Ballad Of Reading Gaol
''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, after his release from Reading Gaol () on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecency with other men in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. During his imprisonment, on Tuesday, 7 July 1896, a hanging took place. Charles Thomas Wooldridge had been a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards. He was convicted of cutting the throat of his wife, Laura Ellen,GRO Register of Deaths: JUN qtr 1896 Wooldridge, Laura Ellen aged 23 Windsor 2c 241 earlier that year at Clewer, near Windsor. He was aged 30 when executed.GRO Register of Deaths: SEP qtr 1896 Wooldridge, Charles Thomas aged 30 Reading 2c 210 Wilde wrote the poem in mid-1897 while staying with Robert Ross in Berneval-le-Grand. The poem narrates the execution of Wooldridge; it moves from an objective story-telling to symbolic identification with the prisoners as a whol ...
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The Ballad Of Reading Gaol (1904)
''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, after his release from HM Prison Reading, Reading Gaol () on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of Labouchere Amendment, gross indecency with other men in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. During his imprisonment, on Tuesday, 7 July 1896, a Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, hanging took place. Charles Thomas Wooldridge had been a Trooper (rank), trooper in the Royal Horse Guards. He was convicted of cutting the throat of his wife, Laura Ellen,GRO Register of Deaths: JUN qtr 1896 Wooldridge, Laura Ellen aged 23 Windsor 2c 241 earlier that year at Clewer, near Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor. He was aged 30 when executed.GRO Register of Deaths: SEP qtr 1896 Wooldridge, Charles Thomas aged 30 Reading 2c 210 Wilde wrote the poem in mid-1897 while staying with Robbie Ross, Robert Ross in Berneval-le-Grand. The poem narrates ...
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