When reading the poetry selections by Sir Thomas Wyatt, I sensed a parallel between the events of his life, the time period in which he lived, and the messages of his poems. Wyatt wrote these poems during the Renaissance and talked about the roles of women, power, and corruption.
The two poems that caught my attention were "I find no peace" and "Forget not yet." When reading both of these sonnets, I was moved by the words and phrases and felt a powerful message. In the first sonnet, "I find no peace," the title is the perfect description of the narrator's feelings. The entire sonnet is rhetorical - the narrator feels like they are flying above the heavens in bliss, but then lies on the ground as though hitting rock bottom. It seems that the narrator is stuck in some type of lympo, never completely satisifed, yet never understanding exactly what he/she wants. According to the modern prose translation of this sonnet, the last line blames all of this strife on one particular person. This sonnet was written for that very person to feel the struggle that the narrator is feeling. My one question when reading this sonnet was: what is the cause of this conflict? Feeling imprisoned and the thought of love both crop up in the middle of the poem, yet I do not know if the narrator is actually in love with the person that causes them strife. I think that the narrator uses the illusion of a prison to further describe how trapped he/she truly feels.
The second sonnet, "Forget not yet," seems as though it was a plea to the audience to remember what the narrator has done for him/her. The first two lines read, "Forget not yet the tried intent of such a truth as I have meant." The word "truth" describes fidelity, showing that the narrator is referencing some sort of relationship between themselves and a loved one. The second stanza asks the person to remember the pursuit to win them over and obtain his/her love. The sonnet goes on to allude that the love between these two people was not always blissful since the narrator asks him/her to not forget the trials and the denials that they had to fight through in order to get what he/she wanted. The last stanza is a reminder to the narrator's love that he/she has always loved them regardless of the time that has passed and the problems that have been encountered. I can imagine that Wyatt wrote this sonnet with a woman in mind.
I definitely see your point here. I was always told to ‘write what I know.’ It seems that Wyatt was able to really get into the perspective of the poem. However, I do feel that a truly brilliant poet can write about something they may not know about, and still be able to convince the readers that their poem is based on their life. This makes me wonder if Wyatt actually wrote about what he knew, or could create the illusion that he felt that way. It was funny that you picked those two poems, because I liked those two in particular also. The thing that struck me about them is how they could be poems that people in more recent times write. The language would obviously be a bit different, but the theme of each is relatable to problems that people experience with love today as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's any way to know for sure whether Wyatt wrote either of these poems for a particular woman or not. I'm sure he was at some point in love (or lust) with some woman or perhaps many, but poets often times address their poems to non-existent people merely for the sake of expression. Just take a look at most of the pop and rock love songs on the radio. Most of those artists didn't write their songs to woo a lover. They wrote them to make money and keep up their fan base.
ReplyDelete"I find no peace", I think, was written in very much the same spirit as most popular love songs are today. Wyatt had a career to maintain so he wrote what he knew would please his "fans". "I find no peace" is not at all extraordinary in its subject matter or presentation. The idea of a kind of torturous, courtly love that puts a lady up on a pedastule and encompasses her in a shroud of pure beauty and/or scorn for the lover is very typical for the Wyatt't time. To me, it seems a bit hyperbolic. I doubt if Wyatt actually felt that way in real life. He wrote like that because he knew that's what people wanted to hear.
Christina you ask what is the cause of this conflict in the sonnet “ I find no peace”? The narrator is in turmoil; he is in an emotional state of mind. He is in love with women but is so afraid of rejection from her “I fear and hope, I burn, and freeze like ice”. But he is still not willing to give up in trying to win her love. He is so afraid to talk face to face with her that the only way he can truly express himself is writing it into words.
ReplyDeleteI was actually very drawn to a particular part of your rumination: "The entire sonnet is rhetorical - the narrator feels like they are flying above the heavens in bliss, but then lies on the ground as though hitting rock bottom. It seems that the narrator is stuck in some type of lympo, never completely satisifed, yet never understanding exactly what he/she wants."
ReplyDeleteI find that this segment of your argument relates well to another of Wyatt's poems - "They flee from me." This poem also incorperates an unfortunate ending of rejection, which is very similar to the "rock bottom" that you described. I also agree with your argument that the narrator appears unsatisfied (essentially unsatiable). This is also shown through "They flee from me" in the way that he seems to have many mistresses but craves more and more. His craving for lust, love, or perhaps just companionship can not be calmed.
Christina I agree that it would make sense that Wyatt would be writing about his own life because these poems in particular seem to be written with great passion and emotion poured into it. Yet, I also see what some of our classmates are saying that a good poet would be able to pull these emotions from outside sources. Maybe someone close to him like a family member or friend was in a situation like the one he describes and that is why he felt it was important enough to write about? I don't know-I'm torn. Another thing I wanted to comment on was what Jennah said- that these poems could have been written in modern times. Everyone has love, boyfriend/girlfriend troubles or has friends with these problems- it's a part of most people's everyday lives. The themes behind these poems could definitely apply to life these days. We know this from the feelings of empathy for the author we get when we read these poems.
ReplyDeleteThe themes of these poems are definitely themes that still resonate today, after all, when is love not going to be important in art? What I don't think would come across today is the way in which they were written. Like Joanna pointed out, the over the top style that Wyatt used to describes his feelings was in vogue at the time. In our times however I think most people wouldn't relate, the emotional descriptions he gives are too extreme for our culture.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Sir Thomas Wyatt's poetry I could really feel the emotions his poems are expressing. I could feel the love... then the disappoint. Who really knows if his poems were about a specific woman/women. As I read them, I would like to think that they were, but maybe that is because I usually write about personal experiences of my own. I agree with some of you, that poets, song writers, etc. are capable of writing about something that was not specifically personal to them. I do think, and agree with Jennie, that Wyatt could have been writing about a situation that a friend told him. As writers, don't we all mostly write about the connections we have to the text or from stories we have heard from from someone else?
ReplyDeleteThe Renaissance was a period of love. Love has always been an interesting and popular topic. Love will always be interesting.
Most of the songs today, like Joanna has mentioned, are about love and I agree that sometimes they are just written to make money, but then I think about song writers who write their own songs, like Taylor Swift, and most of her songs are about personal experiences (either falling in love or heartbreak). I think we have to remember that the person singing the song, is not always the person who wrote the song.
Love has never changed, but the language that we use to express love certainly has and that is where I can agree with Steve. Songs are really poetry and today, I think most people rather listen to a song about love than read a love poem.
Christina - very interesting rumination! I can certainly see the parallels that you write through the use of your textual support. It is always interesting to try to find an allegory between a writer's work, and the historical context it was written in. However, I learned the hard way (many papers written in a similar manner to this Rumination), that as an audience member sometimes it is best to avoid making assumptions/connections regarding the reflection of the author's personal life within his or her writing. Regardless, great writing, great observations and great Rumination!
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