Ravenna

‘Ravenna’ is one of Wilde’s earliest poems, written while he was a student at Oxford in the 1870s. He submitted it as an entry for the Newdigate Prize, in which the subject for a poem was already set. As chance would have it, Wilde had already visited Ravenna in the previous year and had already begun work on a poem, celebrating the "much-loved city." Needless to say, Wilde won the Newdigate Prize, despite submitting his entry anonymously. A wonderful example of the poet at his most lyrical...