Spectra (poetry collection)

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."

[1] Spectra was preceded by a brief manifesto outlining the Spectric method as a school: The poems in the collection were identified by opus numbers rather than titles, and mostly take on a silly tone.

The authors assumed the ridiculousness of the work would shine through, but it was actually accepted as a legitimate poetic movement for two years.

[3] Both Bynner and Ficke were accomplished poets of their time, but the Spectra poems are probably the most widely remembered of their work.

Nonetheless, Ficke stated that he learned a good deal about composition while writing as Knish, adding that it actually influenced his later work.