Oscar Wilde was a great an Irish poet and writer. His short stories, plays, and poems inspired a great number of people in the Victorian Era. Fabien Dei Franchi was written for his friend Henry Irving and he is probably the one addressed here
Fabien Dei Franchi Poem Text
(To my Friend Henry Irving)
The silent room, the heavy creeping shade,
The dead that travels fast, the opening door,
The murdered brother rising through the floor,
The ghost’s white fingers on thy shoulders laid,
And then the lonely duel in the glade,
The broken swords, the stifled scream, the gore,
Thy grand revengeful eyes when all is o’er, –
These things are well enough, – but thou wert made
For more august creation! frenzied Lear
Should at thy bidding wander on the heath
With the shrill fool to mock him, Romeo
For thee should lure his love and desperate fear
Pluck Richard’s recreant dagger from its sheath –
Thou trumpet set for Shakespeare’s lips to blow!
Fabien Dei Franchi Analysis
This poem was written for Henry Irving and he is probably the one addressed here. Wilde, in the first stanza, uses metaphors to tell his friend that whatever he is doing is good. However, he was born for greater things.
Wilde cites examples, keeping Shakespeare’s characters as a reference to make significant the level of greatness he deserved. At last, he tells his friend that he deserved to be great enough for Shakespeare to blow his trumpets!
The Poet
Oscar Wilde encourages his friend and writes a poem for the purpose, in hyperbole. This reflects, once again, the love and the compassion he had for his friends and contemporary artists.
Although Wilde goes a little far with his metaphors here, we understand that a tad bit of exaggeration killed no one!
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