Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Decadence

Read "Decadence" at The Eldritch Dark:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/119/decadence

Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) seemed to be quite attracted to the notion of the world-weary artist, and that particular topical vein is at the heart of this poem.  The closing lines are worth repeating:


How wearily, how humbly shall you crave
From the low Earth an everlasting grave,
And from the dust its ancient anodyne!


What else can the world-weary artist do but long for the sweet oblivion of death?  It may be something of a cliché, but few writers have tackled it with the same eloquence that CAS brought to the task.

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