Analysis of "whoso List to Hunt" by Sir Thomas Wyatt

Analysis of "Whoso list to hunt" by Sir Thomas Wyatt

The sonnet "Whoso list to hunt" was written by Sir Thomas Wyatt who lived from 1503-1542. The sonnet is one among many literary works by Sir Thomas Wyatt, however none of his works were published in his lifetime, but several were published by the printer Richard Tottel in 1557, including "Whoso list to hunt". The sonnet is about a hind or a female deer. The persona is too tiered to hunt the female deer, but invites others to do so, although this might in the end be a waste of time. Sir Thomas Wyatt often refers to Anne Boleyn, a second wife of King Henry VIII in his work, which is assumably also the case in this sonnet.

The sonnet is a Petrarchan sonnet, which is the original type of sonnet deriving from Italy and is therefore also called the Italian sonnet. It is characterized by its structure and is introduced with an octave in abba-abba rhyme and followed by a sestet in cde-cde rhyme. Sonnets are often written in iambic pentameters, and "Whoso list to hunt" follows this structure.

In the octave Wyatt starts out by presenting the theme and problem of the sonnet. In the first 4 lines it introduces the reader to the hind and invites to hunt it. However the persona can no longer hunt it as he has become too tiered and old: "The vain travail hath wearied me so sore", and therefore he has come behind all the other hunters. In the next 4 lines the persona confesses that although he can no longer hunt the hind, he is not able to take his "wearied mind" off her. Nevertheless he has to, as she is impossible to catch, as written in the last line in the octave: "Since in a net I seek to hold the wind." This is metaphor telling us that she is as difficult to catch as it is to catch the wind in a net. Then we have the sestet, where the persona concludes on the issue presented in the octave. He now tells the reader that others who wish to hunt the hind also "may spend his time in vain". This is explained by the diamond necklace around the neck of the hind declaring: "noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am". This is a method said to have been used by Caesar to let hunters know which deer belonged to him. In Wyatt's sonnet however it symbolizes that Anne Boleyn belongs to the King, King Henry VIII and that pursuers including Wyatt himself should stay away.

Many things point to the fact that the hind is a metaphor for Anne Boleyn in this sonnet, as well as in many of Wyatt's other works. Wyatt is believed to have had a relationship with Anne Boleyn - a relationship that he at a time was imprisoned for. In "Whoso list to hunt" he declares that he gives up on his hunt for Boleyn as he has become tiered of it, and in the end acknowledges that she belongs to King Henry VIII.