For a poet to depict a poet in poetry is a hazardous experiment; in regarding one's own trade a sense of humour and a little wholesome cynicism are not amiss.

His devotion to Goethe led to his succeeding Max Müller in 1888 as president of the English Goethe Society. In 1867 he was elected professor of oratory and English literature in Dublin University. E.

In 1900 he edited an edition of Shelley's works. His devotion to Goethe led to his succeeding Max Müller in 1888 as president of the English Goethe Society. Dowden's first book Shakespeare his Mind and Art (1875) resulted from a revision of a course of lectures and made him widely known as a critic: translations appeared in German and Russian; his Poems (1876) went into a second edition.