Chaplaincy Review: Oscar Wilde, "Sonnet written in Holy Week at Genoa"

Ocsar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish playwright, poet and novelist. He left Ireland in 1878, and spent the subsequent years in London, Paris and the United States. This particular poem, "Sonnet written in Holy Week at Genoa," was written in 1881.


I WANDERED in Scoglietto’s green retreat,
The oranges on each o’erhanging spray
Burned as bright lamps of gold to shame the day;
Some startled bird with fluttering wings and fleet
Made snow of all the blossoms, at my feet
Like silver moons the pale narcissi lay:
And the curved waves that streaked the sapphire bay
Laughed i’ the sun, and life seemed very sweet.
Outside the young boy-priest passed singing clear,
“Jesus the Son of Mary has been slain,
O come and fill his sepulchre with flowers.”
Ah, God! Ah, God! those dear Hellenic hours
Had drowned all memory of Thy bitter pain,
The Cross, the Crown, the Soldiers, and the Spear.