Thomas Wyatt
A social, political and cultural context
Thomas Wyatt was born at Allington Castle in Kent to Henry and Anne Wyatt. His father was well established in the court of King Henry VII. He was on the Privy Council, and secured a place for his son at court in 1516, five years after the young Henry VIII ascended to the throne. Henry Wyatt continued in office as one of the advisers to the young king.
Thomas Wyatt was educated at St John’s College, Cambridge. He married Elizabeth Brooke in 1520, but it was not a happy union, and the young Wyatt separated from his wife a few years later, citing her adultery as just cause. It is likely that it is at this time he began a liaison with Anne Boleyn; a relationship which was to cause him much political and private angst.
Thomas Wyatt was a witty, handsome, educated and diplomatic young man. He was part of the 1524 Greeenwich tournament in which many leading men, including Henry VIII himself, took part in jousting and tilting events. At six feet tall, Wyatt was striking and popular with the ladies at court. Although younger than the king, he was his physical and intellectual match, if not his superior.
Wyatt traveled extensively as a diplomat for the English monarchy. His first mission was to France in 1526, and it is likely that as well as his political work, Wyatt also studied the works of French contemporary writers.
In 1527 he went on a mission to Rome. Although politically his efforts were not a success, Wyatt was able to tour Italy and again immerse himself in the contemporary literature of the host nation. It is believed that while he was in Italy, Henry VIII began to assert his interest in Anne Boleyn. What is certain is that Wyatt’s next position was a three-year posting based in Calais, which conveniently took him from court and thus out of the proximity of Anne Boleyn and her royal suitor.
By 1532 Anne was granted a title as Marchioness of Pembroke. She was the king’s mistress by this time, and secretly married Henry VIII in 1533, five months before the birth of their daughter.
Wyatt began a liaison with Elizabeth Darrell in 1536, which lasted until his death in 1542. As Henry VIII became more obsessed with obtaining a male heir, so Queen Anne grew to be a burden as, like Queen Catherine before her, she did not produce a son. When Catherine died, Anne’s days were numbered; if both wives were dead, a third wife and her children would be viewed as wholly legitimate, unlike the secretly wed Anne. Henry seized the opportunity to take up with another woman in Anne’s court, Jane Seymour. Anne and five alleged lovers were imprisoned in the Tower of London for adultery. It is likely that the charges on all men by that time were false (one of the accused was Anne’s brother, Viscount Rochford) and this was simply a bid to discredit Anne. Wyatt was one of those imprisoned, and he was most perturbed that he was not the only man accused. He had, however, long ended his liaison with Anne, and had warned the king before the marriage that she was not a suitable Queen.
Wyatt was the only prisoner to escape these charges with his life. The other men, and Queen Anne herself, were executed. Wyatt likely witnessed her beheading, which took place 21 days before Henry VIII married Jane Seymour. Henry VIII visited Wyatt at his home in Allington two months later. Wyatt’s diplomatic skill had enabled him to survive the king’s wrath and violent actions.
Wyatt witnessed another execution of someone close to him at the mercy of Henry’s cruel whim. His patron and mentor, Thomas Cromwell was executed in July 1840. Henry’s brutality becomes most evident here as it was also the day he chose to marry Catherine Howard. (Jane Seymour died following the difficult labor of Prince Edward and Henry’s subsequent marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled shortly after her arrival in England.)
Wyatt was again arrested in 1541 and charged with treason. He admitted the charges, using his passion and anger as the excuse for his outbursts against the king. He faced his sentence at the mercy of the king, but his punishment was still a malicious one: on the orders of Queen Catherine Howard, Wyatt was ordered to resume his union with his wife from whom he had separated sixteen years earlier, and to abandon his long-time partner Elizabeth Darrell. This seems a cruel and unusual punishment meted out by a monarchy that was riddled with infidelity and immorality.
Despite the challenging and violent times of the Tudor reign, Wyatt was able to survive three terms of imprisonment and avoid execution. Although there were points where he caused displeasure to his King, he was knighted in 1535 and died of fever at a time when the executioner’s axe was frequently the end for many at court.
As well as his diplomatic, sporting and social prowess, Wyatt was a great thinker and academic. He studied languages, philosophy, poetry and music. This versatility was a great asset at court, as Henry VIII himself was an educated and sporting figure. As the third child, Henry had not been expected to become king and had therefore received the education that would support him with a central role within the clergy. Henry himself wrote poetry and songs, including a famous ballad ‘Pastime With Good Company’, which became known as ‘The King’s Ballad’. It was therefore customary in Henry VIII’s court to be well versed in languages, music and literature, and many courtiers would have written songs and poems to entertain each other and the King.
What, then, was unique about Wyatt? There were other ambassadors at court, other sportsmen adept at hunting and jousting and doubtless other courtiers who wrote lute songs and poetry. Wyatt’s skill was in taking the elevated and artistic form of vaunted Italian scholar Petrarch’s sonnets and creating a uniquely individual interpretation redolent with the despair, tension and bitterness of the Tudor court. Wyatt was not merely translating Petrarch, he was fashioning a new approach to poetry in English and utilizing the elevated structures of an earlier time to develop and highlight the drama and tensions of his era.
Wyatt’s influence on the development of English Literature has been unquestioned for many years. He is credited with bringing the Petrarchan sonnet form into English with his translations of the Italian’s works. However, in recent years, critics have begun to appreciate that Wyatt’s contribution is more than as just a translator of the works of an already great writer. Wyatt took Petrarch’s form and words as a basis to represent his own culture and his own world. Wyatt did not want to mold Italian ideas, forms and sentiments into English. He wanted to produce writings in a form that was as respected as the writers of the past, but which encompassed the issues of the time and expressed the emotions, fears and challenges of the Tudor court. Wyatt sought to elevate the English language, and English sentiments, to the level of respect which Petrarch’s work achieved. Wyatt was a scholar across the history of philosophy and writing. He was as familiar with the works of ancient Seneca and Plutarch as well as the more contemporary (to Wyatt) Chaucer and Petrarch. As earlier critics have suggested, he was not merely a poor translator of lyrical works into a still-jarring tongue. Wyatt highlighted the beauty and cruelty of the Tudor age; its complexity, disorder and mystery. His work is sometimes bleak, sometimes desolate but always evocative of the time and situation in which he found himself.
The Influences on the Life and Work of Thomas Wyatt
There are six key areas of influence that Thomas Wyatt could be said to be subject to. The respective weight and influence of each group can be argued, but each group was most assuredly a part of formulating the attitude, outlook and style of Thomas Wyatt’s work.
Family
Thomas Wyatt’s father, Henry Wyatt, was a significant influence on his son in terms of his career and accession to the royal court. Henry Wyatt was an official guardian of Henry VIII, having been highly regarded by his father, Henry VII. Henry Wyatt followed his own father into royal service. The life of a courtier was a dangerous one, as political allegiances were forged and broken with alarming rapidity. Henry Wyatt was imprisoned and tortured in the Tower of London for refusing to support the rule of Richard III. Upon his release, he was established in to the court of Henry VII. Similarly, Thomas Wyatt endured three periods of imprisonment during his time as a courtier to Henry VIII. Both Wyatts were fortunate to escape execution, as many others were put to death. It is likely that both men were able to use their wit, diplomacy and skills of negotiation to save their necks.
Intellectual
Thomas Wyatt was an intelligent, sensitive and educated man. He studied at St John’s College, Cambridge and was well versed in the classics and philosophical teachings of the great thinkers. One of Wyatt’s early attempts at translation involved the works of Plutarch, a Greek scholar who was an ambassador as well as an historian. In his chronicles of the lives of the great Greek and Roman rulers, Plutarch utilized engaging detail to communicate the character of his subject as well as their deeds.
Wyatt also studied and appreciated the works of Plato. He refers to Plato’s work in his poem ‘Farewell Love’ as a source of solace and contemplation, and a better source of edification than a fickle lady. Seneca is also referred to in the same poem. Seneca was a Roman historian and a Stoic philosopher. Wyatt was an advocate of this philosophy, which suggests that a natural order dictates all action. Evidence of Wyatt’s adherence to Stoic principles can be seen in works such as ‘Divers Doth Use’ and ‘My Heart I Gave Thee’.
Patron
Wyatt’s patron was Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell was an effective and practical statesman who carried out the practical application of Henry VIII’s various political stratagems. It was Cromwell who orchestrated the seizure and sale of monastic land at Henry’s behest, raising the funds that was sorely needed to support Henry’s lavish spending. As Lord Chamberlain and a favorite of the King, Cromwell was constantly in danger from those who sought to reduce his influence and extend their own. Despite the years of reward and respect afforded to Cromwell by his king, he was eventually imprisoned and executed for heresy. Wyatt followed his mentor’s path in becoming both in and out of favor with a difficult and irresolute king. Wyatt is believed to have mourned his adviser in the translation of another Petrarchan sonnet, ‘The Pillar Perish’d’.
Women
Although it is likely that there were several women in Wyatt’s life, there are three who could be said to have had the most influence on his character and his work. Wyatt’s wife, Elizabeth Brooke, caused him much pain. Their marriage was brief, and their separation was attributed to her infidelity. The translations of Petrarch’s sonnets, which mark the early part of Wyatt’s work, often have a bitter and frustrated lover as the narrator. The other woman who could have been the focus of his resentment and regret was Anne Boleyn, another early love who was tempted away from him by none other than King Henry VIII, Wyatt’s monarch and friend. The sonnet ‘Whoso List To Hunt?’ is believed to be based on Wyatt’s relinquishing of the pursuit of Anne as she becomes Henry’s property. The ‘hind’ in the poem has a collar signifying her as belonging to ‘Caesar’.
The courtly conventions of the time made much use of the forsaken lover and the heartless woman, but Wyatt’s work contains references which extend beyond these stereotypes. Wyatt also illustrates the powerful woman, in works such as ‘The Lively Sparks’. Wyatt’s partner and companion to his death was Elizabeth Darrell, who was a more constant and loyal companion.
Royal
In 1515, Wyatt began his service for Henry VIII, becoming a part of one of the youngest and most energetic courts in English history. Many of the courtiers, as was the King himself, were scarecely more than teenagers. They were, however, a collection of bright young things. Wit and chivalry were the order of the day. Because it was assumed his brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, would inherit the throne, Henry VIII had been educated as a second son, schooled for a life in the church; Arthur died shortly after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, paving Henry’s way to the crown following the death of their father. As a monarch he was an accomplished musician, poet, athlete and wit. He was tall, athletic and handsome. Wyatt followed in his footsteps, similarly being celebrated as a writer, tournament hero and a performer. He shared his king’s zest for life, and the king admired Wyatt’s diplomacy, intelligence and taste in women. Whilst in Henry’s employ, Wyatt quickly learned the necessity of tact, self preservation and ready wit. His life depended on it.
In his ambassadorial role, Wyatt was fully conversant with the rivalry which existed between Henry VIII and two of other European monarchs, Francis I of France and Charles V of Spain. As well as liaising between the nations in a bid to exercise Henry’s power, Wyatt became immersed in the culture as well as the politics of these nations.
Literary
It has often been said that there was no significant literature produced in England between the time of Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) and the time of William Shakespeare (b. 1564). However, Wyatt’s output is one example of work of significant value to originate in the time between the two literary giants. Naturally, Wyatt was influenced by the work of Chaucer. Chaucer, like Wyatt, was well travelled, had been a diplomat and imbibed himself in the cultural surroundings that his travels opened to him. Wyatt certainly admired Chaucer’s work, but sought to further develop English Literature as a respected and elevated form.
Wyatt chose to translate works by Francesco Petrarch, an esteemed Italian poet from the 14th century. Wyatt’s translations of Petrarch were not merely linguistic exercises: he utilized a recognized form and style whilst developing the ideas, conceits and structure of his poems into a uniquely English shape. Petrarch’s translations served to divert questions on the sometimes highly significant and controversial themes of the poems; courtly betrayal and political intrigue was best delivered in the guise of historical form.
It would be impossible to establish to what degree each of the above groups shaped Wyatt’s vision and his work. However, establishing a social, political and cultural context for his writing gives us a clearer understanding of Wyatt’s purpose and success.
Sir Thomas Wyatt I find no peace
DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTRARIOUS PASSIONS IN A LOVER.
I find no peace and all my war is done,
I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice,
I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise,
And nought I have and all the world I seson;
That loseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison;
And holdeth me not; yet can I scape nowise,
Nor letteth me live nor die at my devise,
And yet of death it giveth me occasion.
Without eyen I see; and without tongue I plain:
I desire to perish, and yet I ask health;
I love another: and thus I hate myself;
I feed me in sorrow; and laugh in all my pain:
Likewise displeaseth me both death and life,
And my delight is causer of this strife.
Original Text
I fynde no peace and all my warr is done,
I fere and hope, I burn and freise like yse,
I fley above the wynde, yet can I not arrise,
And noght I have and all the worold I seson ;
That loseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison ;
And holdeth me not ; yet can I scape nowise :
Nor letteth me live nor dye at my devise :
And yet of deth it gyveth me occasion.
Withoute Iyen I se ; and without tong I plain :
I desire to perisshe, and yet I aske helthe ;
I love an othr : and thus I hate myself ;
I fede me in sorrowe : and laugh in all my pain :
Likewise displeaseth me both deth and lyff :
And my delite is causer of this stryff.
WORD MEANINGS AND ANNOTATIONS
Lines 1- 4 : No peace — no mental repose: mind without rest ; mind devoid of quietitude. I find no peace — the speaker is the poet himself; his mind is enburdened with uncertainty and restiveness which seal off the passage of peace and rest into his mind. He is passing days of anxiety and tension. War — conflict of mind which is caused by his intense love for his lady-love. Done — here it means ‘comes to an end’ or no longer existing. War is done — doubts and conflicts which are raging in his mind come to an end. The poet, who is portrayed as a lover, is now free and all his doubts and anxieties are removed from his mind.
Comments : The poet’s mind is sandwiched between despondency and optimism. This antithetical feelings reveals his mind constantly pendulating between two opposed states of mind. He lacks the firmness of mind, fixity of thinking and strength of mind which are the common characteristics of a true lover who is overwhelmed by the ecstasy of love, which epitomises Petrarchan feeling of love.
Fear and hope – despondency and optimism. This represents his mental conflict. Fear and hope have been two distinct entities in his mind. He lives with both fear and hope with equal intensity. This is another anthetical anguishing states of his mind which is quite irresistable. Burn is extremely agitated. He grows fierce and extremely excited. Freeze like cold becomes petrified in fear. This simile is used by the poet to express his mind gripped by fear.
Comments : This line deals with the lover’s strange experience of antithetical feelings which reveal the conflicts working actively in his mind. He is depressed and frustrated at the intensity of his unsettled love. As he lacks the power to resist his fear, he cannot help bearing meek passivity. He has dropped his hope to cope with the situation.
Fly — soar ; in the strict sense, it means exalted in spirit. I fly above the wind — He feels himself elevated. Arise – rise higher than the level of wind. The poet seeks happiness and spiritual uplift but fails to raise himself because he feels lacking in spirit. His lack of mental stength to rise above his material limitation is stresseed here through the poet’s wonderful juxtaposition of happy and unhappy states of mind.
Comments : The powerful effect of love on a true lover is clearly indicated here. This constitutes the theme of love which typifies a favourite aspect of the Petrarchan sonnet.
Naught — nothing. I have — the lover possesses. The lover possesses nothing and this is the frank expression of his despondency and disappointment. Seize — hold or captture. The poet feels that he captures the entire world, but actually he posesses nothing.
Comments : Another beautiful antithetical statement is used to, stress the lover’s mental conflicts that produce restlessness and uncertainty in his mind. The poet is obsessed by the antithetical forces which have an enervating effect on his mind, disturb him greatly and thus take away the peace and rest of mind.
Line 5-8 : Looselh-releases. Locketh-detains. The poet says that the world neither releases nor detains him. Holdeth- Keeps. Holdeth me in prison-imprisons or incarcerates him. ‘Scape-escape, get rid of. Can I scape nowise-he cannot get rid of the painful situation which is both irresisible and unbearable.
Comments : What is emphasized here is the poet’s painful state of mind. His state of mind is confounding. He is disgusted with the world. Contrary forces pull him and disturb the quietitude of his mind. He lacks inner power to resist and cope with this anguishing situation caused.by his intense passion of love. The passion of love as indicated here is purely Petrarchan.
Letteth : allows or permits ; Devise — will. At my devise — in accordance with his will. Nor letteth me… devise — Love overpowers and dominates his will and action and does not permit him to act independently. The poet is unable to live or die in accordance with his will. He is under the control of love for both his life and death. Yet — at the same time. Giveth some occasion — does not explain the reason of his longing for death. The poet is mentally much disturbed ; to be relieved of this disturbing state of mind; lie cannot wish for death, because he does not dominate death, rather he is dominated by love which restrains him from wishing to die.
Comments : The first eight lines of the sonnet which form the octave deal with the mental state of the lover, who is much disturbed by the conflicting forces, created in his mind by his intense passion of love. Wyatt is specially praised for his artistic portrayal of the restiveness of the lover in matters of life and death. The explanation of the restless lover’s mind is essentially psychological.
Line 9-12 : Without eyen I see …………… all my pain.
Without eyen — without eyes. See — visualise. The lover can visualise all without two eyes. Plain — complain or lament. Desire — wish. To perish — to die. Ask health — seek health. The lover longs for his sound health, though he wants to die. His desire for death and at the same time for his own sound health brings out the conflicting states of his mind.
Comments : The poet as the lover is mentally so much disturbed and depressed that he feels to have lost his physical faculties of seeing and speaking, yet he claims that he can visualize all and express his dissatisfaction and restlessness. It is quite strange to find that he simultaneously wishes for death and sound heath and this statement evidences the fact that his intensse passion of love has made his mind a bit mentally unhinged.
