Aubrey Beardsley

(1872-1898)

Boney, hawk-beaked boy,
Beardsley was a toy
Of fickle Time s disdain:
Consumptive, blood-flecked pain.

Furiously he drew,
Knowing all was through
Too soon. His paling face
Foreshadowed Time s brief race.

Harlequins and whores,
Dwarves and marble floors
Are Beardsley s legacy.
Sublime perversity.
1984

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