Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-23
Oscar
Wilde in
His True Light
RY EpwARDs pAvIs. y. a.


NoyemDer 30, 1900 holy JUNCTION was ad-
ministered. BY some Of his friends II Is
claimed that the administering OF a sacra-
ment was a mistake, insomuch as II was
given when the subject was unconscious.
Possibly the most gorgeous beauty Of the
eternal church IL that as valiant mother
II stands ready TO assume the guardianship
OF life and IN death to lay its mantle OF
compassion on the corpse OF the broken
dreams.
Could a tacit compact Of a little gentility
IN England have lasted, Oscar Wilde would
have been exiled from his immortality. But
the impeEal kingdom Of fate will not be
cheated Of It's citizens; the inexorable law
OF compensation cannot be transgressed
even by the stupid without the final pun
ishment Of their own chagrin. For Of what
Is the intelligent denizen Of our pseudo
civilization more ashamed-after a recon
sideratlon OF less than twenty years the
pitiful crime OF the neurotio Wilde, or the
crime Of our stold society against that
perverse unfortunate? Shall we refuse a
monument Of memory to the genius and
mental product Of Poe because possibly his
idiosyncrasy was dipsomania and that he
happened TO have the bad taste to choose
TO die OF delirium tremens2 Shall we ig-
osophy OF Nletzsche because It became the
caprice OF his intellect to "be sent TO an
asylum" Surely that is hardly a suff-
Client distinction for ones fame to rest
upon, since there are 30 many brilliant
men who have not compelled their con-
temporaries to convey them to some REM
devious OF the eccentric. Shall we belittle
the victories of Grant because too many a
coil Of smoke caused him to die OF cancer
IN the mouth? II the product OF the brain
a to be forever associated with the funo-
lion Of the physique, shall we not reject
Don Juan because of the congenital lame
ness Of Byron? or, shall we deny the dig
nifty Of Pope's Essay on Man because he
was physically deformed7 or, can we con-
tend that Tam o'Shanter'' will not re-
main permanent in it's worth because Burns
was tickle OF heart?
Wilde had an aversion to all forms OF
activity" so one Of his expert critics has
commended, holding that as a proof of his
abnormalty. At least II cannot be said
OF him that he was indolent intellectually
As youth he won the Berkeley gold
r medal At Trinity. and at oxford he re-
ceived the Newdlgate prize for English
verse. No author was ever more exquis-
itely prepared TO write No master OF his
art ever MORE perfectly expressed what he
was not Vpected to say. At Oxford he
came under the benign influence OF John
Ruskin. That is one OF the charming
novelties Of any great intellect. It's effect
10 so uncertain. Oscar Wilde was q man
OF distinct education. That is one of the
certain things about an education, Il so
seldom leads us where we expect It TO.
It led Wilde by his own effigial fires to
enlighten the world. but in his effort 10
mi.
tragic cry which shrieks through the pages
Of DE Profundls," is heard in the prlm-
airy plaintiff Of the Aesthetic;
"oh, would that could live up to my
blue chinai"
At an early age Wilde was caricatured
by DuMaurier In his pen sketches and by
W. S. Gilbert in his opera Patience. -
The subject OF their ridicule wore knee
breeches, a velvet coat and a flowing tie.
But is II not record that Balzac assumed
the monks oOwl, that Joaquin Miller as
sumed the costume OF a vaquero and that
Mark Twain assumed the white full dress
SUITE Wilde's joke on civilization got its
laugh London lionized him and America
sent for him, not because he had written
a book worthy Of verse. but that he for
a period had seen tit to pose as a freak.
When Wilde arrived In New York on
being namely asked what he had TO say
OF his voyage, he cleverly answered: Il
am not exactly pleased with the Atlantic
II Is not majestic as I expected" Yet
the Sun. In reviewing his lecture, stated
that II was mot performance so triflinG
as to insult the intelligence OF the audience
but carefully prepared essay which proves
it's author to be man Of civilization, taste
Imagination, education and refinement"
Now. Il happens that I was a lecturer
In I fuaac
The title OF my lecture. however, / have
since forgotten, but the Sun never wrote OF
me so effusively. Wilde earned a fortune
Ia season by his talk. Then he returned
not to London, but to Paris. Amy expand.
Ing soul Will eventually outgrow its homS
town. In Paris Wilde came under the In.
fluence of BalEao and Baudeclaire. Their
he wrote the Duchess OF Padua" Thai
play had been written for Mary Anderson
She refused It. not being equal to It. vel
being Wise enough to know It. That wa,
nearly thirty years ago. Recent dispatehe,
from London announce that THE Duchos,
OF Padua" lie 20 be produced by Georg,
Alexander at the St. James theater as soor
~ THE Importance Of Being Earnest" hai
finished its run at that distinguished
theater.
When Wilde returned from Paris TO Lon
don one Labouchere wrote an article en-
titled, Exit Oscar" You may ask, 'Wh,
was Labouohereg" It IL not necessary {,
ask who was oscar wilde. As a matte
OF truth, Wilde Is just beginning TO max,
his re-entrance into the theater OF seriou
attention. At that time he replied to hi
critic: II Il took Labouchere three col
umns 10 prove that was forgotten, thei
there is no difference between fame an,
obHcurity"
On the return OF Wilde to England from
Paris he was compelled 70 take again 4
the lecture platform. As a mode OF en-
ployment, lecturing is preferable TO tn
oKcitements OF poverty. In the May o
1s,i Wilde married. That fact, however,
hardly worthy OF mentioning, since q
many men do that. II Is somewhat unique
though. that his vdfe's dowry enabled tn
young couple 60 lease a house on Tit
street, decorated under the direction o
Whistler, who was counted an intimat
friend OF Wilde. At a dinner given b
Wilde a certain wittcism was uttered b
Whistler. Wilde Immediately eonfesse
that he wished he had said Il. you will /
tlmes Oscar" answered the wit-paintsr.
In thu first ~ hfa ogrn.u VIVA. .s.s.