Cover art for Hélas by Oscar Wilde

Hélas

Oscar Wilde
Track 1 on Poems 
“Helas”, meaning “Alas!” in French, is the title of this self-reflecting work by Wilde. Using French in the title already implies a theme of reflecting on love. This poem… Read More 
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Hélas Lyrics

To drift with every passion till my soul
Is a stringed lute on which all winds can play
Is it for this that I have given away
Mine ancient wisdom, and austere control?
Methinks my life is a twice-written scroll
Scrawled over on some boyish holiday
With idle songs for pipe and virelay,
Which do but mar the secret of the whole.
Surely there was a time I might have trod
The sunlit heights, and from life's dissonance
Struck one clear chord to reach the ears of God:
Is that time dead? Lo, with a little rod
I did but touch the honey of romance—
And must I lose a soul's inheritance?

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Genius Annotation

“Helas”, meaning “Alas!” in French, is the title of this self-reflecting work by Wilde.
Using French in the title already implies a theme of reflecting on love.

This poem also forces us as readers to self-reflect; is love worth it? how many second chances can we get?

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Poems (1881)
  1. 1.
    Hélas
  2. 2.
    Sonnet to Liberty
  3. 3.
    Ave Imperatrix
  4. 4.
    To Milton
  5. 5.
    Louis Napoleon
  6. 6.
    On the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria
  7. 7.
    Quantum Mutata
  8. 8.
    Libertatis Sacra Fames
  9. 9.
    Theoretikos
  10. 10.
    The Garden of Eros
  11. 11.
    Requiescat
  12. 12.
    Sonnet on Approaching Italy
  13. 13.
    San Miniato
  14. 14.
    Ave Maria Gratia Plena
  15. 15.
    Italia
  16. 16.
    Sonnet Written in Holy Week at Genoa
  17. 17.
    Rome Unvisited
  18. 18.
    Urbs Sacra Aeterna
  19. 19.
    Sonnet on hearing the Dies Iræ sung in the Sistine Chapel
  20. 20.
    Easter Day
  21. 21.
    E. Tenebris
  22. 22.
    Vita Nuova
  23. 23.
    Madonna Mia
  24. 24.
    The New Helen
  25. 25.
    The Burden of Itys
  26. 26.
    Impression Du Matin
  27. 27.
    Magdalen Walks
  28. 28.
    Athanasia
  29. 29.
    Serenade
  30. 30.
    Endymion
  31. 31.
    La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente
  32. 32.
    Chanson
  33. 33.
    Charmides
  34. 34.
    Impressions: Les Silhouettes, La Fuite de la Lune
  35. 35.
    The Grave of Keats
  36. 36.
    Theocritus
  37. 37.
    In the Gold Room: A Harmony
  38. 38.
    Ballade de Marguerite
  39. 39.
    The Dole of the King’s Daughter
  40. 40.
    Amor Intellectualis
  41. 41.
    Santa Decca
  42. 42.
    A Vision
  43. 43.
    Impression de Voyage
  44. 44.
    The Grave of Shelley
  45. 45.
    By the Arno
  46. 46.
    Fabien dei Franchi
  47. 47.
    Phèdre
  48. 48.
    Portia
  49. 49.
    Queen Henrietta Maria
  50. 50.
    Camma
  51. 51.
    Panthea
  52. 52.
    Impression: Le Réveillon
  53. 53.
    At Verona
  54. 54.
    Apologia
  55. 55.
    Quia Multum Amavi
  56. 56.
    Silentium Amoris
  57. 57.
    Her Voice
  58. 58.
    My Voice
  59. 59.
    Tædium Vitæ
  60. 60.
    Humanitad
  61. 61.
    Flower of Love
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