The Ballad of Reading Gaol

by Oscar Wilde

"The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde is a poem written in 1897, after his release from prison following a conviction for gross indecency. The poem narrates the execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a fellow prisoner who murdered his wife, weaving together objective storytelling with symbolic identification among all convicts. Wilde explores themes of punishment, brutalization, and shared humanity through the haunting refrain "Yet each man kills the thing he loves." Initially published anonymously under his cell number "C.3.3.," the poem became an unexpected success.