The Poetry of Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde

This collection of Oscar Wilde's greatest poems, including The Ballad of Reading Gaol and The Burden of Itys, is at times touching, optimistic, heart-breaking and thought-provoking. Wilde draws upon his own experiences as well as themes such as mythology and individuality to add colour to his poems. Oscar Wilde's satirical, witty and observant voice made his poems indispensable during the Aesthetic period, and they continue to captivate readers to this day. He was and still is a celebrated playwright, poet and novelist. Product Information: ISBN: 9781788885140 Author: Oscar Wilde Publisher: Arcturus Format: Paperback Pages: 237 Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 1.5cm

Genres: Poetry, Classics, LGBT, Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1881

About the author

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

let it be known that I would lay down my entire life for oscar wilde. every single pretentious thing I've ever done, I've done for him

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good ay

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

El amor es el tema predominante, concebido como amor platónico en varias ocasiones, aunque también como recuerdo de un amor quebrado o fallecido en otros. Wilde se sirve de elementos naturales en su gran mayoría, como los pájaros o las hojas, a la hora de adornar su lírica. Resulta poderoso el llanto emotivo del poeta tras las emociones retorcidas que cobran relieve desde la palabra impresa.

Elvira Sastre se encarga de traducir, con muy buena sensibilidad, la colección de poemas de Oscar Wilde de esta antología, donde podemos encontrar parejos el original en inglés y la traducción. Es esencial leer el inglés para tener en cuenta su tono musical y la traducción para captar bien la esencia.

He marcado muchos que me han llegado, pero especialmente dudo que jamás olvide Apollogia.

[Colleen Chi-Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read anything by Oscar Wilde since my early college years when I read some of his short stories and poetry during British Literature.

There's a real old-time beauty to his prose and I enjoyed listening to it on audio. The narrator was enthusiastic and effusive, but I was really, really disappointed that it wasn't an Irish narrator reading Irish poetry.

[lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some poems i liked less, but a few of them were so.... wow. I am speechless
I will never stop thinking about this book

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

HANNO FATTO IL LORO TEMPO

Chiedo umilmente perdono a Wilde per una valutazione tanto bassa, ma io da queste poesie proprio non sono riuscita a farmi trascinare, mi hanno davvero sfiancata e fatto sbuffare ad intermittenza. E ne conosco anche il motivo: sono datate! Non tanto per le interminabili e ripetitive descrizioni della natura (poveretta, chi se la fila più?), quanto per i temi religiosi e mitologici. Componimenti fitti di riferimenti alle divinità e alle leggende, incomprensibili se non per chi ne ha una conoscenza approfondita.
Pochi sono gli stralci di luce, che riporto di seguito.

"Tristitiae

Oh beato colui che vive nell’agio
Con ampio possesso di oro ammassato,
[...]
Ma beato colui il cui piede ha percorso
La stanca via di fatica e affanni,
Eppure col dolore della sua vita
Costruisce scale per esser più vicino a Dio."

"Taedium vitae

[...] meglio stare in disparte
Lontano da questi calunniosi sciocchi che beffano la mia vita
Senza conoscermi, meglio il tetto più vile
Adatto a ospitare il più umile veltro,
Che tornare a quella rauca spelonca di conflitti"

"La Ballata del Carcere di Reading

Come, se non da un cuore spezzato,
Può entrare Cristo Signore?
[...]
E ogni uomo uccide la cosa che ama,
Che questo lo sentano tutti,
Chi lo fa con uno sguardo amaro,
E chi con una lusinga,
Il codardo lo fa con un bacio,
Il coraggioso con la spada!"

[lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Oscar Wilde and this was such a delight, honestly. I was so hooked in his poetry that I didn’t even realise just how quickly I finished this. I’m going to analyse it deeply because it’s just that good. My pretentious little man!

[Nayeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only read some short stories by Wilde, and I've liked them... but I didn't quite connect with his poetry. This book of poems (I'm not sure if they're in chronological order) proved difficult to read. I browsed through it every day and read a couple of pages, not to get overwhelmed, but some are very long and confusing - this is probably my fault. The ones about mythology are interesting, but the imagery is sometimes difficult to understand fully without a re-read and a million Google searches. I did find the sporadic use of Italian ("La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente") and French ("Ballade de Marguerite") kind of amusing, Wilde was sure a bit of an eccentric.

The best poems are at the end, "The Sphinx", "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" and "Ravenna".

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Wilde's connections to nature, being, love, and humanity, as well as his calls to the past, how they've affected the present, and will go on to affect the future. His fascination with Roman mythology and history escapes me only because my lack of knowledge, so some names I couldn't recognize. Wish I knew because he writes of these stories of heroes and gods and sorrows so vividly. Ballad of Reading Gaol is probably his most outspoken one; it is so rare to get an account of what it's like to be confined to prison, and his rings fairly similar to accounts from people today. They've always been built on shame and isolation and pure disregard for any continuing rehabilitation for those imprisoned or formerly imprisoned - abolish prisons!

Favorites: Panthea, Humanitad, On the Sale...Keats' Love Letters, To My Wife, Désespoir, Balled of Reading Gaol,

Dog Ears: Requiescat, Sonnet Written in Holy Week at Genoa, The New Helen, Sonnet...in the Sistine Chapel, The Burden of Itys, Magdalen Walks, Charmides, Impressions, The Dole of the King's Daughter, By the Arno, My Voice, Roses and Rue, Ravenna

[Stijn van Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does show its age with some of the references and the yon's, thee's and thou's, but otherwise, the writing is genuinely beautiful and lyrical.

Also a great example of the natural rhythm that meter and rhyme confer, which makes it pleasant to read even if the topic was of no interest to me.

Truthfully, a lot of it didn't grip me despite its qualities, but the ones that did were gorgeous. The Ballad of Reading Gaol in particular is one of the best things I've ever read.

[Gmayoral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otra faceta más de Wilde. Aunque he de decir que su mejor obra en este género para mí es La Balada de la Cárcel de Reading. Los poemas de Poemas de Amor te llegan, los de Balada te desgarran.

[Mel Rose (Savvy Rose Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the Project Gutenberg edition, which contained Wilde’s collection “Poems” as well as his uncollected poetry and some notable extras (The Sphinx, Ballad of Reading Gaol, and Ravenna). With the exception of Ballad, which I had already read separately, none of the poems stood out. That said, the uncollected poems were much better and more engaging, in my opinion, than the collection itself. Overall, while I’m a fan of Wilde’s fiction, I didn’t find myself drawn in by, or particularly impressed with, his poetry.

Rating: 2.5 stars

[Anoja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5/5

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Juanks Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

His poetry is a bit rough to read and stay captivated by but honestly the Ballad of Reading Gaol and Charmides were genuinely beautiful to read.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed his poems, some took time to decipher what was being said in the earlier works but that's to be expected with old English. Out of his longer works, I really enjoyed "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", for his shorter ones I enjoyed "The True Knowledge".

[ivi · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love u oscar wilde

[Lucy Qhuay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilde's poetry is very interesting indeed. He's amazingly jaded and his work has a bittersweet note that draws me in.

My favourites were definitely The Harlot's House and The Ballad Of Reading Gaol .

I'll put here some of my favourite parts:


The Harlot's House

(...)
Then, turning to my love, I said,
'The dead are dancing with the dead,
The dust is whirling with the dust,'

But she - she heard the violin,
And left my side, and entered in:
Love passed into the house of lust.

Then suddenly the tune went false,
The dancers wearied of the waltz,
The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl.

And down the long and silent street,
The dawn, with silver-sandalled feet,
Crept like a frightened girl.


The Ballad Of Reading Gaol


He did not wear his scarlet coat,
For blood and wine are red,
And blood and wine were on his hands
When they found him with the dead,
The poor dead woman whom he loved,
And murdered in her bed.

(...)

Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

(...)

[Marlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He did not wear his scarlet coat,
For blood and wine are red,
And blood and wine were on his hands
When they found him with the dead,
The poor dead women whom he loved,
And murdered in her bed…”
- the first paragraph of Balled of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde

I know this is a review for Oscar Wilde’s poetry, but I am going to be talking about The Balled of Reading Gaol for now.

