Synopses & Reviews
A definitive collection of poems that express the languid eroticism and aesthetic rebellion of the late Victorian age
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, formerly straight-laced English verse began loosening its stays. The English decadents submerged themselves in the pleasures of artifice and turned a fascinated eye on the intertwining of decay and desire. Among the poets in this intoxicating collection are Oscar Wilde on tainted love and the torments of the human spirit, Arthur Symons on the stupor of absinthe, Rosamond Marriott Watson on disenchantment and memory, W. B. Yeats on waning passion and faded beauty, and Lord Alfred Douglas on shame and secret love. Decadent Poetry opens a window onto an exhilarating moment in English literature.
Synopsis
The poems collected in this volume are exquisite and languorous expressions of a spirit of self-indulgence, eroticism and moral rebelliousness that emerged in the late Victorian age. They deal with eternal themes of transition, artifice and, above all, the cruel ravages of time - often depicting flowers, with their heady, perfumed beauty, as the embodiment of decay and desire. Decadent Poetry brings together the works of many fascinating writers - Oscar Wilde on tainted love and the torments of the human spirit, Arthur Symons on an absinthe-induced stupor and the mysteries of the night, Rosamund Marriott Watson on disenchantment and memory, W. B. Yeats on waning passion and faded beauty, Ernest Dowson on lust and despair and Lord Alfred Douglas on shame and secret love, among many others of this exhilarating poetic movement.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
About the Author
Lisa Rodensky is assistant professor of English at Wellesley College and author of The Crime in Mind.