Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 1867 – 23 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Despite his short lifespan, he made a lasting impression on the literature of the English fin-de-siècle through his Decadent poetry.
After Dowson's death, his collected poetry was published in an edition illustrated by the artist Aubrey Beardsley, with an introduction by the poet Arthur Symons.
Biography
Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle was Alfred Domett, a Prime Minister of New Zealand. Dowson attended The Queen's College, Oxford, but left in March 1888 without obtaining a degree.
In November 1888, Dowson started work at Dowson & Son, his father's dry-docking business in Limehouse, East London. He led an active social life, carousing with medical students and law pupils, visiting music halls, and taking the performers to dinner. In 1891, Dowson converted to Roman Catholicism, and in 1893 he proposed to Adelaide Foltinowicz, the daughter of a Polish restaurant-owner. She rejected his proposal and later married a tailor.
Dowson was a member of the Rhymers' Club, and a contributor to literary magazines such as The Yellow Book and The Savoy. In October 1892, he was commissioned by William Theodore Peters to write a rhyming playlet that would ultimately become The Pierrot of the Minute (1897). He collaborated with Arthur Moore on two unsuccessful novels, worked on a novel of his own, Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for The Critic. Later in his career Dowson became a translator of French fiction, including novels by Balzac and the Goncourt brothers, and Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos.
