T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae
By Ernest Dowson (1867–1900)(From Poems, 1905) LAST night, ah, yesternight, betwixt her lips and mine | |
| There fell thy shadow, Cynara! thy breath was shed | |
| Upon my soul between the kisses and the wine; | |
| And I was desolate and sick of an old passion, | |
| Yea, I was desolate and bowed my head: | 5 |
| I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion. | |
| All night upon mine heart I felt her warm heart beat, | |
| Night-long within mine arms in love and sleep she lay; | |
| Surely the kisses of her bought red mouth were sweet; | |
| But I was desolate and sick of an old passion, | 10 |
| When I awoke and found the dawn was gray: | |
| I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion. | |
| I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind, | |
| Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng, | |
| Dancing, to put thy pale, lost lilies out of mind; | 15 |
| But I was desolate and sick of an old passion, | |
| Yea, all the time, because the dance was long: | |
| I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion. | |
| I cried for madder music and for stronger wine, | |
| But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire, | 20 |
| Then falls thy shadow, Cynara! the night is thine; | |
| And I am desolate and sick of an old passion, | |
| Yea, hungry for the lips of my desire: | |
| I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion. | |