Complete Poetry

This volume of Wilde’s powerful poetry follows as closely as possible the chronological order of composition, highlighting autobiographical elements including the young Wilde’s conflicting attitudes to Greece and Rome, pagan and Christian, and his fluctuating attraction to Roman Catholicism. The Appendix shows Wilde’s original ordering, constructed with great care around a “musical” arrangement of themes. The poems reveal unexpected aspects of a literary chameleon usually identified with sparkling wit and social comedy.