By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Requiescat’ is a poem by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), who was better known as a playwright than a poet – indeed, better known as a novelist, a short-story writer, even for being Oscar Wilde than he ever was for his poetry.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is not now principally known for his poetry (indeed, it might be said that he is still less famous for his writings than he is for … having been Oscar Wilde), and his one enduringly famous poem is ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’. However, early in his career he wrote more poetry than anything else, and ‘Easter Day’ is one of his finest verses – a nice sonnet about Rome on Easter Day.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was best-known for being Oscar Wilde. As is often remarked, he was one of the first modern celebrities, courting attention for his witty conversation, his flamboyant dress, and – later – his ‘scandalous’ sex life. But he was also a playwright, novelist, short-story writer, writer of charming fairy tales for children, and poet.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
This should be an easy question. Surely it was Oscar Wilde who first said, ‘I am not young enough to know everything’? It certainly sounds like one of Wilde’s witty quotations, and numerous quotation sites (see, for instance, here and here) attribute the line to Wilde, but the attribution predates the web, with James Scott’s Daily Writing Journal in 1987 giving Wilde as the author. But it appears the issue is a little more complicated than that. And the true origins of this quotation lie in a play by a writer best-known for a work of children’s literature.
Perhaps ‘Oscar Wilde’ and ‘quotes’ is a marriage made in literary heaven. He is eminently quotable, which has made choosing Oscar Wilde’s ten best quotes that much more difficult. Difficult, but fun. After looking through the literary library here at Interesting Literature we can now bring you our ten favourite Wildean one-liners! I am so clever that … Read more