On the fifth of January 1885, in the bustling commercial heart of Milan, a child was born who would become one of Britain's most popular poets of the 1920s, yet whose name today is remembered primarily for a single, sardonic epigram. Humbert Wolfe was born as Umberto Wolff in Milan, Italy, to Martin Wolff, a German Jewish merchant, and Consuela Terraccini, an Italian Jew. This dual heritage, straddling Germanic and M…
“You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.”
Neighbourhood:
Edwardian Poets, Georgian Poets, Modernist Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Spirituality, Sorrow
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on 16 October 1854 at 21 Westland Row in Dublin, Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom. He entered a household unusually rich in learning, performance, controversy, and public ambition. His father, Sir William Wilde, was an eminent surgeon specializing in diseases of the eye and ear, a respected medical writer, antiquarian, and collector of Irish folklore. His mother,…
“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.”
Neighbourhood:
Decadent Poets, Irish Poets, LGBTQ+ Poets, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Wonder, Sorrow
