Audiobook · read by volunteers
Ballad of Reading Gaol, (version 2)
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
Read by Linda Leu · 1 chapter · 42 min
About the book
In 1895 Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labour. During his time in Reading Gaol a fellow prisoner was hanged there, and the poem Wilde wrote after his release, before his early death in 1900, became one of the most famous of its era. The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a meditation on the death penalty and on the importance of forgiveness, even for those who have done wrong. Its ballad rhythm and its refrain have lodged in the memory of generations. This is the second LibriVox version of the poem, and Linda Leu reads it in about forty minutes, offering a different voice and a different pace from the earlier recording.
Introduction
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was one of the most celebrated writers of the late Victorian period, admired for his comedies, his fairy tales and his brilliant conversation. After his trial and imprisonment in 1895 his reputation collapsed, and he left England on his release in 1897. He spent his last years abroad, in poor health and short of money, and died in Paris in 1900.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol was published in 1898 and remains the most famous poem he wrote. It was composed in the form of a traditional ballad, in six sections, and it draws on the execution of a fellow prisoner as the starting point for a wider reflection on the cruelty of punishment and on the shared humanity of the guilty and the innocent. The poem was originally published under the name C.3.3, the number of his cell, and went through several editions in quick succession.
This recording is a second reading of the poem in the LibriVox catalogue, made by volunteer Linda Leu. It consists of one section and runs about forty minutes. Having more than one version of a poem gives listeners the chance to compare how different readers handle its tone, from the plain narrative sections to the intense and bitter refrains. It is a fine choice for anyone who wants to hear this moving work again, or to meet it for the first time in a thoughtful, clear voice.
Public domain
Oscar Wilde died in 1900: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text