Oscar Wilde hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison, he wrote "De Profundis" (published posthumously in 1905), a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials, forming a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On his release, he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46. Oscar Wilde was born at 21
Oscar (opera) an opera libretto based on the writings of Oscar Wilde and his contemporaries, with Walt Whitman serving as a chorus speaking from the realm of immortality. The opera used Wilde's poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", documents, letters, conversations and remarks by Wilde's contemporaries as source material for the libretto. Cox also consulted Merlin Holland, the grandson of Oscar Wilde and a scholar on Oscar Wilde. "Prologue: In the regions of Immortality" Walt Whitman introduces himself. He tells of meeting Oscar Wilde in the 1880s when Wilde was lecturing across America. He then describes what happens to Wilde in the