Personal Choice Volume 2 No.16

Envoy

Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,

     Love and desire and hate;

I think they have no portion in us after

                  We pass the gate.

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.

Ernest Dowson (1867-1900)

Epigraph: "The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long." (Horace)

Ernest Dowson (1867-1900). English poet. He attended Queens College, Oxford, but left in 1888 without taking a degree. Dowson's life was tragic. In 1894 his father died, and his mother committed suicide six months later. Dowson himself was consumptive, alcoholic, and debt-ridden. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 32. One of the fin-de-siècle decadents, Dowson wrote fragile, sensuous poetry voicing regret for the passing of youth and beauty, the denial of love, and the rejection of pleasure. His best-known poem is Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae, with its refrain, I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion. A Roman Catholic, Dowson wrote some very fine religious poetry. He also made some notable translations from the French and wrote a novel and a play.

Lovely, just lovely. Sadly beautfuly yet hopefuly sad.