Shylock Reasons with Mr. Chesterton, and Other Poems

Humbert Wolfe (1885-1940) was an Italian-born British poet, man of letters and civil servant. Born in Milan, he came from a Jewish background, his father being of German descent and his mother Italian. He was brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire and was a pupil at Bradford Grammar School before attending Wadham College at Oxford University. As well as being one of the most popular authors of the 1920s he was also a translator of Heinrich Heine, Edmond Fleg and Eugene Heltai, and although a Christian convert he remained very aware of his Jewish heritage. His career in the Civil Service began in the Board of Trade before he moved on to the Ministry of Labour, and by 1940 he held a position of high responsibility, his work being recognised by the award of a CBE and then a CB. He was the author of numerous collections of poems, several of which have been set to music by a number of composers including Gustav Holst in his 12 Humbert Wolfe Songs, Op. 48 (1929). This second collection of poems which followed on from his London Sonnets was first published in 1920.