Humbert Wolfe, 1931 by his friend William Rothenstein

Humbert Wolfe was an Italian born poet who was the son a German Merchant and an Italian mother, both Jewish. He was born in Milan in 1885 to Martin Wolff and Consuela, née Terraccini.

He is nowadays perahps known best for a verse in his poem,The Uncelestial City:

You cannot hope

Consuela, Humbert Wolfes Mother. Reproduced by kind permission of Marie Padgett, his great niece.

to bribe or twist,
thank God! the
British journalist.

But, seeing what
the man will do
unbribed, there’s
no occasion to.

Humbert, Francesca & Oswlad Wolfe, Bradford. Fancy dress party given by the Mayor of Bradford, 1893. Ref. “Now A Stranger” by Humbert Wolfe. Reproduced by kind permission of Marie Padgett, his great niece.

Passing of Humbert Wolfe: War Strain. Reproduced by kind permission of Marie Padgett, his great niece.

Reproduced by kind permission of Marie Padgett, his great niece.

By this time Humbert was separated from his wife and  living with Pamela Frankau, the writer. For more information see the biography “Harlequin in Whtehall” by Philip Baggueley.

Harlequin in Whitehall, Philip Baggueley from Amazon

Poem by Humbert Wolfe. Reproduced by kind permission of Marie Padgett, his great niece.

A brief outline of the works of Humbert Wolfe

London sonnets (1920)
Shylock reasons with Mr. Chesterton: and other poems (1920)
Circular saws (1923)
Labour supply and regulation (1923)
The Lilac (1924)
Lampoons (1925)
The Unknown Goddess (1925) poems
Humoresque (1926)
News of the Devil (1926) poems
Requiem (1927) poems
Cursory Rhymes (1927) poems
Others Abide (1927)
Kensington Gardens (1924)
Dialogues and monologues (1928) criticism
This Blind Rose (1928) poems
Troy (1928) Faber & Gwyer, Ariel poems

Humbert Wolfe

The Moon and Mrs. Misses Smith (1928)
The Craft of Verse (1928) essay
The Silver Cat and other poems (1928)
Notes on English Verse Satires (1929)
A Winter Miscellany (1930) editor
Tennyson (1930)
The Uncelestial City (1930)
Early Poems (1930)
George Moore (1931)
Snow (1931) poems
Signpost to poetry (1931)
Reverie of policeman: A ballet in three acts (1933)
Now a stranger (1933) autobiography
Romantic and unromantic poetry (1933)

Humbert Wolfe, from the Bradford Supplement in the Jewish Chronicle, 1955.

Portraits by inference (1934)
Sonnets pour Helene (by Ronsard) (1934) translator
X at Oberammergau : A poem (1935) drama
The Fourth of August (1935) poems
Selected Lyrics of Heinrich Heine (1935) translator
P. L. M.: Peoples Landfalls Mountains (1936)
The Pilgrim’s Way (1936)
The Silent Knight: A Romantic Comedy in Three Acts (by Eugene Heltai)(1937)
Others Abide: Translated Greek Epigrams (1937)
The Upward Anguish (1938) autobiography
Out of Great Tribulation (1939) poems
Kensington Gardens in War-Time (1940) poems

Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbert_Wolfe

Click to read the poems of Humbert Wolfe