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31. they flee from me, that sometime did me seek—sir thomas wyatt

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1. Sir Thomas Wyatt 15031542 They Flee from Me, That Sometime Did Me Seek 2. Background Information 1 Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 11 October 1542) was a 16th-century English ambassador and lyrical poet. He is credited with introducing the sonnet into English literature. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent, though his family was originally from Yorkshire. His mother was Anne Skinner, and his father, Henry Wyatt, had been one of Henry VII's Privy Councilors, and remained a trusted adviser when Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509. In his turn, Thomas Wyatt followed his father to court after his education at St. John's College, Cambridge. None of Wyatt's poems were published during his lifetimethe first book to feature his verse, Tottel's Miscellany of 1557, was printed a full fifteen years after his death. Wyatt was over six feet tall, reportedly both handsome and physically strong. Wyatt was not only a poet, but also an ambassador in the service of Henry VIII. He accompanied Sir John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, to Rome to help petition Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of Henry VIII to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, an embassy whose goal was to make Henry free to marry Anne Boleyn. According to some, Wyatt was captured by the armies of Emperor Charles V when they captured Rome and imprisoned the Pope in 1527, but managed to escape and then made it back to England. In 1535, Wyatt was knighted, and appointed High Sheriff of Kent for 1536. In 1520, Wyatt married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Thomas Brooke, 8th Baron Cobham. A year later, the couple had a son, Sir Thomas Wyatt (15211554), who led Wyatt's rebellion many years after his father's death. 3. Wyatt's professed object was to experiment with the English tongue, to civilize it, to raise its powers to those of its neighbors. Many legends and conjectures have grown up around the notion that the young, unhappily married Wyatt fell in love with the young Anne Boleyn in the early-to-mid-1520s. Their acquaintance is certain, but whether or not the two shared a romantic relationship remains unknown. In May 1536, Wyatt was imprisoned in the Tower of London for allegedly committing adultery with Anne Boleyn. He was released from the Tower later that year, thanks to his friendship or his father's friendship with Thomas Cromwell, and he returned to his duties. During his stay in the Tower, he may have witnessed not only the execution of Anne Boleyn from his cell window, but also the prior executions of the five men with whom she was accused of adultery. Wyatt is known to have written a poem inspired by the experience, which, though it stays clear of declaring the executions groundless, expresses grief and shock. After the execution of Catherine Howard, there were rumors that Wyatt's wife, Elizabeth, was a possibility for wife number six, despite the fact that she was still married to Wyatt. He became ill not long after, and died on 11 October 1542 around the age of 39, while staying with his friend Sir John Horsey at Clifton Maybank House in Dorset. He is buried in nearby Sherborne Abbey. Background Information 2 4. They flee from me, that sometime did me seek, a With naked foot stalking in my chamber. b I have seen them, gentle, tame, and meek, a That now are wild, and do not remember b That sometime they put themselves in danger b To take bread at my hand; and now they range, c Busily seeking with a continual change. c Thankd be fortune it hath been otherwise, d Twenty times better; but once in special, e In thin array, after a pleasant guise, d When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall, e And she me caught in her arms long and small, e Therewith all sweetly did me kiss, f And softly said, Dear heart, how like you this? f It was no dream, I lay broad waking, g But all is turned, thorough my gentleness, h Into a strange fashion of forsaking; g And I have leave to go, of her goodness, h And she also to use newfangleness. h But since that I so kindly am servd, i I fain would know what she hath deservd. i Analysis 1 Range] roam, explore In special] in particular Guise] manner, way Small] slender Broad waking] wide awake Thorough] through, via Forsaking] abandonment Newfangleness] fashionable fickleness Kindly] appropriately Fain] gladly THEME: Wyatt explores the facets of love and, in particular, infidelity. The poet used to be a ladies man, having affairs with several ladies at court and then jilting them. When the tables were turned, however, he found the situation less than ideal, but, true to his character, he remained unrepentant and chose to blame the ladies for enticing him in the first place. The TONE of the poem leans toward sanctimonious superciliousness. Wyatt almost seems to scold the unnamed ladies mentioned in the poem, and goes on to evince a trenchant bitterness in the last stanza. The poem is written as rhyme royal, a type of verse developed by Geoffrey Chaucer. Rhyme royal features seven lines per stanza, each stanza being end-rhymed ababbcc, and it is composed in iambic pentameter. However, in the poem at hand, Wyatt observes metrical conventions loosely. For example, line 13 has only four metrical feet instead of the standard five that are classified as iambic pentameter. The prevalence of end- stopped linesin fact, enjambment appears solely in lines 4-6echoes Wyatts curtailed thoughts and rigid values; it is likewise effective when using sarcasm, magnifying