Arthur Davison Ficke
Encyclopedia
Arthur Davison Ficke was an American poet and lawyer known for several books of poetry, including Sonnets of a Portrait-Painter and for his involvement in the literary hoax of Spectrism (under the pen name
of "Anne Knish"). He is also known for his relationship with Edna St. Vincent Millay
.
Ficke was influenced by Japanese artistic traditions in his work, which he had been familiar with since childhood; his father, an art dealer, imported Japanese art in the last decade of the 19th century, when it was extremely popular. He wrote a book on Japanese art, Chats on Japanese Prints, published in 1915.
Ficke is often considered a fairly conservative poet, sticking to traditional styles and forms during the time when modernism
was dominating the world of literature and writers were using a whirlwind of experimental types of poetry. Ficke was displeased by what he saw as the inaesthetic nature of these experiments, which was the main motivation for the Spectrist hoax, intended as a send-up of these poets. Much of his early work was in traditional meter and rhyme scheme; "Sonnets of a Portrait-Painter" is an example. After the publication of Spectra
, he did experiment in other forms; "Christ in the Desert" was his first more modernistic work, without traditional meter or rhyme scheme.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of "Anne Knish"). He is also known for his relationship with Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
.
Ficke was influenced by Japanese artistic traditions in his work, which he had been familiar with since childhood; his father, an art dealer, imported Japanese art in the last decade of the 19th century, when it was extremely popular. He wrote a book on Japanese art, Chats on Japanese Prints, published in 1915.
Ficke is often considered a fairly conservative poet, sticking to traditional styles and forms during the time when modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
was dominating the world of literature and writers were using a whirlwind of experimental types of poetry. Ficke was displeased by what he saw as the inaesthetic nature of these experiments, which was the main motivation for the Spectrist hoax, intended as a send-up of these poets. Much of his early work was in traditional meter and rhyme scheme; "Sonnets of a Portrait-Painter" is an example. After the publication of Spectra
Spectra (book)
Spectra: A Book of Poetic Experiments was a small volume of poetry published in 1916 by American writers Witter Bynner, who wrote under the pseudonym "Emanuel Morgan", and Arthur Davison Ficke, who wrote as "Anne Knish." The book was intended as satire directed at the Imagism poetry...
, he did experiment in other forms; "Christ in the Desert" was his first more modernistic work, without traditional meter or rhyme scheme.