Skipwith Cannell (1887–1957) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

associated with the

Imagist Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism is sometim ...

group. His surname is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. He was a friend of

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

, and like

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

he came from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Cannell studied at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

and was enthusiastic about the work of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

and the free verse of The

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

of The Bible. He was briefly married to

Kathleen Eaton Cannell Kathleen Eaton Cannell (usually known as Kitty Cannell) (1891 – 1974) was a Paris-based American dance and fashion correspondent for major U.S. papers and periodicals. Before moving to Paris she was the dance critic for ''The Christian Science ...

, who was generally known as 'Kitty'. Cannell met Pound in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1913. Pound sent some of Cannell's poems to

Harriet Monroe Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, first published in 1912. As a ...

. Back in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Pound took Cannell and Kitty to visit Yeats and found a room for the couple below his own in Church Walk,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

. Cannell's work appeared in the first Imagist anthology, edited by Pound and published by Poetry Bookshop in 1914 '' Des Imagistes''Hughes, Glenn, ''Imagisms & The Imagists'', Bibbs&Tannen, New York, 1972 and ''The New Poetry: An Anthology'', edited by Harriet Monroe and

Alice Corbin Henderson Alice Corbin Henderson (April 16, 1881 – July 18, 1949) was an American poet, author and poetry editor. Early life and education Alice Corbin was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother died in 1884 and she was briefly sent to live with her f ...

in 1917. Cannell and Kitty divorced in 1921. There were no children from this first marriage. Cannell married secondly Juliette Del Grange, a French national with whom he had two daughters, May and Sarah. His second marriage also ended in divorce. He married a third time to Catherine Pettigrew, with whom he had five additional children, David, Mary, Michael, John and Susan. He was closely involved with

Alfred Kreymborg Alfred Francis Kreymborg (December 10, 1883 – August 14, 1966) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, literary editor and anthologist. Early life and associations He was born in New York City to Hermann and Louisa Kreymborg (née Nasher), ...

's magazine '' Others: A Magazine of the New Verse''.

References

Sources

* Robert Karoly Sarlos, ''Jig Cook and the Provincetown Players: Theatre in Ferment''

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...

, 1982. * James J Wilhelm, ''Ezra Pound in London and Paris 1908-1925'' Penn State Press, 1990. * Noel Stock, ''The Life of Ezra Pound,'' Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970. (p. 174 of the Penguin edition) * James J Wilhelm, ''Ezra Pound in London and Paris 1908-1925'' Penn State Press, 1990. (see p. 301)

External links

News item about small magazines, mentioning Cannell amongst others
1887 births 1957 deaths Imagists 20th-century American poets {{US-poet-1880s-stub