its sharp, pithy wit. The first stanza of the poem is based on a metaphor. At first, Wyatt identifies himself as the hunter, while women are said to be his prey. The word flee (l .1), for instance, instills a sense of fear, as though the generic they (l. 1), later understood to be the female sex in general, were afraid of Wyatt. However, the caesura in line 1 marks the rapid reversal of the aforementioned roles: Wyatt shifts the blame from himself to the women, who are deemed to be creatures of seduction and danger, as evidenced by the words naked (l. 2) and stalking (l. 2) respectively; it is to be noted that the latter of the two words implies that the ladies were hunting Wyatt, not the other way around. The third line features an instance of catalexis, which implies that the initial impression the poet had of the ladies was fallacious: their so-called tameness vanished when they became wild (l. 4). The danger (l. 5) to which Wyatt alludes might be either marriage (i.e., they ran the risk of making him fall in love with them and thus proposing) or expulsion from court as a result of indecency. Enjambment occurs for the firstand, incidentally, lasttime in lines 4-6, revealing two things: firstly, Wyatt is evidently bitter, embarking on a diatribe meant for the ladies who now avoid him; secondly, it is a testament to the poets hubrishe believes that he is the one who has been wronged, despite abandoning the ladies. The caesura in line 6 puts a rather abrupt stop to his rant, marking the beginning of his lofty conclusion: the women are still on the hunt, as evidenced by the reiteration of the word seeking (l. 7), and yet the haughty dismissal in Wyatts tone implies that they will never find someone quite like him; moreover, the phrase continual change (l. 7) paints the ladies as heartless, egotistical creatures who periodically alter their personalitiesor at least the outward projection of their personalitiesto achieve their ends. 5. They flee from me, that sometime did me seek, a With naked foot stalking in my chamber. b I have seen them, gentle, tame, and meek, a That now are wild, and do not remember b That sometime they put themselves in danger b To take bread at my hand; and now they range, c Busily seeking with a continual change. c Thankd be fortune it hath been otherwise, d Twenty times better; but once in special, e In thin array, after a pleasant guise, d When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall, e And she me caught in her arms long and small, e Therewith all sweetly did me kiss, f And softly said, Dear heart, how like you this? f It was no dream, I lay broad waking, g But all is turned, thorough my gentleness, h Into a strange fashion of forsaking; g And I have leave to go, of her goodness, h And she also to use newfangleness. h But since that I so kindly am servd, i I fain would know what she hath deservd. i The second stanza begins on a positive note. The phrase it hath been otherwise (l. 8) implies that Wyatt used to be sought out by women. Moreover, while the construction twenty times better (l. 9) might be simply a hyperbole, it is also possible that it refers to twenty actual visits from various ladies. The caesura in line 9 juxtaposes Wyatts heretofore pleasant experiences and the one night that would turn the tables on him. The word guise (l. 10) may be interpreted as either the ladys demeanor or her disguise; the latter hints at the possibility that she was purposely setting him up. In addition, the fact that she caught (l. 12) him transfers the role of predator onto her and, at the same time, emphasizes his passivity, which is intended to exonerate him from all blame. Line 13 exhibits an instance of catalexis, which may imply that there is more than meets the eye to the ladys overtures; this, in turn, suggests forethought on her part, as though everything were orchestrated beforehand. The profusion of adjectives and adverbs in this stanza indicates that the situation seemed a trifle histrionic. It is to be noted that Wyatt recounts this incident with sarcasm and poorly concealed bitterness rather than nostalgia. Wyatts sarcastic tone comes to a head in the third stanza, dominating each of the seven lines. The poets use of the word gentleness (l. 16) is ironical, although Wyatt himself probably never intended such a meaning, as evidenced by the victim-like stance he seeks to adopt through the inclusion of a caesura in line 16, which contrasts the ladys heartlessness with his own meekness. That is to say, Wyatts manner of treating the ladies at court deserves retribution, but he refuses to see himself as blameworthy, trying to showcase his passivity in the hope of swaying everyone else. In line 17, the word strange is unlikely to refer to unfamiliarityafter all, Wyatt himself was intimately acquainted with the practice of jilting his loversbut rather to unusualness; Wyatt is used to being in charge, deserting his mistresses as he sees fit, but never has it happened to him before. The last four lines of the poem exude sarcasm. For example, the goodness (l. 18) of the lady is non-existent, as Wyatt evidently deems her cruel; the term newfangleness (l. 19) constitutes a subtle barb as a result of the implied undertone of promiscuity; the poet does not actually believe that he was treated kindly (l. 20), although, once again, the word is laden with ironykindly may also be defined as natural or normal, taken to mean that Wyatt received his just deserts. Wyatt reveals his true colors in the last line of the poem, taking on an exceedingly bitter tone spiked with no small amount of arrogant self- righteousness: he declares the lady guilty, implying that should he exact revenge, it would be well deserved. Analysis 2