Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Mad Emperors: The Evolution of an Idea 1
2 Renegade Romantics: The Birth of Decadence 12
3 Genius and Madness: The Attractions of Decadence 21
4 Against Nature: Decadence à La Mode 31
5 Fin De Siècle: The Decadence of Decadence 43
6 The Yellow Nineties: Decadence in England 51
7 Influences: Decadence in Other Nations 66
8 Echoes: The Achievements of Decadence 79
A Sampler of French Decadent Texts
1 To the Reader Charles Baudelaire 84
2 The Glass of Blood Jean Lorrain 86
3 Languor Paul Verlaine 95
4 The Grape-Gatherers of Sodom Rachilde 96
5 After the Deluge Arthur Rimbaud 104
6 Danaette Remy de Gourmont 106
7 Lit Any to Satan Charles Baudelaire 111
8 The Black Nightgown Catulle Mendès 113
9 The Double Room Charles Baudelaire 121
10 The Possessed Jean Lorrain 124
11 Spleen Paul Verlaine 130
12 The Faun Remy de Gourmont 131
13 The Drunken Boat Arthur Rimbaud 136
14 The Panther Rachilde 140
15 Spleen Charles Baudelaire 147
16 Old Furniture Catulle Mendès 148
17 Don Juan in Hell Charles Baudelaire 154
18 Don Juan's Secret Remy de Gourmont 155
A Sampler of English Decadent Texts
1 Theoretikos Oscar Wilde 161
2 The Court of Venus Aubrey Beardsley 162
3 Satia De Sanguine Algernon Charles Swinburne 181
4 The Dying of Francis Donne Ernest Dowson 184
5 Baudelaire Eugene Lee-Hamilton 196
6 The Basilisk R. Murray Gilchrist 197
7 Magic Lionel Johnson 206
8 The Other Side Count Stanislaus Eric Stenbock 209
9 Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae Ernest Dowson 225
10 A Somewhat Surprising Chapter John Davidson 226
11 The Translator and the Children James Elroy Flecker 239
12 Pope Jacynth Vernon Lee 240
13 Insomnia John Davidson 249
14 The Nightingale and the Rose Oscar Wilde 250
15 Vinum Daemonum Lionel Johnson 258
16 Absinthia Taetra Ernest Dowson 259
17 The Ring of Faustus Eugene Lee-Hamilton 260
18 The Last Generation James Elroy Flecker 261
