Ernest Christopher Dowson

Born on 2 August 1867 in Lee, Kent, Ernest Dowson became one of the best-known writers of the English 1890s Decadent circle. He studied at The Queen's College, Oxford, but left without taking a degree, later working in his family's dry-docking business while writing poetry, fiction, and criticism. He was also part of the Rhymers' Club, alongside other literary figures of the period.

Dowson's writing is admired for its elegance, longing, and sense of faded beauty. He is especially associated with the fin-de-siècle mood, and poems such as Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae helped make him famous. His work is also remembered for giving English some striking phrases that outlived him, including "days of wine and roses" and "gone with the wind."

His life was marked by personal hardship, including the deaths of both parents in the 1890s, and his health declined badly in his early thirties. He died in London on 23 February 1900, aged just 32. Even so, his poetry and prose continue to draw readers for their haunting music, emotional honesty, and unmistakable atmosphere.