Who So List To Hount I Knowe Where Is An Hynde Flashcards
Who wrote the poem?
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Good friends with Anne Boleyn, may have slept with her. Was imprisoned because too close to Anne Boleyn.
What is the poem about?
About ‘hunting’ the hynde which is a woman - Anne Boleyn. Some says it’s a metaphor for futility and how he has no power when she is in the position of the king.
Only the rich were allowed to hunt so there is an element of snobbery as he is talking to his friends. But hunting is a violent harmful thing, and even this pure masculinity can’t tame Anne Boleyn.
What kind of sonnet is it? What is the structure?
Petrarchan sonnet - Wyatt is credited by bringing the Italien sonnet to England
A Petrarchan sonnet has an octave (which usually sets up the argument) and a sestet (which often answers the argument). Wyatt reverses this and adds a rhyming couplet at the end which emphasises how she can’t be tamed as it doesn’t keep to tradition.
The octave is split into two Quatranes with envelope rhyme. And on line 9 is a Volta (telling the men not to bother)
In this poem the rhyme is ABBA, the A sections are more hopeful and open, the B sections are hopeless and tired
What is the significance of comparing the woman to a Hynde?
A Hynde is a baby deer, they are hunted like a woman would be, and often evade the gunshots, which shows how untameable she is.
What can be said about the title?
It has a cocky tone and is repeated in the first line. This heightens the speakers sense of masculinity and power over the object they are chasing
“But as for me, helas, I may no more;”
- to start the second line with a contrasting conjunctive, it offers the idea of something else being afoot and that there are obsticacles ahead. ‘But as’ is a trochee which changes the pace and rhythm.
- the onomatopoeic word ‘helas’ which is in between caesura, audibly displays his exhaustion from chasing this woman and slows down the poem
- ‘I may no more;’ describes him as an aging man who still wants to but physically can’t chase her anymore. Ends in caesura ‘;’ to pause and emphasise this sad fact
‘The vayne travail hath wearied me sore’
Travail is french for work - which likes to Anne Boleyns french heritage
All the work is a waste of time which adds to the hopelessness.
Long open vowels, slow lethargic pace
‘Yet may I by no meanes my wearied mynde’
- wearied is repeated to emphasise his exhaustion
- conjunctive, convincing others not to go for her
Monosyllabic words to pick up pace.
Mental exhaustion more than physical exhaustion, shows how his mind is attracted to her, deep affectionate love
‘Drawe from the Deere, but as she fleets afore fainting I followe.’
- Drawe from the Deere’, d sound alliteration. Soft sound - monosyllabic, fast panicked pace.
- contrasts to ‘as she fleets afore fainting I followe’ which has enjambment and has slow open vowels. Soft sounding hooves galloping in a relaxed slow state.
Contrasts of an aging tired man and a majestic capable woman. Emphasises her beauty and how she is more worthy than he.
‘I seke to hold the wynde’
She is as hard to catch as the wind, allusive and impossible. Untameable
‘And graven with diamondes in letter plain there is written her fairer neck round abowte:’
-juxtaposition of lavish jewels but a plain message - there are two sides to her story
- she has a collar and is owned. - to a modern reader, problematic, normal to 1500s reader
- diamonds can’t buy her
- the neck is a valuable, easy to kill someone, so can be damaged by clunky diamonds - Henry doesn’t care enough about her, only for visuals. Anne Boleyn died by her neck! The neck is also a sensual part of the body, can only be touched if allowed to
‘Noli me tangiere for Caesar’s I ame
And wylde for to hold though I seme tame.’
- Noli me tangere is Latin for don’t touch me. Imperative of her being in charge
- she is a wild animal even though she belongs to another, and Henry knows and appreciates she has her own mind and views
- wild and tame is paradoxical, she has more to her than the average girl
Rhyming couplet
why are trochees used?
to create disorganised rhythms.
For example, first land is in iambic pentameter and it changes after to show how the males feel they have the power of control.
