Ernest+Dowson

__**Early Life/ Upbringing**__ As stated in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Ernest Dowson was born August 2nd 1867 in Lee, Kent, England to Alfred Christopher Dowson (1843-1894) and Annie Calmers Swan (1848/9-1895). Ernest Dowson’s Childhood is somewhat shrouded in mystery. This is due to Dowson’s lack of “communicativeness concerning youth [which] ex tended almost to an aversion,” (Swann, p. 7) as stated by his schoolmates at Queens College. Ernest had a tumultuous upbringing, his family subject to a poor lot in life that began with his parents and extended throughout the entirety of Dowson’s lifetime. When Dowson was born, his parents were quite young, his mother only twenty years old (his father much her senior) (Longaker, p.2) and as stated on page one of Longaker’s book,the Dowson's were “already subject to temperamental instability and an inherited disposition to consumption," Which hindered their parenting skills in many respects. After a difficult upbringing Dowson attended Queens College for a brief period (ODNB) however he never finished a degree there. After this period in his life he worked on the docks that his father had owned, however he was never truly invested in it.

__**Adelaide Foltinowicz**__ As stated in Thomas B. Swann’s book, “Ernest Dowson,” Dowson saw something that others didn’t (p. 33 Swann) in the young Adelaide, her appearance being depicted as simple and extremely ordinary. However, Dowson was smitten with her from their first encounter in 1891 (Longaker) and was infatuated with her for the rest of his lifetime. Dowson met Adelaide when she was only 12 years old, when she was working at her father’s restaurant (ODNB) and was instantly drawn to the young girl. Despite being twice her age, he courted her for 6 years (p. 32, Swann). During the Victorian Era it was very common for men to be infatuated with young girls (Swann, p.36) so Dowson’s pedophilic behavior was not only normalized but was also a popular practice. Child love was common amongst many men in this period, young girls being a part of a strange cult (p. 36, Swann) in the 1880’s. It is not surprising that Dowson would have an obsession with young Adelaide, for a few reasons. Primarily she was a part of a fad that was hugely influential during Ernest Dowson’s lifetime. Secondly his tumultuous upbringing and misfortune would inevitably lead him to his obsession with the untarnished purity embodied in young girls, specifically in Adelaide Foltinowicz.

__**Poetry**__ Ernest Dowson’s poetry would go on to be heavily and unabashedly influenced his love for Adelaide and permeated the tone and material of all of his works from then on. When Dowson published his volume of poems he dedicated them to Adelaide (Swann, p.32) despite her constant rebuking of his advances. Ernest was considered a Decadent, which was similar to Aestheticism, and “his art [had an] air of decay and finality and [a] morbid concern with death,” (Swann, p.17) that was common for the era. Despite his unfruitful attempts to woo Adelaide, some good did come from his obsession with her. In 1891, his most famous work “Cynara” was published; In that same year, Dowson would become involved with the literary group, The Rhymers Club (ODNB), in which he would be a crucial member. The Rhymers Club was a group of men who would meet at the Cheshire Cheese where as described on page 26 of Thomas Swann’s book, these men would drink and compare notes and give comments on their lives and works, (p.26). This group included literary names such as Richard La Gallienne, Lionel Pigot Johnson, Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde. Some of the authors that most inspired Dowson were Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Charles De Quincy, Charles Baudelaire, and Algernon Swinburne, who was his favorite (p. 27, Swann) and most influencing idol.

__**Later Life/Death**__ In 1894, Dowson’s father Alfred died of an overdose of sleeping draught which could have been intentional, and his mother committed suicide by hanging four months later (ONB) leaving Ernest alone for his brother had left to Canada. In the same year, as stated by Thomas Swann, Dowson contracted tuberculosis (Swann, p.16) which was the same disease the afflicted his parents. With his life on a quick decline, it was only a matter of time before Ernest Dowson was to go off the deep end and do irreparable damage to his life that would lead to his early demise. In 1897 Dowson learned that Adelaide was to marry her fathers waiter, which crushed Dowson (Swann, p.33) leading him closer to his death. In the late 1890’s Dowson became increasingly interested in “fine clothes, Kensington Square salons, and [had] relatively lavish expenditures for cabs, girls, and absinthe,” (Longaker, p.146,) which was due to his minor success. It is not clear what was paying for this lifestyle, but it could not have been a lot from his father or his royalties, (Longaker, p.139) yet his new lifestyle persisted. Also during this time Dowson was involved with a young girl by the name of Missie who was a teenager at this time, Dowson wished to preserve her innocence forever (Longaker, p.154). This acquaintance caused many rumors and speculations about Dowson’s mental health (Longaker, p.154) but was apparently untrue. Now with the heavy self-indulgence, drink, depression caused by the failure of his family’s dry dock business and the death of his parents and the eventual fall out with Missie (which Dowson saw as a betrayal) and the tuberculosis that Dowson had been living with since 1894 (ODNB) he was severely weakened. Now unmarried and alone, Dowson died in Paris in writer Robert Harborough Sherard’s home in 1900 (ODNB) at the age of 33. He was “buried on 27 February in Ladywell cemetery, Lewisham, London” (ODNB) his tumultuous life coming to an unpleasant end.

__**Works Cited:**__

Longaker, Mark. Ernest Dowson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1945. Print.

Richards, Bernard. ‘Dowson, Ernest Christopher (1867–1900)’, //Oxford Dictionary of National Biography//, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007, accessed 5 Feb 2015

Swann, Thomas, B. Ernest Dowson. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc. 1964. Print.