I love another — the lover declares that he loves somebody whom he wants to have his partner of life. He is deeply attached to his ladylove. Hate myself — he is so much vexed with and perturbed by the conflicting states of mind that he has lost the zest of life, and so hatred for his own life has developed in him. This feelings is caused by his repulsion at his own self. Feed in sorrow — lives in grief ; nourishes his grief. Laugh in all my pain — laugh at or mock the pang of his life; he bears it meekly and mutely.
Comments : The lover’s frank confession of love for his ladylove is indicated here. The line “I love another and thus I hate myself” is a fine example of antithesis and contains the antithetical feelings, actively working in the lover’s mind ; This disturbs his mental peace and rest. The lover is thus portrayed as greatly agitated and anguished.
Lines 13 – 14 : Likewise — in the same or similar way; equally ; displeaseth — displeases or dissatisfies or dislikes. The lover equally dislikes life and death. This idea is very peculiar because life and death are the two realities which guarantee our beings. When we do not like life, it means then that we welcome or invite death and we hate death to ensure life i.e. to lengthen our existence on this planet. But the lover is so greatly preoccupied with the restlessness of life caused by the raging mental conflicts that he seems to be indifferent to both life and death. My delight — the objects that gladdens or delights him. This object is the lady whom the poet loves. It may refer to his joy of life. Causer — that which causes; that which is responsible for. This strife — the conflicting states of his mind.
Comments : These two lines form the rhyming couplet which anticipates the Shakeapearean form. Mere the lover summarizes the reason for which he is subjected to the acute mental anguish and agitation . He frankly admits or it is clearly indicated that the ecstasy of love causes all his retlessness. He is portrayed as such a lover as is always haunted by his antithetical feelings.
Form
This poem is written in a form that is very similar to a Petrarchan sonnet. It has 14 lines and a rhyme scheme that divides it into an octave (a group of eight lines) and a sestet (a group of six lines). However, there are some variations on its form compared to a Petrarchan sonnet. The lines are not written in strict iambic pentameters (that is, ten syllables per line with a pattern of stress) and the rhyme scheme, although it conforms to a Petrarchan sonnet in the octave with its rhyme scheme of abbaabba, varies in the sestet becoming cddcdd as opposed to ccdeed. The rhymes, particularly in the sestet, can be described as half rhymes, with “life” being made to rhyme with “strife” in the last two lines, perhaps indicating the disparity the speaker of the poem finds within himself in his divided state, as explored through the poem.
Critical Essay
If the modern reader reads few lines from Surrey’s Epitaph on Sir Thomas Wyatt, he/she can easily understand how he appeared before his contemporaries as the first Renaissance gentleman-poet. Surrey writes in the very year of Wyatt’s death that he had a courtier’s eye, a scholar’s tongue, and a hand that “taught what may be said in rhyme, / That reft Chaucer the glory of his wit.” Under cultural demands created by the Renaissance when Wyatt took to writing poetry, he faced the problem of restoring gravity and cogency of utterance to English verse after a period of linguistic transformation in the century following Chaucer, during which pronunciation had altered and metrical patterns had gone to pieces. He was forced to seek help from the Italian sonnet. The sonnet was a highly conventional form, a form that demanded discipline and craftsmanship from on the poet’s part, and challenged the poet to mould his thought with will and aptness to the precise shape of those fourteen balanced lines. Wyatt along with other “courtly makers” emerged as craftsmen, treating the conventional subject matter over and over again in their attempts to hammer out a disciplined yet flexible poetic style.
The Petrarchan sonnet provides the English poet not only with a form but also with the sentiments. The whole nature of the relation between the poet and his beloved had become conventionalised in terms of an idealized courtly love attitude, which Petrarch had manifested toward Laura in his love sonnets. The notion of the lover as the humble servant of the fair lady, injured by her glance, tempest-tossed in seas of despair in rejection, changing in mood according to the presence or absence of his beloved—was derived from the medieval view of courtly love, a concept of love which arose out of the changing attitude towards women centring round Virgin Mary as an ideal example. At this point it must be pointed out that the imported poetic theme had also become essential for satisfying the mental needs and cultural tastes of the English gentlemen created by the Renaissance. That is why we find the historical existence of the English counterparts of Laura almost for all the 16th century sonneteers.
