Arthur Davison Ficke (1883–1945) was an American playwright, poet, and Japanese art expert. One of America’s most famous sonnet writers, he was widely regarded as a “poet’s poet” and influenced many other poets of his time. First published in 1916, he co-wrote “Spectra” under the pseudonym Anne Knish. Originally written as a farce of a type of then-famous experimental verse, the assortment of odd poetry surprisingly garnered a great deal of attention and ultimately overshadowed Ficke’s traditional prose writing. Contents include: “Opus 1 – Drums”, “Opus 2 – Hope”, “Opus 6 – If I Were Only Dafter”, “Opus 7 – A Bunch of Grapes”, “Opus 9 – Frogs’ Legs on a Plate”, “Opus 13 – O Peacock-Feather”, “Opus 14 – I Had to Put Out my Leaves”, “Opus 15 – Despair Comes”, “Opus 16 – The Guillotine”, etc. Other notable works by this author include: “From the Isles: A Series of Songs out of Greece” (1907), “The Happy Princess, and Other Poems” (1907), and “Mrs. Morton of Mexico” (1939). Ragged Hand – Read & Co is republishing this collection of classic poetry now in a new edition complete with the essay “Metrical Regularity” by H. P. Lovecraft.