Ernest Dowson kept in a drawer a booklet of poems written in his youth, which was published posthumously under the title Poésie Schublade (‘drawer poetry’ in a mix of French and German). These poems are not widely available on the web. However, they shine with freshness and evoke nostalgia for childhood, two qualities partially lost in the more polished verse of his maturity. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Farewell to a beloved child, whose sweet memory will live forever in the poet’s heart. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
A gentle poem dedicated to a dead young girl. The poet covers her with various flowers, then gives her a last kiss. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
At the point of death, holding a child’s hand, watching her beautiful face, and listening to her footsteps is the poet’s last consolation. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
A charming poem about the love of a child. To admire her blue eyes is the poet’s bliss, to take her hands is the desire of his heart, and, as he repeats three times, her kiss will heal his pains. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
I present now the last of the 8 “Sonnets of a Little Girl.” This 8th one is not about childhood, there is no little girl in it; it rather tells about disappointment and death. A modified version of it, with the title “Epilogue,” appeared in The Savoy, No. 7, November 1896, page 87. With the title “A Last Word,” it was included as the last poem in verse in Dowson’s final collection Decorations: in Verse and Prose, published in December 1899, two months before his death. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The poet wants to creep into a cavern, fall asleep and die; he feels unworthy of the child’s love, and asks for her forgiveness. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The poet bids farewell to the child whose smile was the sweetest thing in his life, and she will remain his dearest memory. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
This beautiful poem, probably written in 1885, is the most fitting epitaph for this poet, who died too soon. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Of the 8 Sonnets of a Little Girl, only two were published in Dowson’s lifetime: a modified version of the 8th, and this one, the 4th, in its original version. It appeared with the title “Sonnet to a little Girl” in London Society, volume 50, November 1886, over the initials E.C.D. Notice that while the title is dedicated to “a little girl,” in the first sentence of the poem he writes about the child “his” and “him.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
