• The Dowson is patterned after the poem They Are Not Long, the Weeping and the Laughing by English poet Ernest Dowson (1867-1900). It is this poem that coined the phrase, “the days of wine and roses.” Dowson died at the age of 32 a direct result of his alcoholism.
The Dowson is:
○ stanzaic, 2 quatrains.
○ metered, L1-L3 pentameter, L2 trimeter, L4 dimeter.
○ rhymed abab cdcd, L1-L3 of each stanza ends in feminine rhyme and L2-L4 is masculine rhyme.
They Are Not Long, The Weeping and the Laughing by Ernest Dowson
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for awhile, then closes
Within a dream.
Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=668>
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on the fine PMO resource.
*Note: Although is it not set forth above, I noticed that his poem has each line 2 beginning with a trochee, thus I formed my template below with that construct.
My example poem
Make Time Race (The Dowson)
Though time decays most everything it touches
we can and should have fun.
Though mountains crumble finally in time’s clutches,
We’re not yet done!
The wine and roses really matter, mister.
Life is, it seems, too short.
The thrill, the heat, the trembling when you kissed her.
Enjoy! Cavort!
© Larencealot – June 27, 2014
Visual template
