[Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (of 2) by Frank Harris]@TWC D-Link book
Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (of 2)

CHAPTER XXVI
6/11

Yet I was dissatisfied with myself and anxious for Bell to start.
Day after day passed in troubled doubts and fears; but it was not long when a period was put to all my anxiety.

A telegram came telling me he was dead.

I could hardly believe my eyes: it seemed incredible--the fount of joy and gaiety; the delightful source of intellectual vivacity and interest stilled forever.

The world went greyer to me because of Oscar Wilde's death.
Months afterwards Robert Ross gave me the particulars of his last illness.
Ross went to Paris in October: as soon as he saw Oscar, he was shocked by the change in his appearance: he insisted on taking him to a doctor; but to his surprise the doctor saw no ground for immediate alarm: if Oscar would only stop drinking wine and _a fortiori_ spirits, he might live for years: absinthe was absolutely forbidden.

But Oscar paid no heed to the warning and Ross could only take him for drives whenever the weather permitted and seek to amuse him harmlessly.
The will to live had almost left Oscar: so long as he could live pleasantly and without effort he was content; but as soon as ill-health came, or pain, or even discomfort, he grew impatient for deliverance.
But to the last he kept his joyous humour and charming gaiety.


<<Back  Index  Next>>

D-Link book Top

TWC mobile books