When I started reading The Balled of Reading Gaol I was immediately hooked, I mean it’s Oscar Wilde what do you expect? The way this man can write *breaths in heavily through nostrils* it’s beautiful, magnificent, spectacular. Please read The Balled of Reading Gaol, there are a lot of other good Oscar Wilde poems like In the Gold Room (another one of my favorites). But if you have to read one Oscar Wilde work in your life time please pick The Balled of Reading Gaol, and I know any book platform would recommend Dorian Gray (which is good don’t get me wrong) but The Balled of Reading Gaol was something else!

[yo entre letras y paginas · Rating 3 out of 5]

La esperada ironía y picardía de Oscar Wilde no la encontré en el poemario o quizás, simplemente, no lo entendí porque está escrito en el inglés bíblico que como me cuesta 🤪

Sin duda cada poema es una maravilla, escritos por uno de mis autores favoritos 🤩

El autor plasma sus interpretaciones de mitos irlandeses y otros temas que llegan más al alma. Dice ser también satírico por eso estoy segura de que en mi medio traducción mental me perdí de mucho 😜

Hay poemas que me encantaron, comparto algunos versos:

“𝖳𝗁𝗈𝗎 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗅; 𝖨 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝖾𝖾.
𝖨 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖨 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗏𝖺𝗂𝗇,
𝖨 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝖾 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗀𝖺𝗂𝗇
𝖨𝗇 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝖽𝗂𝗏𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝖾𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗍𝗒.”

➳. ♥. ➳

“𝖶𝖾𝗅𝗅, 𝗂𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄,
𝖣𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾, 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗌𝖺𝗄𝖾,
𝖨𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄 𝗂𝗇 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗂𝖼, 𝖨 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐,
𝖯𝗈𝖾𝗍𝗌’ 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗌 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄 𝗌𝗈.”

➳. ♥. ➳

“𝖨𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗌
𝖶𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖫𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖫𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖿𝖺𝗂𝗋.”

[Chelsea Roles · Rating 3 out of 5]

'For thou wert weary of the sunless day,
The heavy fields of scentless asphodel,
The loveless lips with which men kiss in Hell.'

[Margie Dickinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My goodness, some individuals possess a great wealth of language!

[Esencia a libro nuevo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elvira Sastre se encarga de presentarnos (y traducirnos) este compendio de poemas de amor de Oscar Wilde. Conocía su faceta como dramaturgo y, por supuesto, su personaje me encandila, pero jamás había leído sus poemas. Me pasé por la biblioteca y algo me impulsó a llevarme este libro. ¡Y menudo acierto!

En esta edición todos los poemas giran en torno al amor (y al desamor) y en ellos encontramos referencias clásicas de la mitología griega y romana. Se regresa a los clásicos para formar un universo propio de múltiples colores y sensaciones, aromatizado – y es que me ha sorprendido encontrar en todos los poemas flores –.

Los poemas son como pétalos que se van cayendo según avanzamos la lectura, y es que la gran mayoría dan un giro que el lector no ve venir: comienzan alegremente, para terminar en un pozo de tristeza y decaimiento por el amor marchito o perdido. Y así, a cada verso, la poesía se va deshaciendo para volver a la tierra, al polvo, a la muerte del poeta que es la peor muerte de todas.

En estos poemas de amor, son protagonistas las flores y las penas, como si hubiera una extraordinaria relación entre ellas: ambas se marchitan con el tiempo y su recuerdo pervive. Como grandes testigos de las historias que se esconden en este poemario, la Luna y el Sol, que pasan sus vidas persiguiéndose y sólo se encuentran en momentos breves y bellos: los eclipses. “Poemas de amor” de Oscar Wilde es una especie de eclipse, donde la luz y la oscuridad son provocadas por el mismo elemento: el amor.

“Sin timón, vamos a la deriva en la tempestad, y
Una vez pasa la tormenta de la juventud
Sin lira, sin laúd ni coro, la muerte,
Navegante silenciosa, llega por fin”

[Jack Limebear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the 1909 eighth edition, which also included all of his uncollected poetry.

