e wrote a lengthy letter, De Profundis

imprisonment. The Marquess of Queensbury was out to discredit Wilde, in an effort to separate him from Lord Alfred Douglas, the Marquess's son and Wilde's lover. Wilde responded to the slander by charging the Marquess with libel, an affront punishable by up to two years in prison.

Difficulty found our friend Wilde when evidence of his "depravity" was unearthed during the Marquess's trial, and he soon found himself the prosecuted rather than the prosecutor. He was found guilty of gross indecency with men and sentenced to two years in prison.

While in prison, he wrote a lengthy letter, De Profundis. The letter -- written in 1897 but withheld from publication until 1905 -- describes his trials, journey, and despair, and marks a flection point where he turns from away from a pleasure-filled and hedonistic style of living and toward a more reflective, purposeful, and spiritual course. Evidence of this new perspective surfaces in his superlative 1888 collection of children's stories entitled The Happy Prince and Other Tales, which are beautiful allegorical tales to be enjoyed by readers or all ages. The volume includes; The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Devoted Friend, and The Remarkable Rocket.