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{{Short description|Poetry volume by Witter Bynner and Arthur Davison Ficke}}
{{Essay|date=May 2009}}
{{italic title}}
{{Unreferenced|date=May 2009}}
]
⚫ '''''Spectra: A Book of Poetic Experiments''''' was a small volume of ] published in 1916 by ] writers ], who wrote under the ] "Emanuel Morgan", and ], who wrote as "Anne Knish."


⚫ '''''Spectra: A Book of Poetic Experiments''''' was a small volume of ] published in 1916 by ] writers ], who wrote under the ] "Emanuel Morgan", and ], who wrote as "Anne Knish." The book was intended as ] directed at the ] poetry movement.<ref>Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/witter-bynner</ref>
⚫ ''Spectra'' was preceded by a brief ] outlining the methods of "Spectrism" as a ]:

⚫ ''Spectra'' was preceded by a brief ] outlining the Spectric method as a ]:


*"In the first place, it speaks, to the mind of that process of diffraction by which are disarticulated the several colored and other rays of which light is composed. . . ." *"In the first place, it speaks, to the mind of that process of diffraction by which are disarticulated the several colored and other rays of which light is composed. . . ."
*"In its second sense, the term Spectric relates to the reflex vibrations of physical sight, and suggests the luminous appearance which is seen after the exposure of the eye to intense light, and, by analogy, the after-colors of the poets initial vision." *"In its second sense, the term Spectric relates to the reflex vibrations of physical sight, and suggests the luminous appearance which is seen after the exposure of the eye to intense light, and, by analogy, the after-colors of the poets initial vision."
*"In its third sense, Spectric connotes the overtones, adumbrations, or spectres which for the poet haunt all objects of both the seen and unseen world. . . " *"In its third sense, Spectric connotes the overtones, adumbrations, or spectres which for the poet haunt all objects of both the seen and unseen world. . . ."


The poems in the collection were identified by ]s rather than titles, and mostly take on a silly tone.<ref>Museum of Hoaxes. http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/spectric_poetry</ref>
With this vague program, the two poets adopted personas for their namesakes. The poems in the collection were not given titles, merely ]s. "Emanuel Morgan" was a rhyming ], full of ]n, ]ic blatherskite. From "Opus 6:"

From "Opus 6" by Emanuel Morgan:


:''If I were only dafter'' :''If I were only dafter''
Line 16: Line 20:
::''And the lacquer of your limbs.'' ::''And the lacquer of your limbs.''


Anne Knish's Opus 118:
"Anne Knish" was the archetypal ], full of ] '']'', sensual, enigmatic, and vaguely ]ous. In 1916, most ] were unfamiliar with Eastern European cooking and had never heard of ]es; the pseudonym was intended to be exotic and slightly ]. Here is Knish's Opus 118:


:''If bathing were a virtue, not a lust'' :''If bathing were a virtue, not a lust''
Line 29: Line 33:
:''But my memory of you escaped them.'' :''But my memory of you escaped them.''


''Spectra'' was intended solely as a joke. Initially, even the publisher was fooled by the book, but he was let in on the joke before going to press. The authors assumed the ridiculousness of the work would shine through, but it was actually accepted as a legitimate poetic movement for two years. In 1918, Bynner admitted in a public speech that he had co-authored the book and explained the hoax.<ref name=autogenerated1></ref>
''Spectra'' was meant to be the starting-point of a ] of exposure, after the manner of the ] or, more recently, the ]. Bynner and Ficke were old-school poets who had grown weary of the ''isms'' and free-form experiments such as ] that had displaced more traditional varieties of poetic practice. They meant the ''Spectra'' poems to mock the pretensions of these several schools, and tried to make them bad. The plan seemed to work; a number of ] writers, including ] and ], were entirely taken in by the hoax.


Both Bynner and Ficke were accomplished poets of their time, but the ''Spectra'' poems are probably the most widely remembered of their work.<ref></ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312145243/http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/arthur-davidson-ficke |date=2011-03-12 }}</ref> Both authors admitted to the hoax having backfired to a certain extent, as it overshadowed their more serious work. Nonetheless, Ficke stated that he learned a good deal about composition while writing as Knish, adding that it actually influenced his later work.<ref name=autogenerated1 />
By now, several flaws in the plan are apparent. First, the poems are not all that bad, and some, like Morgan's above, contain some fairly good lines. Both Bynner and Ficke realized after they had written the ''Spectra'' poems that in attempting to produce deliberately outrageous poetry, they had let their mental guard down, and produced some of their most interesting work. Much of their later verse in a more serious vein was influenced by their own experiments in ''Spectra''.


==References==
From the perspective of the present, the world has endured much worse in the way of poetic experiments during the ] in the twentieth century. The ''Spectra'' poems are probably the most widely remembered work of either Bynner or Ficke.
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==

* Smith, William Jay. ''The Spectra Hoax''. (Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT), 1961.


==External links== ==External links==
* complete text * complete text


] ]
] ]
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Latest revision as of 10:17, 29 June 2023

Poetry volume by Witter Bynner and Arthur Davison Ficke

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 movement.

Spectra was preceded by a brief manifesto outlining the Spectric method as a school:

  • "In the first place, it speaks, to the mind of that process of diffraction by which are disarticulated the several colored and other rays of which light is composed. . . ."
  • "In its second sense, the term Spectric relates to the reflex vibrations of physical sight, and suggests the luminous appearance which is seen after the exposure of the eye to intense light, and, by analogy, the after-colors of the poets initial vision."
  • "In its third sense, Spectric connotes the overtones, adumbrations, or spectres which for the poet haunt all objects of both the seen and unseen world. . . ."

The poems in the collection were identified by opus numbers rather than titles, and mostly take on a silly tone.

From "Opus 6" by Emanuel Morgan:

If I were only dafter
I might be making hymns
To the liquor of your laughter
And the lacquer of your limbs.

Anne Knish's Opus 118:

If bathing were a virtue, not a lust
I would be dirtiest.
To some, housecleaning is a holy rite.
For myself, houses would be empty
But for the golden motes dancing in sunbeams.
Tax-assessors frequently overlook valuables.
Today they noted my jade.
But my memory of you escaped them.

Spectra was intended solely as a joke. Initially, even the publisher was fooled by the book, but he was let in on the joke before going to press. The authors assumed the ridiculousness of the work would shine through, but it was actually accepted as a legitimate poetic movement for two years. In 1918, Bynner admitted in a public speech that he had co-authored the book and explained the hoax.

Both Bynner and Ficke were accomplished poets of their time, but the Spectra poems are probably the most widely remembered of their work. Both authors admitted to the hoax having backfired to a certain extent, as it overshadowed their more serious work. Nonetheless, Ficke stated that he learned a good deal about composition while writing as Knish, adding that it actually influenced his later work.

References

  1. Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/witter-bynner
  2. Museum of Hoaxes. http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/spectric_poetry
  3. ^ The Spectra Hoax | Primary Selections from Special Collections
  4. Witter Bynner : The Poetry Foundation
  5. Poetry Foundation Archived 2011-03-12 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

  • Smith, William Jay. The Spectra Hoax. (Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT), 1961.

External links

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