'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' is phenomenal, as are a few of his later poems like 'The Sphinx' and 'Her Voice'. Beyond that, I enjoyed 'The Grave of Keats', 'Impressions: Les Silhouettes', 'Athanasia', 'Requiescat', 'Endymion', 'Panthea', and 'Apologia'... That's not many from the entire 300+ pages.

While 'Reading Gaol', 'Her Voice', and 'Requiescat' are amazing, the vast majority of these poems were really disappointing. Lots of doting on Greek Myths, lots of copying earlier Romantics, and lots of poems that didn't seem to go anywhere.

3/5... but I would come back to the ones I liked.

[Romina Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

“…as a schoolboy tired of his book
Flings himself down upon the reedy grass
And plucks two water-lilies from the brook,
And for a time forgets the hour glass,
Then wearies of their sweets, and goes his way,
And lets the hot sun kill them, even so these loverslay.”
P. 105


“And there is nothing left to do
But to kiss once again, and part,
Nay, there is nothing we should rue,
I have my beauty — you your Art.
Nay, do not start,
One world was not enough for two
Like me and you.”
P. 144


“For he who lives more lives than one
More deaths than one must die.” p.212



I’m sure this is brilliant writing .. but I couldn’t understand a thing ha! A few poems I loved though

[zoé · Rating 4 out of 5]

༄˖°.ೃ࿔*:･ 4 ☆


🌷«
Marche d'un pas léger, elle est tout près, sous la
neige. Parle à voix basse: elle peut entendre croître
les pâquerettes.

Toute sa belle chevelure dorée a pris la teinte de
la rouille; elle qui était jeune, et charmante, elle
n'est que poussière.

Pareille au lis, blanche comme la neige, elle savait
à peine qu'elle était femme si doucement elle
avait grandi.

Les planches du cercueil, une lourde pierre pèsent
sur sa poitrine; seul je me torture le coeur,
mais elle, elle repose.

Silence! Silence! elle ne saurait entendre la lyre
ni le sonnet; toute ma vie est ensevelie ici. Entassons
de la terre par-dessus elle.

Avignon. »

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

”Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,

Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word,

The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!

Some kill their love when they are young, And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust, Some with the hands of Gold:

The kindest use a knife, because The dead so soon grow cold.
Some love too little, some too long, Some sell, and others buy;

Some do the deed with many tears, And some without a sigh,

For each man kills the thing he loves, Yet each man does not die.
He does not die a death of shame On a day of dark disgrace,”

[Finn Grogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Oscar Wilde, so it's honestly surprising I've never read his poetry before. While I like his prose just *a little* bit more, certain selections in this collection really moved me, and reminded me how much Wilde's writing style shaped me and help me want to grow and write more often.

Some of the most notable poems that stood out to me were

The Burden of Itys

Sonnet on hearing The Dies Irae sung in the Sistine Chapel (a fellow sobber and freak about live music, he just like me for real)

Requiescat

Chanson

I'll probably be doing some research into these poems separately as I read the collection quicker than what I would usually do for actual analysis.

[Allie Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me months to finish because of this being poetry from centuries ago. I immediately expected to finish this in a day or two like I typically can with modern poetry. I love The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde’s sass and dramatics, and hedonism so I had to read his book of poetry.

This was a fun read even when I didn’t fully understand every stanza or word because I gave me a challenge to think about what it meant and research opinions on it.

My favorites:
- The Ballad of Reading Gaol
- Roses and Rue
- The Harlot’s House
- Panthea
- The Grave of Keats

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm not very well-read when it come to poetry, but i wanted to read this collection because i adore oscar wilde for being the sassy queen he was. while i didn't love every poem in this collection, the ones that hit well for me were incredible. i really enjoyed just basking in the imagery conjured by wilde's words. some of my favorite poems were

By the Arno
Panthea (imageryyyy)
Apologia
Taedium Vitae

and of course The Ballad of Reading Gaol which suckerpunched me directly in my feelings.