Arthur Davison Ficke (1883-1945) was an American poet, lawyer, and educator renowned for his elegant sonnets. Born in Davenport, Iowa, he graduated from Harvard University and earned a law degree from Yale University. His 1914 collection "Sonnets of a Portrait-Painter" brought him widespread fame. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. After the war, he taught at Harvard and later at Stanford University. Ficke died on November 30, 1945, in Connecticut, at age 62.