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.