Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

Ernest DowsonErnest Dowson

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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 a while, then closes
    Within a dream.
[The title translates, from the Latin, as
'The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long'
and is from a work by Horace]
Ernest Dowson
About the poet

Ernest Dowson

1867 - 1900/EnglishErnest Christopher Dowson (2 August 1867-23 February 1900), English poet, born at Lee south-east of London. He died in London. He was a member of the Rhymer's Club, which included W. B. Yeats and Lionel Johnson. In 1891 Dowson fell in love…

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