About the book

Oscar Wilde wrote in almost every form available to him, but he first gained fame and notoriety as a poet. It was as a poet that he became one of the leading lights of the Aesthetic movement, and he continued to write verse to the end of his life—in fact the only major work Wilde published between his release from prison and his death was the long poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol,” originally published under the pseudonym “C.3.3,” representing the number of his prison cell.

Those who only know Wilde as the witty author of The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray will see a different Wilde in these poems: by turns reflective, sensuous, romantic and devoutly religious, but always with Wilde’s unerring eye for a telling phrase and his commitment to the ideals of the aesthetic movement, to art and beauty for their own sake.

First published 1912; the Read4Max reading text contains approximately 43,519 words arranged in 1 navigable sections.

About the author

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) is described by Wikidata as Irish poet, playwright, and aesthete (1854-1900), with citizenship or national association recorded as United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Ireland, United Kingdom, and France.

Recorded occupations include poet, playwright, short story writer, children's writer, novelist, and writer. Languages recorded for Oscar Wilde include English, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, and German. The structured record associates Oscar Wilde with Aestheticism and Decadent movement. Wikidata lists The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Canterville Ghost, The Soul of Man under Socialism, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol among Oscar Wilde's notable works. Open Library identifies The Picture of Dorian Gray as a leading work in its author record. Open Library catalogs 5546 works under this author record. The Read4Max catalog currently includes A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, Children’s Stories, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories, Poetry, and The Importance of Being Earnest under Oscar Wilde's authorship.

1854–1900

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