Oscar Wilde first hanging at Reading in 18 years. From Wooldridge's hanging, Wilde later wrote "The Ballad of Reading Gaol". Wilde was not, at first, even allowed paper and pen but Haldane eventually succeeded in allowing access to books and writing materials. Wilde requested, among others: the Bible in French; Italian and German grammars; some Ancient Greek texts, Dante's "Divine Comedy", Joris-Karl Huysmans's new French novel about Christian redemption "En Route", and essays by St Augustine, Cardinal Newman and Walter Pater. Between January and March 1897 Wilde wrote a 50,000-word letter to Douglas. He was not allowed to send it, but was
Oscar (opera) Bosie, but when revealed, Bosie quickly vanishes. "Scene 2: The prison chapel" As the prisoners are about to sing a hymn, Wilde is seated. Midway, the prison chaplain, approaches Wilde and insults him. Trying to stand up, Wilde collapses and hits his head, which causes him to be taken to the infirmary. The rebellious prisoners are subdued and returned to their cells. "Scene 3: The infirmary" Whitman advises Wilde to forget about the pain of the moment. Wilde lies alongside two other prisoners. One prisoner speaks kindly to Wilde, who is touched, as it is his first sympathetic human conduct