Thursday 13 May 2010

Character Connection - Oscar Wilde


We all have characters we love. Let's spotlight these fantastic creations! Whether you want to be friends with them or you have a full-blown crush on them, you know you love them and want everyone else to love them too!

Character Connection host by
TheIntrovertedReader.blogspot.com

I can here people thinking: 'Oscar Wilde? But he's an author not a character!'

I can tell you he is a character too! He's starring in his very own murder mysteries series: The Oscar Wilde Mysteries by Gyles Brandreth.

Gyles Brandreth managed to capture Oscar Wilde's personality as I've always imagined it must be from reading his books, plays and poems. Wilde comes across as a witty, intelligent and energetic man who loves live, but still has a cloud of melancholy hanging over him. But I must confess that when you read about an actual person it's inevitable that your perception of the character is coloured by what you know about the person. All in all I think Oscar Wilde was a very intriguing and talented man and this series does him honour.

So I'll leave you all with one of his beautiful poems:

THE DOLE OF THE KING'S DAUGHTER

by: Oscar Wilde

SEVEN stars in the still water,
And seven in the sky;
Seven sins on the King's daughter,
Deep in her soul to lie.

Red roses at her feet,
(Roses are red in her red-gold hair)
And O where her bosom and girdle meet
Red roses are hidden there.

Fair is the knight who lieth slain
Amid the rush and reed,
See the lean fishes that are fain
Upon dead men to feed.

Sweet is the page that lieth there,
(Cloth of gold is goodly prey,)
See the black ravens in the air,
Black, O black as the night are they.

What do they there so stark and dead?
(There is blood upon her hand)
Why are the lilies flecked with red?
(There is blood on the river sand.)

There are two that ride from the south to the east,
And two from the north and west,
For the black raven a goodly feast,
For the King's daughter to rest.

There is one man who loves her true,
(Red, O red, is the stain of gore!)
He hath duggen a grave by the darksome yew,
(One grave will do for four.)

No moon in the still heaven,
In the black water none,
The sins on her soul are seven,
The sin upon his is one.


8 comments:

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

How interesting! Are these books set in an alternate universe, or do the mysteries plausible take place in the lifetime of the Wilde we know?

Sam McCall said...

That sounds so interesting!

Sullivan McPig said...

They take place in the lifetime of Wilde as we know it and yes, in a believable(sp?) way.

Daria Hlazatova said...

this is so strange! only yesterday i thought how much i'd love to write about Oscar Wilde (i'm his big fan) but couldn't fit him in character category.
I'm really glad your chose him! I'll have to read the book!

Unknown said...

Wow, I love it when writers write about writers. It is so incestuous, don't you think? LOL This sounds intriguing and I love that you included a poem.

Jen at Introverted Reader said...

I love the poem! I've only read Importance of being Earnest and Dorian Grey by Wilde, but I did enjoy both. I had no idea he was a character too. I'll have to keep an eye out for these books.

The Book Mole said...

I love Oscar Wilde and would love to see him as a character. Never heard of this series, but looks like it is worth reading - thanks for featuring it! Gyles Brandreth is great too - I'll have to get read this!

vvb32 reads said...

great poem! the colors are so vivid. and the way numbers are woven into the poem is intriguing. yet another author i must explore ;-D