A -House of Pomegranates.'</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_32" id="Footnote_1_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_32"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The title-page reads:—The Duchess of Padua A Tragedy -of the XVI Century by Oscar Wilde Author of "Vera," etc. -Written in Paris in the XIX Century. Privately printed as -Manuscript. March 15, 1883 <span class="smcap">a. d.</span> -</p> -<p> -The cover is inscribed 'Op. II.' Twenty copies were -printed, of which one only is known to exist in England, the -property of Mr. Robert Ross. It is in grey paper wrappers, -8vo., pp. 122. The play was acted in America in 1883 by the -late Lawrence Barrett, shortly before his death. It is sometimes -known as <i>Guido Ferranti</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_33" id="Footnote_2_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_33"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The original publication of 'The Harlot's House' has not -yet been traced. The approximate date is known by a parody -on the poem, called 'The Public House, 'which appeared in -<i>The Sporting Times</i> of June 13, 1885. In 1904 a privately -printed edition, on folio paper, with five illustrations by -Althea Gyles, was issued by 'The Mathurin Press,' London. -In 1905 another edition was privately printed in London, -pp. 8, wrappers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_34" id="Footnote_3_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_34"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See <i>Notes and Queries</i>, Series ix., vol. xii., page 85.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_35" id="Footnote_4_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_35"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Continental Edition issued by Messrs. Heinemann and -Balestier in 'The English Library,' No. 54. 1891.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_36" id="Footnote_5_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_36"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See <i>Sonnets of this Century</i>. Edited by William Sharp. -Walter Scott Publishing Co., 1888 (March 22).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_37" id="Footnote_6_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_37"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Early in 1894, Messrs. Elkin Mathews and John Lane -announced as being in preparation, 'The incomparable and -ingenious history of Mr. W. H., being the true secret of -Shakespear's sonnets, now for the first time here fully set -forth. With initial letters and cover design by Charles -Ricketts.' On the evening of his arrest, April 5, 1895, the -publishers returned the MS. to Mr. Wilde's house, and it is -said to have been stolen from there a few hours later.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_38" id="Footnote_7_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_38"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See <i>Saturday Review</i>, July 2, 1892.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_39" id="Footnote_8_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_39"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The authenticity of this work is not vouched for.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_40" id="Footnote_9_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_40"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> It was the author's wish that 'The Soul of Man under -Socialism' should be known as 'The Soul of Man,' and by -this title he himself refers to it in <i>De Profundis</i>. A privately -printed edition was published by Mr. Arthur L. Humphreys -under this title in 1895, and again in 1904 in 'Sebastian Melmoth.' -It appeared also in <i>Wilshire's Magazine</i>, Toronto, Canada, -for June, 1902; and, under its original title, in a pirated edition -issued in London, 1904; and in a beautiful edition published -by Mr. Thos. B. Mosher, of Portland, Maine, U.S.A., April, -1905.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_41" id="Footnote_10_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_41"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See <i>Literature</i>, December 8, 1900.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_42" id="Footnote_11_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_42"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Re-printed in <i>Dublin Verses</i>, 1895; and <i>The Tablet</i>, December -8, 1900.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> - -<h2>NOTE.</h2> - -<p>In the foregoing list the following particulars are -given:—</p> - -<ol> -<li>Titles of books with name of publisher and date -of publication of each edition.</li> - -<li>Contributions to magazines and periodicals -whether re-printed in book-form later or not.</li> - -<li>Poems which have been re-printed in collections -of verse of later date than Bogue's edition of the -'Poems,' 1881. These will be found under their -respective titles, but when a poem has been -included in more than one such collection the -reference is given, as a rule, to the book of -earliest date.</li> -</ol> - -<p>The publications of Messrs. Elkin Mathews and John -Lane, and of Mr. John Lane, were issued simultaneously -in America by Messrs. Copeland and Day, of Boston. -<i>De Profundis</i> was published in America by Messrs. G. P. -Putnam's Sons, of New York. Seven editions have been -issued. <i>The Decay of Lying, The Portrait of Mr. W. H.</i>, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>and <i>The Soul of Man under Socialism</i>, appeared in the -'Eclectic Magazine' of New York a few weeks after -publication in this country.</p> - -<p>No notice is taken in this Bibliography of many unauthorised -and pirated reprints, and those works which -have been falsely attributed to Mr. Wilde by unscrupulous -publishers are all rejected. Of the latter 'The Priest -and the Acolyte,' and translations of 'Ce Qui ne Meurt -pas' and the 'Satyricon' of Petronius are examples.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> - -<h2><i>Books containing Selections from the -Works of Oscar Wilde.</i></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Best of Oscar Wilde, The</span>. (Collection of Poems and -Prose Extracts). Collected by C. Herrmann. Brentano, -New York, 1905 (March).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Epigrams and Aphorisms</span>. Edited by G. H. Sargent. -John W. Luce & Co., Boston, U.S.A., 1905 (July).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Essays, Criticisms and Reviews</span>. Now first collected. -(From <i>The Woman's World</i>). Privately printed. -London, 1901.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Oscariana. Epigrams</span>. Arthur Humphreys, 1895<a name="FNanchor_1_43" id="FNanchor_1_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_43" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sebastian Melmoth</span> (Selection from Prose Writings; and -'The Soul of Man'). Arthur L. Humphreys, 1904 -(September).