Daily World - Thursday, May 9, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
TOPICS OF THE DAY.
Oscar Wilde's eloquent words are said to have saved him condemnation. The most effective were the following in answer to Mr. Gill's question as to the meaning of his affection for Lord Douglas: It is such great affection of the elder for the younger man as existed between David and Jonathan; such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy; such as we find in the sonnets of Michael Angelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection which is as pure as it is perfect, and dictates great works of art like those of Shakespeare and Angelo, and these two letters of mine such as they are. This love is misunderstood in the present century, so misunderstood that on account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection, it is the intellectual, and has existed repeatedly between an elder and a younger man when the elder has the intellect and the younger has the joy and hope and glamor of life. That it should be so the world does not understand, the world mocks at it and sometimes puts one on pillory for it.
"It is such a great affection of the elder for the younger man's existed between David and Jonathan; such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy; such as we find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection which is as pure as it is perfect, and dictates great works of art like those of Shakespeare and Angelo and these two letters of mine, such as they are. This love is misunderstood in the present century - so misunderstood that on account of it I am placed where I now am. It is beautiful; it is fine; it is the noblest form of affection. It is intellectual, and has existed repeatedly between an elder and a younger man when the elder man has the intellect and the younger man has all the joy and hope and glamour of life. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it, and sometimes puts one in the pillory for it."
Witness: The "Love that dare not speak its name in this century" is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michael Angelo and Shakespeare--that deep, spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect, and dictates great works of art like those of Shakespeare and Michael Angelo and those two letters of mine, such as they are, and which is in this century misunderstood--so misunderstood that on account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. It is intellectual and it repeatedly exists between an elder and a younger man when the elder man has intellect and the younger man has all the joy, hope, and glamour of life. That it should be so the world does not understand. It mocks at it, and it sometimes puts one into the pillory for it.