Poèmes
1881
Poèmes, first published in 1881, is a collection of poetry by Oscar Wilde that explores themes of beauty, art, and human emotion. The work reflects Wilde's aestheticism and features poignant reflections on life, love, and loss, showcasing his unique style that blends the profound with the whimsical. Influenced by classical antiquity and poets like John Keats, Wilde's verses invite readers into a world rich with vivid imagery and emotional depth, capturing the tensions between modernity and timeless beauty.
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“To be really mediæval one should have no body. To be really modern one should have no soul. To be really Greek one should have no clothes.””
— Oscar Wilde
“Time is a waste of money.””
— Oscar Wilde
“The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered.””
— Oscar Wilde
“A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.””
— Oscar Wilde
“RequiescatTread lightly, she is nearUnder the snow,Speak gently, she can hearThe daisies grow.All her bright golden hairTarnished with rust,She that was young and fairFallen to dust.Lily-like, white as snow,She hardly knewShe was a woman, soSweetly she grew.Coffin-board, heavy stone,Lie on her breast,I vex my heart aloneShe is at rest.Peace, Peace, she cannot hearLyre or sonnet,All my life’s buried here,Heap earth upon it.””
— Oscar Wilde
“And when wind and winter hardenAll the loveless land,It will whisper of the garden,You will understand.””
— Oscar Wilde
“If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.””
— Oscar Wilde
“But we who live in prison, and in whose lives there is no event but sorrow, have to measure time by throbs of pain, and the record of bitter moments. We have nothing else to think of. Suffering”
— Oscar Wilde
“A really well-made buttonhole is the only link between Art and Nature.””
— Oscar Wilde
