To One in Bedlam

Ernest Christopher Dowson 1867 – 1900

With delicate, mad hands, behind his sordid bars,
Surely he hath his posies, which they tear and twine;
Those scentless wisps of straw, that miserably line
His strait, caged universe, whereat the dull world stares,

Pedant and pitiful. O, how his rapt gaze wars
With their stupidity! Know they what dreams divine
Lift his long, laughing reveries like enchanted wine,
And make his melancholy germane to the stars'?

O lamentable brother! if those pity thee,
Am I not fain of all thy lone eyes promise me;
Half a fool's kingdom, far from men who sow and reap,
All their days, vanity? Better than mortal flowers,
Thy moon-kissed roses seem: better than love or sleep,
The star-crowned solitude of thine oblivious hours!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 06, 2023

: 37 sec read
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Quick analysis:

Scheme	ABBX XBBA CCDEDE
Closest metre	Iambic hexameter
Characters	709
Words	123
Stanzas	3
Stanza Lengths	4, 4, 6

Full analysis for To One in Bedlam »

Ernest Christopher Dowson

Ernest Christopher Dowson was born in 1867 at Lea in Kent England he was an English poet novelist and writer of short stories associated with the Decadent movement Most of his life was spent in France more…

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ProseGirl
Oops - Ernest was only 8 or 9 in 1875.
LikeReply1 year ago
ProseGirl
I learned of this poem in a short story by James Tiptree Jr titled With Delicate Mad Hands. Late in the story the main character reads the poem and there is a note immediately afterwards (I'm listening to the audiobook) "To One in Bedlam by Ernest Dowson copyright 1875 as all sf readers should know." What a beautiful poem! But Dowson would have been 12 years old in 1875! And why should this be known by all readers of science fiction? Maybe because we all need to read all of Tiptree's stories? : ) For those who don't know, James was actually Alice. I think she and Ernest would have been such friends. more »
LikeReply1 year ago

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