De Profundis

De Profundis (Latin for "from the depths") is a letter written by Oscar Wilde to his friend and lover Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol.

Wilde wrote the letter between January and March 1897, near the end of his two-year sentence for gross indecency. The letter serves as both a recounting of their tumultuous relationship and Wilde's personal spiritual development while incarcerated.

Background and Imprisonment

Oscar Wilde's intimate friendship with Lord Alfred Douglas began in 1891. Their relationship drew criticism from family and friends, particularly Lord Alfred's father, the Marquess of Queensberry. Queensberry publicly harassed Wilde, eventually leaving a card at Wilde's club with the inscription: "For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite [sic]". Encouraged by Douglas, Wilde sued Queensberry for criminal libel. However, Wilde withdrew his claim when the defense presented evidence, and the judge deemed Queensberry's accusation justified. Consequently, Wilde was arrested and charged with gross indecency under the Labouchère Amendment in April 1895. He was ultimately sentenced to two years of imprisonment with hard labor.

Wilde was held in Pentonville, Wandsworth, and Reading Prisons, where he endured harsh conditions, poor food, and manual labor, which severely impacted his health. He suffered from hunger, insomnia, and disease, and an injury sustained in Wandsworth Prison (a burst eardrum) later contributed to his death. During his imprisonment, Wilde's friends advocated for better conditions, and eventually, a more progressive warden, Major Nelson, allowed him access to books and writing materials.

Composition and Content

Wilde wrote De Profundis on eighty sheets of prison paper, addressing it to Lord Alfred Douglas. The letter, approximately 50,000 words long, is structured as a dramatic monologue.

The first half of the letter details Wilde's relationship with Douglas from 1892 to 1895, examining Douglas's behavior and its detrimental effects on Wilde's life and work. Wilde recounts the extravagant lifestyle they shared, which ultimately led to his downfall, and indicts both Douglas's vanity and his own weaknesses. He expresses his forgiveness to Douglas, while also repudiating his arrogance.

The second half of the letter focuses on Wilde's spiritual journey and self-realization during his imprisonment. He identifies with Jesus Christ, whom he characterizes as a romantic, individualist artist. Wilde reflects on suffering as the "secret of life" and embraces humility as a path to self-perfection. He states, "My only mistake was that I confined myself so exclusively to the trees of what seemed to me the sun-lit side of the garden, and shunned the other side for its shadow and its gloom". He also expresses a desire to transform his degradation into a spiritual experience, stating that "the two great turning-points in my life were when my father sent me to Oxford, and when society sent me to prison".

Publication History

Upon his release in May 1897, Wilde entrusted the manuscript to Robert Ross, another former lover and loyal friend. Ross published an incomplete version of the letter in 1905, five years after Wilde's death, under the title "De Profundis," derived from Psalm 130 ("Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord"). This initial publication omitted autobiographical elements and references to the Queensberry family.

The complete and accurate version of De Profundis was not published until 1962, when Rupert Hart-Davis examined the original manuscript at the British Museum (now the British Library) and produced a corrected text for The Letters of Oscar Wilde. This edition is still in print as part of The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde. The copyright for the full original text is now in the public domain in the United Kingdom and the European Union, but remains copyrighted in the United States until 2057.

Themes and Reception

De Profundis explores themes of suffering, humility, self-realization, and the nature of art. Wilde's writing style in the letter is a departure from his earlier flippant prose, reflecting his isolation and introspection. Contemporary critics, such as G.S. Street and Max Beerbohm, praised the letter for its poignancy and artistic merit, recognizing Wilde's continued mastery of language even in adversity.

PRAYER : " De Profundis

Psalm 130

B. Out of the depths I have cried to you, O

Lord, Lord, hear my voice.

R. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If you, O Lord, shall observe iniquities, Lord, who shall endure it? For with you there is merciful forgiveness and by reason of your law I have waited for you, O Lord.

R. My soul has relied on his word; my soul has hoped in the Lord.

B. From the morning watch even until night let Israel hope in the Lord.

R. Because with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption. And he shall

redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

B. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Let us pray: We commend our brother N., to you, Lord. Now that he/she has passed from this life, may he live on in your presence. In your mercy and love, forgive whatever sins he may have committed through human weakness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. "