Ernest Dowson

Sourced

• I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.
  • "Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae" (1896)
  • The title, a quotation from Horace, means "I am not as I was under good Cynara's reign."

• I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind,
  Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng
  • "Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae"

• 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.
  • "Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetet Incohare Longam" (1896)
  • This title too is from Horace: "The short span of life forbids us to entertain long hopes."

• I understand that absinthe makes the tart grow fonder.
  • Letter to Arthur Moore (February 1899)

• O pray the earth enfold
  Our life-sick hearts and turn them into dust.
  • A Last Word (1899)