# Impressions de Théâtre explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Oscar Wilde.

## What happens

This chapter presents a series of poetic tributes to actors and theatrical performances, celebrating the power of drama and the immortal art of the stage. It includes addresses to Henry Irving, Sarah Bernhardt, and Ellen Terry, invoking classical and Shakespearean themes.

## Themes in this chapter

### Art and Immortality

The poems celebrate the enduring power of theatrical performance and the immortalization of actors through art.

### Classical Mythology and Antiquity

References to Attic clay, Phaeacian glade, Artemis, and Goat-foot Pan evoke classical and mythological imagery.

### Love and Loss

Themes of love and longing appear, especially in the Portia and Anthony references, and the 'loveless lips with which men kiss in Hell.'

## Character check-ins

### Lear

Referenced as 'frenzied Lear' in the tribute to Henry Irving, suggesting a performance of King Lear.

### Romeo

Mentioned in the context of Shakespeare's Romeo, luring his love.

### Bassanio

Appears in the Portia poem as the bold suitor who risks all for the lead casket.

### Queen Henrietta Maria

Subject of the second poem to Ellen Terry, depicted as waiting in a tent for victory.

### Ellen Terry

The actress addressed in three poems, portrayed as Portia, Queen Henrietta Maria, and Camma.

### Anthony

Referenced in the final line of the Camma poem: 'make the world thine Actium, me thine Anthony!'

### Grave Odysseus

Mentioned in the Phèdre poem as 'grave Odysseus wakened from his dream' in a Phaeacian glade.

### Pan

Referenced as 'Goat-foot Pan' in the Phèdre poem, associated with piping and reeds.

## Key lines

> How vain and dull this common world must seem / To such a One as thou, who should’st have talked / At Florence with Mirandola, or walked / Through the cool olives of the Academe

The ordinary world must appear trivial to someone like you, who ought to have conversed with Pico della Mirandola in Florence or strolled through the shaded groves of the Academy.

_Addresses Sarah Bernhardt, suggesting her talent belongs in Renaissance or classical settings._

> O Portia! take my heart: it is thy due: / I think I will not quarrel with the Bond.

Portia, accept my heart as your rightful reward; I will not dispute the terms of the bond.

_A tribute to Ellen Terry's portrayal of Portia in The Merchant of Venice._

> I am grown sick of unreal passions, make / The world thine Actium, me thine Anthony!

I have become weary of artificial emotions; turn the world into your Actium and make me your Anthony.

_The speaker desires a grand, real passion like that of Cleopatra and Mark Antony._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/impressions-de-th-tre
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters