I FIND NO PEACE BY THOMAS WYATT

A SHORT NOTE ON THE POET

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 11 October 1542) was a 16th-century English ambassador and
lyrical poet. He is credited to have introduced the sonnet into English together with Henry
Howard. 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 Councillors, 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 was published during his
lifetime—the first book to feature his verse, Tottel's Miscellany of 1557, was printed a full
fifteen years after his death.

Rumoured affair with Anne Boleyn

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
problems.
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
travelled extensively as a diplomat for the English monarchy. His first mission was to France
in 1526, during which he 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. 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. Nineteenth-century critic Rev. George Gilfillan implies that
Wyatt and Boleyn were romantically connected. To quote a modern historian "that they did
look into each others eyes, and felt that to each other they were all too lovely..” is a quite
possible scenario. In his poetry, Thomas calls his mistress Anna, and often embeds pieces of
information that correspond with her life into his poetry.

"And now I follow the coals that be quent, From Dover to Calais against my mind..." These
lines could refer to Anne's trip to France in 1532 right before her marriage to Henry VIII.
This could imply that Thomas followed her to France to try and persuade her otherwise or
merely to be with her. Later in his life, Thomas writes the poem "Whoso List To Hunt",
which refers to a woman, "Graven in diamonds with letters plain, There is written her fair
neck round about, Noli me tangere, Caesar's, I am;"

This shows Wyatt's obvious attraction to a royal lady. According to his grandson George
Wyatt, who wrote a biography of Anne Boleyn many years after her death, the moment
Thomas Wyatt had seen "this new beauty" on her return from France in winter 1522 he had
fallen in love with her. When she attracted King Henry VIII's attentions sometime around
1525, Wyatt was the last of Anne's other suitors to be ousted by the king.

According to Wyatt's grandson, after an argument over her during a game of bowls with the
King, Wyatt was sent on, or himself requested, a diplomatic mission to Italy.
Themes:
1. Unrequited love and its accompanying torments:
This theme is made bare in almost all the lines of the poem. The poet clearly tells us that he is
overtly in love with a mistress or a lady: ‘I love another’. This fact produces in him
uneasiness and violent emotional surge of conflicting passions as his love is unrequited. The
details of this he gives in lines 2- 8.

The poet is overpowered with the intense feeling of love that deeply disturbs his inner world
with contradictory pulls. He bears hope as well 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
‘device’ (will). He desires to ‘perish’ yet, asks for ‘health’. He feeds himself ‘in sorrow’ and
laughs at his pain.’

This profound passion of love which is not reciprocated has a paralysing effect on his mind as
it robs him of rest, peace and comfort. His life becomes painfully tragic under this situation,
hence his longing for death, which he believes might make him experience some respite after
all. But then, he sees no basis for this as love prevents him from welcoming untimely death.
In a way, love has taken charge of his life, and regulates his emotions.

He has indeed turned to a puppet in the hands of passion. Even at that he is unwilling to let
go, not even when he realises that it is his delight that has brought him so much pains:
And my delight is causer of this strife.
The experience of Wyatt is similar to that of anyone who is deeply in love, particularly when
the love is not returned.

2. Death as a route to Peace:

There is a popular belief that death marks the end of pains, anguish, etc. This belief is, no
doubt, re-echoed in this poem. The poet, due to the conflicting emotions he suffers as a result
of his inability to secure his beloved’s love, feels “naught I have”, that is, he has nothing;
hence, he desires to die, to perish, perhaps hoping that will bring an end to his miseries . But
then, he desires to live, to have health, hoping he might win his lover’s love after all.
It appears the poet has seen beyond the common belief that death brings succour to man, just
as he does not see any sense in a world that deprives man of his joy:
‘Likewise displeaseth me both life and death’

Other Possible theme

- Frustration/Dilemma of a lover
Poetic Devices:
1. Antithesis
This figure of speech is extensively used in this poem as the poet makes use of words or
phrases that contrast with each other to create a balanced effect. Lines 2- 6, 10, 11 and 13
contain this quality.
2. Metaphor/Imagery: Line 1: imageries of ‘war’ (conflicting emotion, or state), ‘peace’
(tranquillity, serenity, quietness), ‘burn’ (excessive discharge of emotion) and ‘freeze’
(coldness, lifelessness) are used in the poem.

3. Simile: line 2:
freeze like ice.
4. Epigram: line 14
And my delight is causer of this strife.
NOTE: Epigram: originally a short poem of two or four rhyming lines making a telling, often
humorous statement. Now any brief single line which sums up a poem is referred to as
epigrammatic.

5. Paradox: Without eyen I see (L 9) , laugh in all my pain (l. 12).

Note: these contradictions underline the conflicting emotions of the poet, among other things