Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions — Volume 1 — John Shaqi
Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions — Volume 1Harris, Frank
History
Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions — Volume 1
Harris, Frank
Authors, Irish -- 19th century -- Biography; Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900
The Wildes had three children, two sons and a daughter. The first son was born
in 1852, a year after the marriage, and was christened after his father William
Charles Kingsbury Wills. The second son was born two years later, in 1854 and
the names given to him seem to reveal the Nationalist sympathies and pride of
his mother. He was christened Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde; but he
appears to have suffered from the pompous string only in extreme youth. At
school he concealed the "Fingal," as a young man he found it advisable to omit
the "O'Flahertie."
In childhood and early boyhood Oscar was not considered as quick or engaging
or handsome as his brother, Willie. Both boys had the benefit of the best
schooling of the time. They were sent as boarders to the Portora School at
Enniskillen, one of the four Royal schools of Ireland. Oscar went to Portora in
1864 at the age of nine, a couple of years after his brother. He remained at
the school for seven years and left it on winning an Exhibition for Trinity
College, Dublin, when he was just seventeen.
The facts hitherto collected and published about Oscar as a schoolboy are sadly
meagre and insignificant. Fortunately for my readers I have received from Sir
Edward Sullivan, who was a contemporary of Oscar both at school and college,
an exceedingly vivid and interesting pen-picture of the lad, one of those
astounding masterpieces of portraiture only to be produced by the plastic
sympathies of boyhood and the intimate intercourse of years lived in common.
It is love alone which in later life can achieve such a miracle of
representment. I am very glad to be allowed to publish this realistic
miniature, in the very words of the author.
"I first met Oscar Wilde in the early part of 1868 at Portora Royal School.
He was thirteen or fourteen years of age. His long straight fair hair was a
striking feature of his appearance. He was then, as he remained for some years
after, extremely boyish in nature, very mobile, almost restless when out of
the schoolroom. Yet he took no part in the school games at any time. Now and
then he would be seen in one of the school boats on Loch Erne: yet he was a
poor hand at an oar.
"Even as a schoolboy he was an excellent talker: his descriptive power
being far above the average, and his humorous exaggerations of school
occurrences always highly amusing.
"A favourite place for the boys to sit and gossip in the late afternoon
in winter time was round a stove which stood in 'The Stone Hall.' Here Oscar
was at his best; although his brother Willie was perhaps in those days even
better than he was at telling a story.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account