Selected Poems

James Elroy Flecker was a notable linguist, scholar, critic, poet, and diplomat who, like his contemporaries Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke, succumbed to the toll of the First World War; while Owen and Brooke died in battle, Flecker passed away in a Swiss sanatorium in 1915 due to a respiratory illness. His poetry, known for its brevity, rarely exceeds 1200 words, reflecting his preference for concise expression over grand epics. Regularly revising his work, Flecker achieved a distinct simplicity and directness that sets his verse apart.