#followed by anne boyeln

[olivers-cocoapuffs]

i watched the entirety of Six for the first time i am a changed man

[jmizura]

Close Reading of A Poem

Renaissance Poem Analysis

          The works of Sir Thomas Wyatt often go quickly when studying British Literature. However, it can be said that he was the father of English Poetry. Wyatt has been around aristocratic literature for his whole life, and he went to university. An educated man and that was thanks to his father who was under Henry VII and then when Henry VIII came to his rise, the Wyatt family became grandfathered in. Wyatt caused a great bit of trouble during his time on Henry VIII’s court, but he was never prosecuted. He was accused time and time again, yet he always found a way to weasel himself out of the situation. One such situation he found himself in, he wrote about, and incidentally created one of the first English sonnets. Sir Thomas Wyatt had a wife and kids, but he wanted someone else. This someone happened to be Anne Boyeln, Henry VIII’s 2nd wife. She is the center of a few poems, one of which, Whoso List to Hunt, is the topic of our discussion. 

         To speak on Whoso List to Hunt we must talk about Petrarch's Sonnet 190. It is quite evident that Wyatt drew inspiration from Sonnet 190, he rearranges the lines of the sonnet to fit his narrative. In Petrarch's sonnet he encounters this rare, beautiful deer, and nothing else compares. Petrarch follows this beauty to a lake, where it speaks to Petrarch then disappears. He realizes that he longs to see her again, despite how exhausted he is. Wyatt’s sonnet follows a similar pattern, yet there are some key differences. Whoso List to Hunt is about the chase of a woman’s love. Our speaker invites anyone willing to go on this hunt of his. He states that he knows the location of a hind, yet our speaker is self-aware and counts himself out of the hunt. He is trying to lead others to a treasure he cannot have. He knows that his efforts are futile, he compares them to trying to catch wind in a bug net. One thing he does know is that he must give up, but his intuition leads him to follow her regardless of where she goes. He believes he wasted his time in chasing her and warns anyone else interested in her that they will just be wasting their time. She is the forbidden fruit and has been claimed by the ruler of the land, she is not to be touched. On a necklace that she wears it says “Noli me tangere.” This is Latin for do not touch me. She is not to be tainted by the common man, nor could she ever be tamed.  

         While this poem is not exactly romantic, the story has elements of a romance. There is a troubled lover, and he cannot seize to stop himself from loving a woman he cannot have. He relates this feeling to a hunting trip, whereas he is after an elusive deer. By comparing love to a hunt, it adds this dynamic of struggle. The hunter longs for the deer, and yet he cannot ever seem to catch it. It pains the hunter to even know about this deer, he would have been better off never meeting her. The frustration eats at him, to the point where he can no longer continue to chase her. The beauty of this deer is immaculate, and she is treated as this divine being. Simply put, her existence is deemed invaluable. She has already been claimed by the king of the land and was dressed in jewels. These events compare to Wyatt’s civil life. He longs to be with Anne, and the king just will not allow that. Even though Anne is his, she says she is still wild, she lives a promiscuous lifestyle. Wyatt and Anne’s relationship led them both to some pretty serious consequences. Anne was in no means faithful to her husband and was sentenced to hanging. Wyatt on the other hand was locked up in a tower, until his connections got him out. 

         Wyatt was essential in the birth of modern English poetry. By studying Petrarch’s works he was able to refine his own craft and helped create the English sonnet. His father’s legacy put him into a position where he could become successful no matter what his venture was. Wyatt’s life was filled with turmoil, and he never seemed to stay put for too long. Regardless of all the trouble that Wyatt induced, he still left his mark on poetry. Wyatt adjusted the rules to fit him and made other’s art his own. He helped the sonnet become as popular as it was, and without him, it might not have caught enough traction. Poetry was written in all sorts of languages, Latin, Italian, and the sort since they were easier for the public to read. English was not around literature too much, as people did not know how to read or write it, but someone had to make that change. That was Sir Thomas Wyatt, he was bold enough to step outside his boundaries and create something new.