Recent from talks
Ernest Dowson
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Ernest Dowson
Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 1867 – 23 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Despite his short lifespan, he made a lasting impression on the literature of the English fin-de-siecle through his Decadent poetry.
After Dowson's death, his collected poetry was published in an edition illustrated by the artist Aubrey Beardsley, with an introduction by the poet Arthur Symons.
Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle was Alfred Domett, a Prime Minister of New Zealand. Dowson attended The Queen's College, Oxford, but left in March 1888 without obtaining a degree. In November 1888, Dowson started work at Dowson & Son, his father's dry-docking business in Limehouse, East London. He led an active social life, carousing with medical students and law pupils, visiting music halls, and taking the performers to dinner. In 1891, Dowson converted to Roman Catholicism, and in 1893 he proposed to Adelaide Foltinowicz, the daughter of a Polish restaurant-owner. She rejected his proposal and later married a tailor.
Dowson was a member of the Rhymers' Club, and a contributor to literary magazines such as The Yellow Book and The Savoy. In October 1892, he was commissioned by William Theodore Peters to write a rhyming playlet that would ultimately become The Pierrot of the Minute (1897). He collaborated with Arthur Moore on two unsuccessful novels, worked on a novel of his own, Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for The Critic. Later in his career Dowson became a translator of French fiction, including novels by Balzac and the Goncourt brothers, and Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos.
In August 1894 Dowson's father, suffering from tuberculosis, died of an overdose of Chlorodyne. In February 1895 his mother, who also had tuberculosis, hanged herself. Soon after her death Dowson's health began to decline rapidly. Leonard Smithers gave Dowson an allowance to live in France and make translations for him. However, in 1897 Dowson returned to London to live with the Foltinowicz family. In 1899 Robert Sherard found Dowson almost penniless in a wine bar. Sherard took him to his cottage in Catford, where Dowson spent his last six weeks. On 23 February 1900, Dowson died in Catford at the age of 32. He was interred in Lewisham Cemetery later renamed Ladywell Cemetery of the present twinned cemeteries of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries in London.
Dowson is best remembered for three phrases from his poems:
J. P. Miller called a television play Days of Wine and Roses (1958) and the film of the same title was based on the play. The phrase also inspired the song "Days of Wine and Roses".
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
Hub AI
Ernest Dowson AI simulator
(@Ernest Dowson_simulator)
Ernest Dowson
Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 1867 – 23 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Despite his short lifespan, he made a lasting impression on the literature of the English fin-de-siecle through his Decadent poetry.
After Dowson's death, his collected poetry was published in an edition illustrated by the artist Aubrey Beardsley, with an introduction by the poet Arthur Symons.
Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle was Alfred Domett, a Prime Minister of New Zealand. Dowson attended The Queen's College, Oxford, but left in March 1888 without obtaining a degree. In November 1888, Dowson started work at Dowson & Son, his father's dry-docking business in Limehouse, East London. He led an active social life, carousing with medical students and law pupils, visiting music halls, and taking the performers to dinner. In 1891, Dowson converted to Roman Catholicism, and in 1893 he proposed to Adelaide Foltinowicz, the daughter of a Polish restaurant-owner. She rejected his proposal and later married a tailor.
Dowson was a member of the Rhymers' Club, and a contributor to literary magazines such as The Yellow Book and The Savoy. In October 1892, he was commissioned by William Theodore Peters to write a rhyming playlet that would ultimately become The Pierrot of the Minute (1897). He collaborated with Arthur Moore on two unsuccessful novels, worked on a novel of his own, Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for The Critic. Later in his career Dowson became a translator of French fiction, including novels by Balzac and the Goncourt brothers, and Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos.
In August 1894 Dowson's father, suffering from tuberculosis, died of an overdose of Chlorodyne. In February 1895 his mother, who also had tuberculosis, hanged herself. Soon after her death Dowson's health began to decline rapidly. Leonard Smithers gave Dowson an allowance to live in France and make translations for him. However, in 1897 Dowson returned to London to live with the Foltinowicz family. In 1899 Robert Sherard found Dowson almost penniless in a wine bar. Sherard took him to his cottage in Catford, where Dowson spent his last six weeks. On 23 February 1900, Dowson died in Catford at the age of 32. He was interred in Lewisham Cemetery later renamed Ladywell Cemetery of the present twinned cemeteries of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries in London.
Dowson is best remembered for three phrases from his poems:
J. P. Miller called a television play Days of Wine and Roses (1958) and the film of the same title was based on the play. The phrase also inspired the song "Days of Wine and Roses".
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
Recent media