"The House of Judgment", page 6

Oscar Wilde
1854–1900

"The House of Judgment," from Poems in Prose

Autograph manuscript signed, ca. 1893. 6 p.

Gift of Lucia Moreira Salles, 2008

MA 7258.2
Transcription: 

Page 6

(6)

And God closed the Book of the Life of the Man, and said, "Surely I shall send thee to Hell. Even unto Hell shall I send thee."
    And the Man answered and said cried out, "Thou cans't not."
    And God said to the Man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Hell, and for what reason?"
    And the Man made answer, and said, "Because I have always lived in it." answered the Man.
    And there was silence in the House of Judgment.
    And after a space God spake, and said to the Man, "Seeing that I may not send thee to Hell, surely I shall send thee to Heaven. Shall Even unto Heaven shall I send thee."
    And the Man answered and said cried out, "Thou cans't not."
    And God said to the Man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Heaven, and for what reason?"
    Parag. And the Man made answer and said, "Because never, and in no place, have I been able to imagine it." answered the Man.
    And there was silence in the House of Judgment.

    Oscar Wilde