thumb|john gould fletcher john gould fletcher (january 3, 1886 â may 10, 1950) was an imagist poet (the first southern poet to win the pulitzer prize), author and authority on modern painting.hughes, glenn, imagism and the imagists, stanford university press, new york 1931. he was born in little rock, arkansas to a socially prominent family. after attending phillips academy, andover fletcher went on to harvard university from 1903 to 1907, when he dropped out shortly after his father's death. ==background== fletcher lived in england for a large portion of his life. while in europe he associated with amy lowell, ezra pound, and other imagist poets; he was one of the six imagists who adopted the name and stuck to it until their aims were achieved. glenn hughes, imagism and the imagists, stanford university press, new york, 1931 fletcher resumed a liaison with florence emily âdaisyâ arbuthnot (nÃ©e goold) at her house in kent. she had been married to malcolm arbuthnot and fletcher's adultery with her was the grounds for the divorce. the couple married on july 5, 1916. the marriage produced no children, but arbuthnotâs son and daughter from her previous marriage lived with the couple, who later divorced. on january 18, 1936, fletcher married a noted author of children's books, charlie may simon. the two of them built "johnswood", a residence on the bluffs of the arkansas river outside little rock. they traveled frequently to new york for the intellectual stimulation, and to the american southwest for the climate, after fletcher developed chronic arthritis. fletcher suffered from depression, and on may 20, 1950, committed suicide by drowning himself in a pond near his home in little rock, arkansas. fletcher is buried at historic mount holly cemetery in little rock. a branch of the central arkansas library system is named in his honor. ==poetry== fletcher's early works include irradiations: sand and spray (1915), and goblins and pagodas (1916). amy lowell said of him, "no one is more absolute master of the rhythm of verse libre". lowell amy, tendencies of modern american poetry, macmillan, new york, 1917 fletcher invented the term 'polyphonic prose' to describe some poetic experiments of amy lowell, miss lowell's discovery: polyphonic prose poetry, chicago 1915 a form he experimented with in goblins & pagodas. imagist poetry, (ed. peter jones) penguin books ltd, london 1972 isbn 0-14-042147-5 in later poetic works fletcher returned to
1886_births 1950_deaths American_autobiographers American_poets Harvard_University_alumni Imagists Phillips_Academy_alumni Poets_who_committed_suicide Pulitzer_Prize_for_Poetry_winners Suicides_by_drowning Writers_from_Little_Rock,_Arkansas Writers_who_committed_suicide