Ernest Dowson

A Comedy of Masks (Esprios Classics) Ernest Dowson

Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 1867 - 23 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, short-story writer, often associated with the Decadent movement. Dowson collaborated on two unsuccessful novels with Arthur Moore, worked on a novel of his own, Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for The Critic. Later in his career, Dowson was a prolific translator of French fiction, including novels by Balzac and the Goncourt brothers, and Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. In 1889, aged 23, Dowson became infatuated with the 11 year old Adelaide "Missie" Foltinowicz, daughter of a Polish restaurant owner; in 1893 he unsuccessfully proposed to her. To Dowson's despair, Adelaide was eventually to marry a tailor.