Decadence Essay

So I have to write an essay on "To what extent are beauty and rot corresponded in English Decadent Verse" and I'm struggling.

It's strictly poetry and any info welcomed!

Thanks!

Hey! Yeah, you're spot on. I've got to use one or two that we examined in class, such as Theodore Wratislaw's 'Orchids' or 'White Lillies' or 'Sonnet Macarbe'. Other options are Ernest Dowson's 'Translation' or 'Libera Me' or 'A Last Word'. It's pretty open though... I'm just finding it hard. It seems as though rot is presented as a moral decay rather than a material/literal one.

Their ardent colours that betray the rank
Fierce hotbed of corruption whence they rose
Please eyes that long for stranger sweets than prank
Wild meadow-blooms and what the garden shows.

I think Orchids is a really good one to use! I liked this stanza:



It really touches on beauty being cultivated in order to cover and distract from immorality and corruption.

I was thinking more people when you first posted about this, but these ones about flowers are really interesting.