non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno cynarae

Question 1

essence of the poem

Answer 1

A poem of hopeless longing, the languishing speaker laments that, no matter how hard he tries to distract himself with sex and partying, thoughts of his former lover, Cynara, always intrude on his fun.

Question 2

Ernest Dowson

Answer 2

• an English poet associated with the Decadent Movement
• a member of the Rhymers Club and a contributor to literary magazines such as The Yellow Book and The Savoy
• led a tragic life led by poverty and both parents committing suicide
  -Ironically, he wrote a lot about passion and love but never seemed to have a reciprocal partner himself
  -the poem is addressed to an 11 year old girl ‘Adelaide’ whom he became infatuated with

Question 3

What is the Decadent movement?

Answer 3

-born from romanticism
- often used elaborate stylized language to discuss taboo and often unsavoury topics like death, depression and deviant sexualities
- it horrified Victorians who generally believed literature should promote ethics and morality

Question 4

Themes

Answer 4

Memory, obsession, longing

Question 5

Rhyme Scheme

Answer 5

ABACBC

Question 6

Metre

Answer 6

metrical rhythm is irregular, unpredictable like the ghostly visitations

Question 7

What does the title translate to? Where was it taken from?
What does it mean?

Answer 7

‘I am not as I was under the reign of the good Cynara’
It was taken from the Latin poem written by Horace.
In Horace’s poem, the speaker implores Venus not to continue erotic wars on him. He says he is too old for her, she should be with someone younger.
The title implies that he is past his prime.

Question 8

‘Last night’ ‘Yesternight’

Answer 8

intensity of time and actions happening

Question 9

‘There fell thy shadow, Cynara!’

Answer 9

-Metaphor, connotations of darkness and the unconscious mind
- Exclamation mark = obsessive

Question 10

‘Upon my soul between the kisses and the wine’

Answer 10

memory infiltrates everything

Question 11

‘And I was desolate and sick of an old passion, Yea, I was desolate and bowed my head’

Answer 11

-Epimone
-Bowing head suggests he acknowledges the shame and guilt
-Bowing heads is also suggestive of prayer and religion
-Monosyllabic words capture the doom and dread of his infidelity
- Repetition of ‘desolate’ = grave loneliness in the speaker

Question 12

‘I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.’

Answer 12

Disjointed thinking - speaker claims to have been ‘faithful’ by thinking of her in the moments of passion with another lover.

Question 13

‘Surely the kisses of her bought red mouth were sweet’

Answer 13

• Reduction through synecdoche of woman to her mouth is dehumanising
• ‘bought’ - a prostitute, has paid to emulate the pleasure he wishes he has with his old lover

Question 14

‘found the dawn was grey’

Answer 14

-Pathetic fallacy, creates a depressing atmosphere, illustrates the clouded perception of the speaker in his miserable state
- contrasts expectations that dawn is bright
- lack of hope

Question 15

Rhyme in stanza 2

Answer 15

Rhyme is satisfying and in this moment of love-making, the speaker is satisfied

Question 16

‘gone with the wind’

Answer 16

references his unpredictable behaviour

Question 17

‘Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng’

Answer 17

Alliteration of ‘r’ sound is passionate but frustrated and a bit aggressive, impassioned frenzy

Question 18

‘lost lillies out of mind’

Answer 18

-Alliteration here is calmer and speaker of loss and grief
- lilies are a symbol of death, mourns relationship

Question 19

‘I cried for madder music and for stronger wine’

Answer 19

Alliteration exacerbates the frustration in his voice as he tries to drown out Cynara with the sound of music

Question 20

‘And I am desolate and sick of an old passion’

Answer 20

Shift from ‘I was’ to ‘I am’

Question 21

Rhyme in stanza 4

Answer 21

The rhyme returns to a calmer state, echoing the way his emotions come in waves.