He was a member of the Rhymer's Club, which included W. B. Yeats and Lionel Johnson. In 1891 Dowson fell in love with the 12-year-old daughter of a Polish restaurant owner. Dowson died of alcoholism in 1900 at the early age of 33.
His best-known poem is Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae.
Madder Music, Stronger Wine by Jad Adams (I.B. Tauris).Biography