Project Gutenberg 1995-07-01 Public domain in the USA. 466 Wilde, Oscar 1854 1900 Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills The Ballad of Reading Gaol Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Reading_Gaol Produced by Faith Knowles, David Widger, and an Anonymous Volunteer "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde is a poignant poem written in the late 19th century during the Victorian era. This narrative poem reflects on themes of guilt, love, and the harsh realities of justice as it unfolds within the confines of a prison. The work explores the experience of a condemned man and the psychological torment faced by both the perpetrator and those who witness the grim processes of capital punishment. The poem follows the perspective of a fellow inmate in Reading Gaol, who observes the fate of a man sentenced to hang for murdering the woman he loved. Through vivid imagery and emotional depth, Wilde conveys the idea that everyone, in some way, kills the love they cherish, whether through betrayal, neglect, or direct harm. The poem critiques the justice system, exposing its cruelty and the complete lack of compassion in the face of human suffering. As the narrative progresses, it reflects the despair and moral conflict that arises within a system that takes life in the name of law, eliciting sympathy not only for the condemned but also for the common human experience of love and loss. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 80.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Imprisonment -- Poetry Prisoners -- Poetry Prisons -- Poetry PR Text Category: Poetry Category: British Literature 91294 2025-07-01T04:55:51.663703 text/html 85124 2019-03-26T13:37:04 text/html; charset=us-ascii 18567 2019-03-26T13:37:24 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 92293 2025-07-01T04:55:56.072689 application/epub+zip 90930 2025-07-01T04:55:54.045689 application/epub+zip 85434 2025-07-01T04:55:53.037693 application/epub+zip 198567 2025-07-01T04:55:57.614708 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 186913 2025-07-01T04:55:55.478702 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 143458 2022-09-01T05:16:33.515079 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 85142 2025-07-01T04:55:51.417703 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 84926 2019-03-26T13:37:04 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17954 2019-03-26T13:37:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 18985 2025-07-01T04:55:57.738663 application/rdf+xml 13260 2025-07-01T04:55:53.515702 image/jpeg 3813 2025-07-01T04:55:53.274685 image/jpeg 90399 2025-07-01T04:55:51.668723 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog fr.wikipedia en.wikipedia