Non Sum Qualis-Dowson

Question 1

What are the key structural features of Non Sum Qualis?

Answer 1

• Use of refrain and caesura “I was desolate and sick of an old passion” shows speaker’s perversity and infidelity “I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion”
• Alexandrine form (six iambic feet)
• enjambment-inability to contain his desire, impossibility of ever erasing the memory of Cynara

Question 2

What are the key language features of Non Sum Qualis?

Answer 2

• imagery of darkness
• imagery of sufering

Question 3

What quotes support the method of: imagery of darkness/ghostly imagery?

Answer 3

“betwixt her lips and mine there fell thy shadow, Cynara!”
“But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire, Then falls thy shadow, Cynara!, the night is thine” indulgent excess and guilt
“When I awoke and found the dawn was grey”

Question 4

What quotes support the method of: imagery of suffering?

Answer 4

“Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng”
“I cried for madder music and stronger wine”

Question 5

What literary era is Non Sum Qualis from?

Answer 5

Decadent
Victorian

Question 6

What is the key contextual information for Non Sum Qualis?

Answer 6

*‘Fin de siecle’ tone of frustration
* Aestheticism-art for art’s sake looking at external beauty instead of hidden meaning
* Decadent opennes to sexuality- still shameful and only reserved for marriage in Victoria era

Question 7

What are the key themes of Non Sum Qualis?

Answer 7

• Unrequited love
• Love and suffering
• The end/ legacy of love
• Infidelity