Wyatt’s I Find No Peace is a sonnet set typically in the Petrarchan tradition; it has the same five rhymes—abcde, and can be divided in two parts—octave and sestet. But it should be pointed out here that Wyatt deviates from the Petrarchan model in a number of ways. While in the former the theme of the poem is introduced in the octave and developed in the sestet, Wyatt’s poem does not maintain the division and distribution of thought. The poet begins by enumerating the conflicting states of mind occasioned by the onset of love:
“I find no peace and all my war is done,
I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice…”
These carefully chosen monosyllabic words contain enough information so as to inform the readers what has gone before. His ‘peace’ of mind has been destroyed by the ‘war’ he has been waging against himself and his ladylove in order to win her love. It may be surmised here whether after finding his “war is done”, that is, his game over, he resorts to writing this sonnet in an attempt to communicate to her the words of his desire; for, the rest of the lines in the poem are set almost as disguised appeals, as desperate cries to the mistress. This is nowhere so prominent as in the second line, the poet speaks of experiencing contrary thoughts and emotions: he is afraid of his supposed rejection by her, and that is why gets frozen at this thought. But at the same time he is hopeful of the prospect of winning her favour, and this leads him to ‘burn’ in desire for her. It may be pointed out here that Wyatt’s description of the impact of love, which has not been won, conforms to the onset of love generated by the first secretion of the hormones in the human body. Quite consistent with this the poet finds himself daydreaming about an ideal situation: “I fly above the wind…”; but the next moment the reverie breaks down and he finds himself forlorn heavy with the thoughts of failure and fails to ‘arise’ out of the situation.
In the fourth line the poet has actually descended on the most dominant aspect of love in his confession, namely its possessive aspect. Love is a possessive instinct and it determines the passage of passion. When Wyatt thinks that he has not secured his beloved’s love, he feels “naught I have”, but the next moment when he hopes he might win her, it seems to him that “all the world I seize on”. The point is that for him the physical possession of the beloved is the physical possession of the world, that is to say, it dictates the terms for his existence in time and space. Conjoined with this, however, another aspect love also emerges in the next two lines. It was a prevalent thought during the Renaissance that the amorous gaze or glance of the beloved, like the one of a sorceress, might cast a spell, which may act as a trap for the helpless lover. The words—“yet can I ’scape nowise—betray this kind of sense.
The helplessness of the lover reaches its climax at the very middle, in the seventh line, when the poet speaks of death. [It is psychologically plausible that a frustrated may think of death as the last way-out of the sufferings of love. For the Renaissance poets the word ‘death’, however, operated more on the rhetorical level as an extreme thought, as an extreme threat to convince the reader of the genuineness of his claim than on the plain of reality as an act. The effect of Saint John’s “The Apocalypse” in the New Testament might have played a significant role in disseminating this idea.]
The theme of death has been carried on to the sestet, and here it means putting an end to physical existence, which loses significance if he fails in securing the beloved’s favour. But unlike the speaker of a Petrarchan sonnet the theme of the octave has not been discussed here in order to resolve the conflicts. Again, it is only in the twelfth line of the poem that we are given the information regarding his mental agitation, that the poet has fallen in love. But it is not, as he says, that he hates himself because he loves her. He may hate himself at the thought of being rejected for failing to become worthy of her. Again, he himself indulging in self-pity and finds sustenance and substance for his thoughts in his sorrows. This leads him sometimes to cynicism and he laughs in his pain.
In the concluding couplet Wyatt tries to put an end to the contrary and antithetical thoughts and emotions by stating in a conceited fashion that he understands that his ‘delight’, that is, the object of his delight or ladylove is the cause of all these sufferings. It must be pointed out here that by providing a concluding couplet, like Shakespeare later on, Wyatt deviates from the Petrarchan model. Again the poem is marked by the absence of Neo-Platonic concept of love, the hallmark of a Petrarchan sonnet, a concept in which a speaker like Petrarch would realise the supreme divine beauty through the idealisation and worship of the spiritual beauty of a beloved like Laura.
SHORT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. ‘I find no peace……. ‘
Why is the poet restless? Comment on his condition.
Ans. Due to the impact of intense passion of love, the poet does not enjoy his peace of mind. The contrary pulls caused by the ecstasy of love render him utterly restless. The passion of love which is so violent contributes to his discontent, restless state. Conflicting forces roused by the intensity of love have caused mental imbalance impairing his physical faculties. The awkward experience of antithetical feelings has bitterly poisoned the peace of his mind.
2. ‘Without eyen I see; and without tongue I plain’
Elucidate the condition of the poet.
Ans. The lover’s mind is torn and tossed by contending passions of emotion. He appears to have lost visual power and oral capacity under the intense impulse of love. Yet, the inordinate feeling of love makes him visualize and lament for his discontented restless love.
