A Few Other Things Important to Cornelia Strong College

Poet Laureate:

James Elroy Flecker, English poet, was born in London on November 5, 1884. His death in 1915 at the age of thirty was “unquestionably the greatest premature loss that English literature has suffered since the death of Keats” (Macdonald, 1924). The eldest son of the Rev. W.H. Flecker, Headmaster of Dean Close School, Flecker attended Trinity College, Oxford, and also Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied oriental languages in preparation for a consular career. From 1910 to 1913 he held a series of minor consular posts in Constantinople, Smyrna, and Beirut, and these appointments reinforced his life-long love for the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Flecker’s health was not robust (he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1910 shortly after he entered the consular service) and he was forced to take frequent leaves of absence from his posts, sometimes to return to England and sometimes to visit sanatoria in Switzerland. He died in Davos, Switzerland, on January 3, 1915, and is buried in Cheltenham, England, at the foot of the Cotswold Hills. His grave is marked with a granite cross inscribed with the poet’s own words: “O Lord, restore his realm to the dreamer.”

"What is life without jam?"

James Elroy Flecker (1884-1915)

“Flecker had a splendor and breadth of vision unmatched among young English poets of his time” (Philadelphia North American). His writings include poetry, short stories, non-fiction prose, and two plays that were published posthumously. Though sometimes grouped chronologically with the Georgian poets, Flecker’s real literary affinity is with the French Parnassian school.

You can read some of his poetry by looking in the books displayed on the JCR fireplace, or look at this online quote page: http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/james_elroy_flecker/

Per Aspera Ad Astra

The Strong College Motto: "Through Adversity to the Stars," or "Through Rugged Ways to the Stars"

At the right is the Strong College Arms. Since the Middle Ages it has been customary for colleges to bear coats of arms, so an early order of business was the devising of a coat of arms for the new college. The arms of Strong College, designed by Dr. O'Hara and Dr. White, make use of two of the colors of the University and display three stars from Cornelia Strong as the University's first Professor of Astronomy. The colors are blue (for the shield) and gold (for the stars, which are displayed one over two). The crest is pinned to seniors in the College.

coming soon:

The Star Lounge

Star Parties

The Astrolabe