Pencil on paper. Edward Burne-Jones c. 1888.
(credit: Bram Stoker Estate)
Oscar Wilde’s early romance and break-up with Florence Balcombe are well documented; as is her subsequent marriage to Bram Stoker.
Less well known, and under-appreciated for their relevance, are two compositions of regret and resignation found side-by-side in Oscar Wilde’s Poems (1881).
The two poems are titled “Her Voice” and “My Voice” that Wilde casts respectively to show the male and female attitude towards the end of a relationship.
Continue reading “Florence Balcombe”