Poetry Flashcards
Who is ‘Non sum Qualis’ addressed to?
Adelaide Foltinowicz. She was a younger girl with whom Dowson fell in love with. She was far younger than him. Decadence literature often contained perversion in love, this is definitely an example.
Which two journals did Dowson occasionally write for?
THe Yellow book and The Savoy. They were both journals associated with the aesthetic and decadent movement, frowned upon for their scandalous topics and attitudes.
How was decadence perceived by the public?
It was ridiculed and satirised, one of the most famous images is a caricature of Oscar Wilde pictured as Narcissus holding a sunflower. Decadent writers were seen as vane and egoistic.
What were the attitudes towards love during the decadent movement?
They promoted experimentation- both sexually as well as artistically and politically.
Pure pursuit of beauty.
Attitude of ‘ennui’ - Fin de siecle.
Perversion in love.
Writers were often filled with self loathing.
Why would Dowson pay homage to Horace in his poem?
The title, from Horace’s Odes, Book 4, 1, translates as “I am not as I was in the reign of good Cinara.” In Horace’s poem, the speaker implores Venus to wage no further erotic wars on him. He is advanced in years, he says, and she should bother some younger man, better endowed for love. But there is a fascinating turn at the end, when the speaker declares, in tears, the presence of a new and unattainable erotic attraction, a young man called Ligurinus.
What is the meter of Non Sum Qualis?
Alexandrine- French 12 line. Very lyrical.