</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_43" id="Footnote_1_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_43"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Only one copy bore the publisher's name. The rest were -issued as 'privately printed.' The edition consisted of 25 -copies only, but forged reprints are numerous. The selection -of epigrams is said to have been made by Mrs. Wilde.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> - -<h2><i>Bibliographical Notes on the English -Editions.</i></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">A House of Pomegranates.</span></p> - -<p>The following is the author's own description of 'the -decorative designs that make lovely' this book of 'beautiful -tales,' and of 'the delicate dreams that separate and herald -each story':—</p> - -<p>'Mr. Shannon is the drawer of the dreams, and Mr. -Ricketts is the subtle and fantastic decorator. Indeed, it is -to Mr. Ricketts that the entire decorative design of the book -is due, from the selection of the type and the placing of the -ornamentation, to the completely beautiful cover that encloses -the whole.... The artistic beauty of the cover resides in the -delicate tracing, arabesques, and massing of many coral-red -lines on a ground of white ivory, the colour effect culminating -in certain high gilt notes, and being made still more pleasurable -by the overlapping band of moss-green cloth that holds -the book together.'</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Ballad of Reading Gaol.</span></p> - -<p>1st edition, 8vo, pp. 31, 800 copies on hand-made paper, -and 30 on Japan vellum, February, 1898. Before the 2nd -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>edition was published, in March, the author made several -alterations in the text. The 3rd edition was 99 copies only, -each signed by the author; bound in purple cloth sides, 4to. -Editions 4, 5, and 6 (1898) are similar to the 2nd edition and -the number of each edition is printed on the back of title-page. -The 7th edition (1899) bears the author's name on the title-page. -It is the last of Smithers' editions on hand-made paper. -All his subsequent editions are printed in a new type from -stereotyped plates, on thick wove paper, and bear no number -to distinguish the edition. They are all dated 1899.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">De Profundis.</span></p> - -<p>Of the 1st edition 200 copies were printed on hand-made -paper at 21/- and 50 on Japan vellum at 42/-. Of the ordinary -5/- edition four impressions were issued within a month of -publication.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Happy Prince and Other Tales.</span></p> - -<p>Of the 1st edition 75 copies (65 for sale) were printed on -large paper with the plates in two states. Of the small paper -copies the 1st edition was published at 5/-, the 2nd and 3rd at -3/6 each.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">An Ideal Husband and The Importance of -Being Earnest.</span></p> - -<p>Each edition consists of 1000 copies, 7/6 net, and 100 on -large paper, 21/- net. Twelve copies of each, signed by the -author, were issued on Japan vellum. Of this edition No. 4 -of each play is in the British Museum.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span><span class="smcap">Intentions.</span></p> - -<p>1st edition, 1891, 7/6; new edition, 1894, 3/6.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No -Importance.</span></p> - -<p>With a specially designed binding to each volume by -Charles Shannon. 500 copies, sm. 4to, 7/6 net, and 50 copies -large paper, 15/- net.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Picture of Dorian Gray.</span></p> - -<p>Of the 1st edition 250 copies on hand-made paper, signed -by the author, were issued at 21/-, dated 1891. The small -paper editions are not dated. The 2nd (1894) can be distinguished -from the 1st (1891) by the publisher's name, Ward, -Lock and Bowden, Limited, on the title-page. The published -price of each was 6/-.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Poems.</span></p> - -<p>Bogue's 1st, 2nd and 3rd editions are dated 1881, pp. 236. -The 4th and 5th editions (1882) have several alterations made -by the author in the text, and contain 234 pages only. The -edition published by Elkin Mathews and John Lane in 1892 -consisted of 220 copies (200 for sale), on hand-made paper, -with cover design by Charles Ricketts, price 15/-. The text is -a reprint of Bogue's 1882 editions.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ravenna.</span></p> - -<p>Forged imitations of Messrs. Shrimpton and Son's edition -are common. They can be distinguished from the originals by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>the omission of the Arras of Oxford University on cover and -title-page.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Salomé.</span></p> - -<p>The edition in French, limited to 600 copies (500 for sale), -printed in Paris, was published by the Librairie de l'Art -Indépendant, Paris, and Messrs. Matthews and Lane, London; -pp. 84, purple wrappers lettered in silver, 5/- net. The English -edition was translated by Lord Alfred Douglas and pictured by -Aubrey Beardsley with 10 illustrations, title-page, tail-piece, -and cover design. 500 copies, small 4to, 15/- net; 100 copies -large paper, 30/- net.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Sphinx.</span></p> - -<p>Decorated throughout in line and colour and bound in -a design by Charles Ricketts. 250 copies at £2/2/- net, and -25 on large paper at £5/5/- net.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Translations of many of Oscar Wilde's works have -appeared in French, German, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish, -Italian, Russian, and other foreign languages. Full particulars -of all editions will be included in 'A Bibliography -of Oscar Wilde' by Walter Ledger and Stuart Mason, -now in preparation.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">IN PREPARATION.</p> - -<p class="center">The</p> - -<p class="center">Sonnets of Oscar Wilde</p> - -<p class="center">Now First Collected.</p> - -<p class="center">EDITED, WITH NOTES, BY</p> - -<p class="center">STUART MASON.</p> - - - -<p class="center">Views and Reviews</p> - -<p class="center">The Uncollected Prose Writings and</p> - -<p class="center">Letters of Oscar Wilde.</p> - -<p class="center">EDITED BY</p> - -<p class="center">STUART MASON.</p> - - - -<p class="center">The</p> - -<p class="center">Bibliography of Oscar Wilde</p> - -<p class="center">BY</p> - -<p class="center">Walter Ledger and Stuart Mason.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Oscar Wilde, a study, by André Gide - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OSCAR WILDE, A STUDY *** - -***** This file should be named 53226-h.htm or 53226-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/2/2/53226/ - -Produced by Winston Smith. 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