Arthur Symons, ‘Aubrey Beardsley: A Memorial Poem’

Abstract

Beardsley was born on 21 August 1872 and died in Menton, France, on 16 March 1898, and so he was almost exactly twenty-five and a half years old at his death. This poem by Arthur Symons is a memorial work that laments the young artist’s passing and in the process questions the actions of a joyless God who ‘should crush him and not another!’