Whoso List to

Hunt, I Know
where is an
Hind

By Sir Thomas Wyatt

1503–1542
Whoso List to Hunt, I Know where is an Hind

What do we understand from the title of the poem?

 Whoever female deer
wants/ wishes

Whoso List to Hunt, I Know where is an Hind

What do we understand from the title of the poem?

 Whoever female deer
wants/ wishes

Whoso List to Hunt, I Know where is an Hind

Alternative title:

"The Lover Despairing to Attain Unto His Lady's

Grace Relinquisheth the Pursuit."

What do we understand from the title of the poem?

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
AO3: Context
 Friday, May 19, 1536

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, was

executed. Her husband, King Henry VIII,
claimed she had been unfaithful with at
least five different men.

In reality, her ‘crime’ was that she had

failed to produce a male heir and the King
had already moved his attention to one of
her ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour.

Amongst those arrested on charges of

adultery with the Queen, was Sir Thomas
Wyatt, a previous suitor of Anne’s. It was
rumoured he had been in love with her
but was ousted from her affections by the
“The bell tower King.
showed me such
a sight He was later released without charge,
That in my head thanks to his friendship with Thomas
sticks day and Cromwell. He is thought to have
night.” witnessed Anne’s execution from his cell.
 1503–1542
Sir Thomas Wyatt Introduced the sonnet into
the English language
Thomas Wyatt was a member of King Henry VIII’s court, acting
as an ambassador to the King. He was over six feet tall,
reportedly both handsome and physically strong. He was
married, but unhappily, and was rumoured to have been
romantically involved with Anne Boleyn, until 1524 when King
Henry sent him abroad. Sometime after, he separated from his
wife.

Wyatt said his aim as a poet was to experiment with the English None of Wyatt’s
tongue, in a time when it was thought brutish and clumsy. A poems were
published during
significant amount of his literary output consists of translations
his lifetime – the
and imitations of sonnets by the Italian poet Petrarch; he also
first book to feature
wrote sonnets of his own, experimenting with form and
any of his verse was
structure. He was the first to write sonnets in English, published 15 years
influencing his successor, Shakespeare. after his death and
the poem we’re
He is also one of the originators of the convention in love studying didn’t
poetry according to which the mistress is painted as hard- appear in public
hearted and cruel. until much later.
What could all this have to do with a
hunt?
Hunting in medieval times was a sport exclusively for royalty and the aristocracy. The elaborate
rituals of the hunt were an integral part of court etiquette, and skill in hunting was regarded as
the peacetime equivalent of prowess in chivalric wars.

Hunting scenes were common subjects in medieval and Renaissance art. The excitement of
the hunt was also captured in a special type of song in which the voices of the two singers
seem to chase one another. These types of song were written from the man's point of view
and were sung by men.

Hunting became an accepted metaphor for the elaborate rituals of courtship and courtly love,
with the woman represented by the deer.
Why a deer?
In Greek mythology, the deer is a very
significant animal. The goddess Diana (or
Artemis) is often accompanied by a deer,
representing her status as the goddess of
hunting and of virginity. The followers of
Diana were virgins. Deer were, therefore,
seen as a symbol of innocence and purity.

Diana, however, is a powerful goddess:

Acteon, a hunter, stumbled across Diana
when she was bathing in a spring.
Infuriated that he had seen her naked
form, she turned him into a deer – his own
hounds track him down and tear him to
pieces. She is therefore also seen as a
symbol of dangerous sexuality.

We’ll come back to this…

AO2: Language
 Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.

‘Alas!’

What is the poet saying here?

AO3: remember the context
information about hunting
as a metaphor for courtship, What might this be a metaphor for?
and about the goddess
Diana. What is the significance of the word ‘hélas’?
What about ‘I may no more’?
Why is this significant?
What might Wyatt be
suggesting about the ‘hind’
he may no longer hunt?
‘in vain’ = failure/ pointless
‘travail’ = work/ task

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that farthest cometh behind.

What is the poet saying here?

AO3: in Tudor times, people
used to hunt in groups. The
speaker is saying he has How is the metaphor of hunting extended?
chosen to be in the group
that comes last. This group What is the significance of the words ‘wearied’
was unlikely to have any and ‘so sore’?
success hunting.

Why is this significant?

 Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
ahead
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow.

What is the poet saying here?

Look at the word order in these lines. ‘may I’ and ‘draw’ are
on separate lines and ‘wearied mind’ has been moved
forward: alternate version = “yet I by no means may draw my
wearied mind from the deer”. The enjambment of these lines
creates suspense, with the verbs placed on the line below.
We must wait to find out what the action is. Why do you
think the poet does this?

Note the repetition of the word ‘may’. What is its significance

here?
 A repetition of the idea of quitting hunting and
the reason for this--
I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
since
hunting tool

What is the poet saying here?

What other metaphor is introduced here?

 Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
‘Just like me’

What is the poet saying here?

The speaker almost repeats the poem’s first

lines, here. What differences are there and why
are these significant?
 engraved clear

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
Latin for ‘Touch me not!’ What is the poet saying here?

What might ‘her fair neck round about’ refer to?

AO3: Caesar was a well- AO3: In John 20:17, Jesus
used metaphor or term for says “Touch me not, for I am
anyone of power similar to a not yet ascended to my
Roman emperor. A title, father.”
rather than a person.
AO3: In older times, you Is Wyatt suggesting that the
Who might be Caesar in could be killed for hunting deer is holy or sacred? How
this situation? the King’s deer (think about might this fit with the AO3
Robin Hood!) so the information we have
warning is serious. already been given?
AO2: Imagery
The hunt/ the chase
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
Alliteration reinforcing pace
and sounds of a hunt
Flight as a metaphor for the fact
she is not to be touched
Alliteration reinforcing sense
of exhaustion and/or sound of
the wind
Juxtaposition of wild/tame –
who does this remind you
of?
Wildness extends the
metaphor of her status: she
is not meant to be caught;
she is dangerous
AO2: Form / Structure
 Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Can you identify Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
the rhyme Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
scheme? Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind, A
But as for me, hélas, I may no more. B
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore, B
I am of them that farthest cometh behind. A
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind A
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore B
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore, B
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind. A
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt, C
As well as I may spend his time in vain. D
And graven with diamonds in letters plain D
There is written, her fair neck round about: C
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am, E
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame. E

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
What shift occurs in line nine in this poem?
This is a sonnet.
Typically, a sonnet is made up
of two parts: an octet (the first
eight lines) and a sestet (the
5 last six).
Here, the rhyme scheme
reinforces that idea, with the
first eight lines linked together.
10 Traditionally, a sonnet offers a
problem in the octet and a
solution in the sestet;
sometimes, the change
between the two is a simple
shift in mood or tone.
This shift happens in line nine
and is known as a ‘volta’ (or
‘turn’).
 Meter
The meter of the poem = the pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables per line

e.g. iambic pentameter

How many times this

The type of ‘foot’ (specific sequence happens in one line (how
of syllables) referring to many ‘feet’ per line)
stressed/unstressed sounds
(pentameter = 5 times)
(iambic = an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable: i-AM)
 This sonnet is written in
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind, iambic
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore, pentameter.
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore, BUT
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about: Let’s take a
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am, closer look at
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
Line 7.
 A stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed syllable: TRO-chee

Trochee Trochee

Fainting |I follow. | I leave off | therefore,

iamb spondee
A stressed syllable followed by
another stressed syllable: SPON-DEE
The stressed syllable at the start
emphasises the point that he is
fainting
Trochee
Fainting |I follow. | I leave off | therefore,
iamb
The regular meter here could
echo his surrender– he ‘follows’
Another emphasis, the reason
he is giving up will follow--
Trochee
spondee
‘I leave off’ becomes very loud or
‘heavy’, emphasising his decision to
stop hunting
AO4/5: Links and Interpretations
Petrarch's Sonnet 190

A white doe on the green grass appeared to me, with two golden
horns, between two rivers, in the shade of a laurel, when the sun
was rising in an unripe season.

Her look was so sweet and proud that to follow her I left every
task, like the miser who as he seeks treasure sweetens his trouble
with delight.

"Let no one touch me," she bore written with diamonds and
topazes around her lovely neck. "It has pleased my Caesar to
make me free."

And the sun had already turned at midday; my eyes were tired
by looking but not sated, when I fell into the water, and she
disappeared.

What similarities and differences can you see? How are they significant?
Is Wyatt’s poem a simple reworking or is it something more?
“In some cases, Wyatt's poems are so filled with verifiable historical data that
connects the speaker to them that it is almost impossible that they did not
mean the poem to be read as an expression of their own thoughts and
feelings. Even so, poems are not affadavits sworn on oath. They are works
of art. Turning life into literary art always re-presents the life elements within
the conventions and inventions of literature.”
-- A. Sanders

How can this quotation be related to ‘Whoso List to Hunt…’?

AO1: What kind of love is presented in this poem?

Think about:
• The characteristics of love
• The representation of the people involved
• The feelings of the speaker
• Any imagery or language used
• The way the structure and form reflects this

You can either:

Write a side of A4 to explain your answer.
Write a detailed plan of your answer.

Make sure you include and analyse quotations from the text.