3. ‘Likewise displeaseth me both death and life’
Where does this line occur? Why does the Poet feel such contrary pulls?
Ans. The line occurs in Sir Thomas wyatt’s sonnet ‘I Find no peace’. The intense passion of love causes distraction and disquietude and makes the lover thoroughly restless. The lover finds no peace in his mind and he knows not where he should turn for peace and comfort. He is equally tired of life and death. While he feels thoroughly disgusted with his life that gives him no rest or peace of mind, he finds no relief in the idea of death. He is torn by the conflict between antithetical elements in his mind. His love gives him delight but its impulse makes him restless. The intense passion of love turns him wild and makes him utterly restless.
4. ‘And my delight is causer of this strife’
Where does this line occur? Comment on the paradox in the line.
Ans. The line occurs in Sir Thomas Wyatt’s ‘I Find no Peace’. The line is epigrammatic and strikingly brings out the contradiction inherent in the ecstasy of love. The deep passion of love and its accompanying torment, a typical aspect of the theme of the conventional Petrarchan Sonnet, is clearly marked here.Delight i.e joy can never be the cause of pain but, sometimes the exccss of it gives birth to tearful anguish.
5. ‘I find no Peace….’
What does the Poet convey through this line?
Ans. The contrary pulls of contending passions rock the citadel of peace in the poet’s mind. It states the mental confusion and confrontation of a lover lost in the intense passion of love. Antithetical pulls do not allow him any rest or peace of mind. The confounding passion of love agitates the tranquillity of his mind and hence his categorical confession– ‘I find no Peace’.
6. How does the poet show his contrary feelings in ‘ I find No Peace’?
Ans. The poet is overpowered with the intense feeling of love that deeply disturbs his inner world with contradictory pulls. He bears hope as will as fear. He burns in passion as well as freezes in apprehension. He feels himself loose yet locked. He can neither ‘live’ nor ‘die’ at his ‘devise’. He desires to ‘perish’ yet, asks for ‘health’. He feeds himself ‘in sorrow’ and laughs at his pain.’
7. ‘Any my delight is the causer of this strife’
Where does this line occur? What is the strife referred to here? What is the Poet’s delight?
Ans. The poet-lover feels thoroughly disgusted with his life that gives him no rest or peace of mind. He finds no relief in the idea of death. He is torn between antithetical elements in his mind. It is, however, love that causes so much unrest in his mind. He struggles with himself to tide over the adverse circumstances in his life. This is the mental agitation or strife referred to here.
The poet’s delight is the object of his delight, i.e. the lady-love, the delight of his life. The lover is haunted by the memory of his lady-love. The intense passion of love makes a constant stir in his heart.
Semi-long answer type Questions-8 marks
1. I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice
Ans. The line has been culled from Sir Thomas Wyatt’s ‘I Find no Peace.’ Under the heavy yoke of contradictory pulls of feelings, the poet is violently tossed between fear and hope. Sometimes he burns like fire and sometimes he freezes like ice.
The antithetical feelings make the poet restless. The feeling of love causes fear as well as hope in the mind of the poet. Fear makes him freeze like ice and in utter consternation he undergoes chilly experience of cold. He burns in anger as the failure in love causes a feeling of unrest in him. The effect of inordinately intense passion of love does not make him feel comfortable. It does not allow him any peace of mind. It states the mental confusion of a lover steeped in the passion of love. He is subjected to the conflicting states of mind. A sense of hope encourages him and he bears a meek passivity. The delightful sense of love fills his whole being with an inexplicable ecstasy. Again it paralyses his individuality completely.
The poet is at a loss as to what to do. He is utterly perplexed and vexed. The intricate, labyrinthine ways of love have completely unsettled him. The very peace which he earnestly seeks falls an easy prey to illimitable perplexity eternally eclipsing the sunshine of joy.
2. Nor Letteth me live nor die at my devise.
And…………………..occasion.
Ans. These lines have been extracted from Sir Thomas Wyatt’s sonnet, ‘I Find no Peace’. His disquiet, the product of his failure in love has enhanced the irregularities in his thought-process. The very tranquillity of his mind is disrupted.
The lover is over head and ears in love with the mistress and the very intensity of the passion of love bewilders him causing an uneasy and unquiet mood under the impact of conflicting elements. The profound passion of love has a paralysing effect on his mind that allows him no rest or respite, no peace and comfort. He is vexed under the violent emotional surge of conflicting passions. This agitates him making his life painfully tragic. Under this situation a longing for death might have caused him a sense of relief from destitution though he sees no ground for death as love prevents him from welcoming untimely death. Love overpowers him and regulates his emotion and does not allow him to act in accordance with his sweet will and thus his likes and dislikes are lulled by the mighty wand of a powerful love and he surrenders himself wholeheartedly to the despotic autocracy of love.
