Rue des Beaux-Arts n ° 75- Avril-Mai-Juin 2021
Le causeur Wilde
Un jour , Wilde confiait à W . B . Yeats : “ We Irish are too poetical to be poets (…), but we are the greatest talkers since the Greeks .” Wilde lui-même était un orateur doué , brillant et amusant . Ses talents d ’ écrivain ont été éclipsés par son génie de conteur . Lorsque la célèbre actrice polonaise Helen Modjeska jouait dans un théâtre à Londres en 1880 , Wilde était l ’ un des premiers à la contacter . L ’ actrice définissait habilement la réputation que Wilde s ’ était bâtie en tant que causeur : “ What has he done , this young man , that one meets him everywhere ? Oh yes he talks well , but what has he done ? He has written nothing , he does not sing or paint or act – he does nothing but talk .” Wilde avait acquis une position dans les cercles sociaux et artistiques de Londres en conversant . Dans les nombreux souvenirs des contemporains de Wilde , ceux-ci célèbrent plusieurs fois sa belle voix mélodique et ses compétences en tant que causeur et conteur . 1 À maintes reprises , il a réussi à séduire ses auditeurs .
André Gide soulignait que “ Wilde ne converse pas : il conte .” Même Lord Alfred Douglas a reconnu dans Oscar Wilde . A Summing Up
1Mikhail , E . H ., ( ed .), Oscar Wilde . Interviews and Recollections , Volume I , London and
Basingstoke , The Macmillan Press , 1979 , p . 3 : Sir David-Hunter Blair : “ You ought to hear him talk ! (…) unusual capacity for pleasant talk ”, p . 13 : William Welsford Ward : “[ H ] e was a brilliant talker ”, p . 61 : The Daily Examiner : “ Mr . Wilde speaks in a low , melodious tone , the broad English pronunciation being harmonized almost to rhythm .”, p . 87 : The Toronto Evening News : “[ H ] is voice is soft ”, p . 139 : Helena Maria Swanwick : “[ H ] e chanted in his melodious Irish voices ” … p . 141 : “[ H ] is full warm voice , his cordial laughter brought sunshine ”, pp . 165-166 : Henri de Régnier : “[ H ] e was an incomparable teller of tales ; he knew thousands of stories which linked themselves one to the other in an endless chain . This [ by telling stories ] was his way of saying everything , of expressing his opinion on every subject : it was the figurative hypocrisy of this thought [ the way in which he veiled his thoughts ]…”, p . 168 : Jean Joseph-Renaud : “[ H ] is fine voice hymned , grew tender , rang out , like a viol , in the midst of the emotional silence ”, p . 192 : Gomez Carrillo : “ I hear him speaking in that muffled voice of his ; an utterly toneless voice , yet melodious in its monotony . This voice was to be heard in the darkness intoning lines of poetry , poems to the glory of Salammbô .”, p . 205 : Louise Jopling : “ He had a beautiful voice – cultivated , melodious ; and it was a rare treat to hear him as a raconteur .”; Vol . 2 , p . 290 : André Gide : “ He narrated gently , slowly ; his voice was wonderful .”, p . 390 : Richard Le Gallienne : “[ H ] is wonderful golden voice , which he modulated with elaborate self-consciousness .” (…) “ One secret of the charm of Wilde ’ s talk , apart from its wit and his beautiful voice …”.
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