Ernest Dowson (1867-1900) was born in Kent in England, educated at Oxford though he left without taking a degree. He joined the Rhymer's club and contributed poems to The Yellow Book and The Savoy. In 1891 he met Adelaide Foltinowicz, a restaurateur's daughter, then aged 12 and she became a symbol of love and innocence for some of his verse. He nicknamed her Cynara (LINK) and he courted her for 2 years. When she came of age she married a waiter who worked in her father's restaurant. His parents committed suicide within a few months of each other in 1895 and afterwards he wandered aimlessly between England, France and Ireland. He was a friend of W B Yeats, who described him as 'timid, silent and a little melancholy'. He died an alcoholic, of tuberculosis, in 1900 at the age of 33.

In the movie of the same name, Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is a rising young public relations executive when he meets Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), a pretty secretary, at a business party. Joe and Kirsten are both ambitious, and they are on the road to success when they fall in love and marry. Soon after, however, Joe coaxes Kirsten to begin drinking with him on a regular basis. Eventually, they are both dependent on alcohol. Their marriage deteriorates, and their lives spiral into disaster, as a result. The song was composed for the movie and Lee Remick who had a voice “range” of less than one octave.

see: Margaret Mitchell’s novel and the film Gone With the Wind