This collection gathers Oscar Wilde's poems, including the 1881 volume, 'The Sphinx,' 'Ravenna,' and 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol.' The poems range from lyrical and aesthetic pieces to meditations on liberty, suffering, and prison life, with the title ballad reflecting on capital punishment and mercy. Listen for Wilde's musical verse and his blend of beauty, wit, and sorrow.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
Transcribed from the 1913 Methuen & Co. edition by David Price, email [email protected] POEMS BY OSCAR WILDE WITH THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON Twelfth Edition First Published— Ravenna 1878 Poems 1881 ,, Fifth Edition 1882 The Sphinx 1894 The Ballad of Reading Gaol 1898 First Issued by Methuen and Co. (Limited Editions on Handmade Paper and Japanese Vellum) March 1908 Seventh Edition (F’cap. 8vo). September 1909 Eighth Edition ( ,, ,, ) November 1909
Ninth Edition ( ,, ,, ) December 1909 Tenth Edition ( ,, ,, ) November 1910 Eleventh Edition ( ,, ,, ) December 1911 Twelfth Edition ( ,, ,, ) April 1913 NOTE This collection of Wilde’s Poems contains the volume of 1881 in its entirety, ‘The Sphinx’, ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol,’ and ‘Ravenna.’ Of the Uncollected Poems published in the Uniform Edition of 1908, a few, including the Translations from the Greek and the Polish, are omitted. Two new poems, ‘Désespoir’ and ‘Pan,’ which I have recently discovered in manuscript, are now printed for the first time. Particulars as to the original publication of each poem will be found in ‘A Bibliography of the Poems of Oscar Wilde,’ by Stuart Mason, London 1907. Robert Ross. CONTENTS POEMS (1881): PAGE Hélas! 3 Eleutheria: Sonnet To Liberty 7 Ave Imperatrix 8
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