Aesthetes and Decadents of the 1890s

The Aesthetic and Decadent Movement of the late 19th century spawned the idea of "Art for Art's Sake," challenged aesthetic standards and shocked the bourgeosie. From Walter Pater's study, "The Renaissance to Salome, the truly decadent collaboration between Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley, Karl Beckson has chosen a full spectrum of works that chronicle the British artistic achievement of the 1890s. In this revised edition of a classic anthology, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" has been included in its entirety; the bibliography has been completely updated; Professor Beckson's notes and commentary have been expanded from the first edition published in 1966. The so-called Decadent or Aesthetic period remains one of the most interesting in the history of the arts. The poetry and prose of such writers as Yeats, Wilde, Symons, Johnson, Dowson, Barlas, Pater and others are included in this collection, along with sixteen of Aubrey Beardsley's drawings.

CONTENTS

John Barlas - Oblivion / The Memphian Temple / The Dancing Girl / Beauty's Anadems / The Cat Lady / Terrible Love / My Lady's Bath

Aubrey Beardsley - The Ballad Of A Barber / The Story of Venus Tannhauser (with illustrations)

Max Beerbohm - A Defence of Cosmetics / A Letter To The Editor / Diminuendo

Olive Custance (Lady Alfred Douglas) - Peacocks (A Mood) / The Masquerade / Hyacinthus / The White Statue / Statues / Candle-Light

Lord Alfred Douglas - Apologia / Two Loves / Impression De Nuit / Rejected / Ode To My Soul / The Dead Poet

Ernest Dowson - Nuns Of The Perpetual Adoration / Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae / O Mors! Quam Amara Est Memoria... / Villanelle Of Sunset / Extreme Unction / Exile / Benedictio Domini / Spleen

Michael Field - From Baudelaire / The Poet / A Dance Of Death / La Gioconda / A Dying Viper

John Gray - On A Picture / Poem / A Crucifix / Parsifal Imitated From The French Of Paul Verlaine / Femmes Damnees / The Barber / Le Voyage a Cythere / Mishka

Lionel Johnson - The Cultured Faun / The Church Of A Dream / Mystic And Cavalier / To A Passionist / In Honorem Doriani Creatorisque Eius / The Destroyer Of A Soul / The Dark Angel / Nihilism / A Decadent's Lyric

Richard Le Gallienne - To The Reader / The Decadent To His Soul / Beauty Accurst / Sunset In The City / A Ballad Of London / The Boom In Yellow

Arthur Symons - The Decadent Movement In Literature / Emmy / Maquillage / Morbidezza / Prologue: Before The Curtain / Prologue: In The Stalls / To A Dancer / La Melinite: Moulin Rouge / Javanese Dancers / By The Pool At The Third Rosses / Hallucination: I / Violet: Prelude / From Stephane Mallarme: Herodiade / Being A Word On Behalf Of Patchouli / Preface To The Secons Edition Of London Nights

Oscar Wilde - The Decay Of Lying: An Observation / Salome / Phrases And Philosophies For The Use Of The Young / Symphony In Yellow / The Harlot's House / Impression Du Matin / Helas / The Ballad Of Reading Gaol

Theodore Wratislaw - Opoponax / Satiety / Frangipani / Palm Sunday / Orchids / White Lilies / Sonnet Macabre / Hothouse Flowers

William Butler Yeats - The Lake Isle Of Innisfree / The White Birds / Rosa Mundi / To The Rose Upon The Rood Of Time / O'Sullivan Rua To Mary Lavell / The Secret Rose / The Song Of Wandering Aengus / Aedh Wishes For The Clothes Of Heaven

APPENDIX

Walter Pater - from Studies In The History Of The Rennaisance

Joris-Karl Huysmans - from AGAINST THE GRAIN

Robert Smythe Hichens - from THE GREEN CARNATION

Mostyn Piggot - The Second Coming Of Arthur (A Satire Of The Yellow Book)

from Silverpoints