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                              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