Mr. Gill then rose to cross-examine and the Court at once became on the _qui vive_. Wilde seemed perfectly calm and did not change his attitude, or tone of polite deprecation.
Mr. GILL.--"You are acquainted with a publication entitled 'The Chameleon'?"
Mr. GILL.--"Contributors to that journal are friends of yours?"
Mr. GILL.--"I believe that Lord Alfred Douglas was a frequent contributor?"
WITNESS.--"Hardly that, I think. He wrote some verses occasionally for the 'Chameleon,' and, indeed, for other papers."
Mr. GILL.--"The poems in question were somewhat peculiar?"
WITNESS.--"They certainly were not mere commonplaces like so much that is labelled poetry."
Mr. GILL.--"The tone of them met with your critical approval?"
WITNESS.--"It was not for me to approve or disapprove. I leave that to the Reviews."
Mr. GILL.--"At the trial Queensberry and Wilde you described them as 'beautiful poems'?"
WITNESS.--"I said something tantamount to that. The verses were original in theme and construction, and I admired them."
Mr. GILL.--"In one of the sonnets by Lord A. Douglas a peculiar use is made of the word 'shame'?"
WITNESS.--"I have noticed the line you refer to."
Mr. GILL.--"What significance would you attach to the use of that word in connection with the idea of the poem?"
WITNESS.--"I can hardly take it upon myself to explain the thoughts of another man."
Mr. GILL.--"You were remarkably friendly with the author? Perhaps he vouchsafed you an explanation?"
WITNESS.--"Lord Alfred explained that the word 'shame' was used in the sense of modesty, _i. e._ to feel shame or not to feel shame."
Mr. GILL.--"You can, perhaps, understand that such verses as these would not be acceptable to the reader with an ordinarily balanced mind?"
WITNESS.--"I am not prepared to say. It appears to me to be a question of taste, temperament and individuality. I should say that one man's poetry is another man's poison!" (Loud laughter.)
Mr. GILL.--"I daresay! There is another sonnet. What construction can be put on the line, 'I am the love that dare not speak its name'?"
WITNESS.--"I think the writer's meaning is quite unambiguous. The love he alluded to was that between an elder and younger man, as between David and Jonathan; such love as Plato made the basis of his philosophy; such as was sung in the sonnets of Shakespeare and Michael Angelo; that deep spiritual affection that was as pure as it was perfect. It pervaded great works of art like those of Michael Angelo and Shakespeare. Such as 'passeth the love of woman.' It was beautiful, it was pure, it was noble, it was intellectual--this love of an elder man with his experience of life, and the younger with all the joy and hope of life before him."