“…Prison life makes one see people and things as they really are. That is why it turns one to stone. It is the people outside who are deceived by the illusions of a life in constant motion. They revolve with life and contribute to its unreality. We who are immobile both see and know.”  —Oscar Wilde (1905)

While in prison from 1895 to 1897 due to his homosexual affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, the writer Oscar Wilde wrote a 50,000 word letter to Douglas. Wilde never sent it, but his literary executor Robert Ross edited and published it posthumously in 1905, under the title De Profundis, (“Out of the Depths” in Latin—from Psalm 130, part of the Roman Catholic funeral service.)

De Profundis, considered one of the greatest love letters ever written, is both bitter and loving. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in Oscar Wilde and the paradox of love.