The poet has become a puppet in the hands of his passion. He swings between the woes of life and the bliss of death with occasional fascinations for both without arriving at any definite conclusion.
3. Without eyen I see ………………… Plain.
I desire to perish …………………..health.
Ans. These lines have been taken from Sir Thomas Wyatt’s sonnet ‘I Find no Peace’. The violent impact of the passion of love has robbed him of physical as well as mental faculties.
Wyatt expresses the restless state of mind generated by the ecstasy of love. The poet lover seems to be utterly confounded with contradictory pulls that make him feel restless. This confusion seems to paralyse his physical faculties. His eyes have stopped functioning properly and his tongue is rendered inactive. Yet, he can visualise everything and complain of his restless state that grants him no peace. It is beyond his knowledge what he actually wants and what he does not. Death, at times, seems desirable to him but next monent he wants to have a sound health. The tone is typically Petrarchan illustrating the passion and pangs of love.
The paralysing effect of love causes the poet’s restlessness. The unsteady dilemmas, the offsprings of passion have turned him out of true. The disorderly desires have gripped his soul.
4. Like wise displeaseth me ………………life.
And my delight …………………….Strife.
Ans. These lines have been extracted from Sir Thomas Wyatt’s sonnet, ‘I Find no Peace’. The poet feels tired of life as well as death. The intense passion of love is the cause of this tiresome feeling.
The lines mirror the lover’s restlessness caused by the intense passion of love which gives birth to mental distraction and disquiet. The lover is at a loss as to what to do. He can not decide where he should turn for peace. The desire for life as well as death disgusts him. The longing for life makes him abandon the idea of death — again death invites him with an equally powerful implication though he finds no relief in the idea of death. Both life and death are equally tormenting and tiring to him. The lover is tossed and torn between antithetical passions. Love is glorious and magnificent to him. It gives him a sense of delight but the very impluse of joy causes him mental unrest. A strong mental strife is produced by this immensely immeasurable joy. However, the deep pang of love and its accompanying suffering bear witness to conventional Petrarchan sonnet.
His delight is responsible for his mental anguish and suffering. He wants to get rid of sorrows with the help of joys that do entangle him more and more drying up his bud of peace.
Wyatt’s ‘I Find No Peace’
Summary
The narrator expresses his despair with diametrically opposed concepts. He is unable to rest, and yet he has no fight left in him. He is optimistic yet afraid, he is ablaze yet frozen. He is soaring, yet cannot take off; he has nothing, yet he holds the whole world. Though there are no locks strong enough to imprison him, he cannot escape. The narrator feels he has no control over whether he lives or dies. He can see without his eyes, and complains without a tongue. He says he wishes to expire, and yet demands strength. By line 11 he reveals a less paradoxical contrast: that he loves another therefore must not love himself. He revels in the joy of the sadness and discomfort of this love, and although the situation is almost like a living death, the cause of his pain is his greatest pleasure.
Analysis
The confusion, ambiguity and vacillation of feelings and emotions connected with love is the subject of this sonnet, which is a translation of Petrarch’s sonnet 104. The poem is built from opposite sentiments and ideas to reflect the full range of feeling that love can provoke. While it seems that this relationship is an impossible affair that leads him to the brink of despair, the poet also seems intoxicated by it. The opening image of war and peace also reminds us of Wyatt’s diplomatic and ambassadorial duties, the vast changes in allegiance that he saw within his term of office and the challenges of the international political arena at this time.
The metaphors used highlight the physical extremes such as burning and freezing to connote the psychological consequences of the dramatic emotions involved. Love in the tudor court was often fraught with social implications, particularly as the king himself was involved in numerous precarious romantic relationships. But, the idea of being incarcerated despite the fact that no bonds could hold him reminds us that the resultant torture is one which the narrator is willingly subjecting himself to. Alas, he derives pleasure from the situation that directly causes his pain.
Line 11 is interesting as these two ideas are not usually mutually exclusive: it is possible to love another and oneself. However, Wyatt is perhaps indicating that the relationship is one dictated by the heart rather than the head; though the love feels right, the narrator cannot quiet his mind to the unsettling knowledge that his love is not a practical or logical choice. If he is prepared to put himself in danger for his love, he must not care enough about himself to prevent his own destruction. In the final rhyming couplet, the narrator makes it clear that he understand that that which gives him the most pleasure is that which causes him the most peril.
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