James Elroy Flecker

Reproduction of the original: The King of Alsander by James Elroy Flecker

The Last Generation By James Elroy Flecker

James Elroy Flecker (5 November 1884 - 3 January 1915) was a British, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.Born on 5 November 1884 in Lewisham, London, and baptised Herman Elroy Flecker, Flecker later chose to use the first name "James", either because he disliked the name "Herman" or to avoid confusion with his father. "Roy", as his family called him, was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, where his father was the headmaster, and later at Uppingham School. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. While at Oxford he was greatly influenced by the last flowering of the Aesthetic movement there under John Addington Symonds, and became a close friend of the classicist and art historian John Beazley

James Elroy Flecker was an English poet of the early 20th century - this anthology contains his earliest works together with his most celebrated verses, prefaced by a biography.A comprehensive collection of the poet's works, this anthology arranges the works in roughly chronological order. The reader can observe how Flecker developed from his first, juvenile poetry, when he was heavily inspired by earlier writers of the Parnassian school. As the years pass the reader can behold how his talent gradually blossomed into a distinctive style. The most memorable of the poems are steeped in exoticism and an affinity for the ancient majesty of the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa.Tragically, Flecker contracted tuberculosis and died in 1915 at the age of thirty. He wrote many of his most fondly remembered poems in his final years, with contemporaries lamenting that he was still in his artistic ascendency as his life was cut tragically short. His legacy is considerable; many later authors and artists have quoted his poems for their emotional gravitas and evocations of beauty, nature, and the majestic wonders of yore.