what i’m reading: the ballad of reading gaol and other poems by oscar wilde

The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde
Read on August 19 2017

I had found this old book at a second-hand bookstore last year. There is no publication date, but it looks old. I dropped what I was reading at the time and started reading this one.

The book is tiny. I mean really tiny. It had serious damage to the spine which was invisible at the time I bought it. However, when I started to read it, it then started to fall apart. I glued the whole spine together and the moment I opened it, it cracked even worse than the first time. So, I fixed it for the second time after I finish reading it. Luckily, it’s holding itself together fine now, on the shelf.

Enough about the cover. Let’s talk about the content now…

I must admit, I loved The Ballad of Reading Gaol poem which is the first and the longest in this book. It kind of spoke to me. Later on, I learnt that Oscar Wilde actually wrote it when he was imprisoned. It’s so dark and honest which makes it so real. However, I can’t say much about other poems in this book.

My favourite part from The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems:

And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with 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.