Wilfrid Thorley was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 poet and translator.

He was educated privately, then at the Liverpool Institute (now University of Liverpool

University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

) and Grenoble

Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

 University. However, he said that he learnt most while teaching English to foreign students in Sweden, Belgium, France and Italy, during the ten years preceding World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

His best-known poem is "Chant for Reapers", due to its inclusion in the Oxford Book of English Verse

Oxford Book of English Verse

The Oxford Book of English Verse most commonly means the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1900 edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, an anthology of English poetry that had a very substantial influence on popular taste and perception of poetry for at least a generation...

http://www.publicappeal.org/library/dps/obev/obev311.html.

Publications

• A Primer of English for Foreign Students, 1910
• An English Reader for Foreign Students, 1913
• Cloud-Cuckoo-Land: a Child's Book of Verses, 1923
• Confessional, and other Poems, 1911
• Paul Verlaine, 1914
• Fleurs-de-Lys, 1920
• The Londoner's Chariot, and other Poems, 1925
• A Bouquet from France, 1926
• Maypole Market: a Child's Book of Verses, 1927
• Cartwheels and Catkins: Verses for Girls and Boys, 1930
• A Year in England for Foreign Students, 1930
• The Happy Colt, and other verses, 1940
• Barleycomb Billy, and other rhymes, 1943
• The French Muse, 50 Examples, 1945

As Harley Quinn:

• A Caboodle of Beasts, 1945
• Quinn's Quiz: rhymed riddles on a variety of subjects for children or their parents, 1957