Whoso List to Hunt, by Thomas Wyatt, describes the act of chasing after unrequited love. The poet relates this chase for love to the speaker hunting a female deer. With regards to the hunt, the speaker tiredly reflects upon his personal experience chasing the deer. The sonnet’s tone revels that the speaker reflects cheerlessly. Additionally, the poet describes the speaker’s fixation for unrequited love by showing the speaker progressively becoming less calm. Throughout this piece, Thomas Wyatt plays around with the English language to create double meanings within his sentences.
For instance, the speaker at one point seems so against chasing the deer, however, the sentence rearrange exposes that the speaker is actually asking for permission to look at the deer. As a result, the poet really captures the speaker questioning if he should continue to chase after unrequited love. In the subsequent paragraphs, I hope to explain how the form of this sonnet creates its sense and supports its meaning. The speaker begins this sonnet by energetically stating the location of a female deer to whoever cares to hunt.
After this initial statement, the speaker dismally reveals that he no longer can chase after this deer. He calmly submits this statement in the following terms “Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind/ But as for me, alas, I may no more”(1-2). With regards to line one, the poet illustrates that the speaker really wants to say something by adding an extra syllable to the sonnet’s meter. Additionally, the poet generates the pace of this steady chase by employing a steady iamb foot pattern. As for line two, the poet portrays the speaker’s emotional shift by including a pause in the middle of the line.
As a result, this pause provides the speaker time to reflect; the speaker returns from this contemplation sadly stating that he is no longer allowed to chase the deer. Following the statement above, the speaker confesses the effects the chase had on him. Furthermore, the poet begins to slowly strip the speaker of his calmness and his sanity. The poet suggests this idea in the following lines “The vain travail hath wearied me so sore/I am of them that farthest cometh behind”(3-4). Concerning line three, the poet utilizes somber verbs and adjectives to further express the futility of the chase.
Also, the poet accentuates the future results of this chase by rhyming “more” with “sore” in lines two and three. As a result of this rhyme, the speaker begins to question why he bothers to pursue unrequited love if it will only continue to hurt him. Essentially, the speaker states that he is unable to emotionally take anymore soreness in his heart. As for line four, the poet broke the meter to show that the speaker is becoming less calm and more confused. In fact, the poet adds this syllable to a very confusing preposition that describes the speaker being in the group that finishes last in pursuing love.
The poet contains this confusing preposition to emphasize that the speaker doesn’t quite realize where he fits in with respect to the deer. Furthermore, the rhyme held between “hind” and “behind” shows how the speaker is continuously realizing how futile it is for him to chase the deer. Regardless of his effort, the speaker always ends up behind the deer. Next, the poet begins to explore the speaker’s fixation to the chase for unrequited love. Consequently, the speaker begins to sound less calm as he searches for the reason for why he pursues this love.
The poet suggests these complicated ideas in the following lines “Yet may I by no means my wearied mind/ Draw from the deer: but as she fleeth afore/ Fainting I follow. ”(5-7&1/2). With regards to these lines, the poet arranged this sentence to produce a double meaning. Reading it line by line, the speaker seems to be so adamantly against chasing the deer. However, when reading this sentence from the subject to the verb on the next line, the speaker is asking if he is allowed to draw from the deer.
Thus, these lines introduce the idea that the speaker wishes to rid his mind of this deer, however, it seems the speaker just can’t stop thinking about the deer. Furthermore, this sentence breaks the pattern held through previous sentences by ending in the middle of a line. Interestingly enough, the speaker just received sight of deer in the ending of the previous line. Immediately following this initial sight is the phrase “Fainting I follow. ” Therefore, the poet emphasizes the power the deer has over the speaker’s mind by dragging his thought onto the following line.
On the other hand, the end rhyme held between “afore” and “therefore” in line six and seven embodies a cause and effect idea where the speaker is trying to rationalize his reasoning for chasing the deer. Specifically, the idea is simply that the deer went somewhere, so he chased it. Consequently, this simplified reason for chasing the deer illustrates the weakness this man feels for not being able to catch his love. Obviously, he refuses to admit his fixation for her love, instead he concocts the idea that he doesn’t truly understand why he chases after the deer.
As a result of these mixed thoughts, the speaker seems to be the least calm within this section of the sonnet. Following those lines, the speaker finally announces that he is giving up on chasing the deer. He suggests that the chase for unrequited love is pointless in the following terms: “I leave off therefore, / Since in a net I seek to hold the wind. ” (7&1/2-8). With regards to line eight, the poet arranges this line to produce the idea that the speaker trapped himself in his own net. This arrangement emphasizes the idea that pursuing unrequited love could only trap the hunter.
Specifically, this trap is the hopeless feelings the speaker has toward chasing the deer illustrated by the impossible idea of catching the wind with a net. What is more, the speaker points out by using a specific hunting equipment such as a net, that the deer can not be caught with normal hunting methods. The deer seems to be unattainable as a result. Also, the poet reinforces the idea that the speaker gives up on chasing the deer by refusing to rhyme the word “wind. ” As a result, this line shows how empty the speaker feels since the speaker is giving up hope on ever catching the deer.
After the speaker finally gives up on chasing the deer, the speaker then calmly goes on to state that nobody can catch this deer. The speaker gives out this statement in the following lines “Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,/ As well as I may spend his time in vain:”(9-10). The poet arranges this sentence to specifically deliver this message to the hunters and the possible owner of the deer. For instance, line nine zones in on the speaker specifically stating that “he puts him out of doubt. ” This shifts the message toward an individual since him is a singular pronoun.
However, when reading this sentence from subject to verb, the speaker stresses that anyone who goes after this deer will without a doubt spend their time in vain just like him. Why would the speaker reveal the location of this deer if he is telling all hunters that there is no chance for them to catch it? For this reason, the speaker seems to proclaim that if he can not have the deer than nobody can. Therefore, the sonnet’s message shifts from informative advise to a warning to future hunters. In the next section, the speaker finally begins to describe an image of the deer.
However, the speaker mainly focuses on the warning that is written on the deer’s collar. The poet creates this image in the following lines: “And, graven with diamonds, in letters plain/ There is written her fair neck round about:”(11-12). With regards to these lines, the speaker exposes that he is close enough to read the message that is written around the deer’s neck. Therefore, the speaker must be pretty close to this woman in real life. Alternatively, the speaker begins to seem anxious as he zooms in on the plain letters. The speaker seems anxious since this line ends with suspense since it does not state the message.
Additionally, “plain” rhymes with “vain” which emphasizes the previous idea that this deer is obviously unattainable. On the other hand, the speaker reveals that the inscription is written in diamonds. Because diamonds are expensive, this detail divulges that the owner of the deer is a wealthy man. As for line twelve, the poet arranged this line to read in a circular motion. For instance, the arrangement of the clause “There is written her fair neck round about” causes the reader to read from the phrase “There is written” to the object “round about” and lastly the location seen in the phrase “her fair neck.
This causes the reader to read the words in a circular motion like the words written on the deer’s neck. In the next couple lines, the speaker describes the intimidating message written around the deer’s neck. He suggest that the message should stop most people from chasing the deer in the following lines: “Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am;/ And wild for to hold, though I seem tame. ”(13-14). With regards to line thirteen, this line contains eleven syllables as opposed to ten to emphasize Caesar’s power. Essentially, the poet shows that Caesar has enough power to disregard the sonnet’s form.
Therefore, Caesar’s name should intimidate the speaker, however, the speaker stated earlier that he just gave up chasing the deer. Thus, the speaker originally believed that chasing this love is worth risking his life. However, the speaker gives up since catching a deer owned by Caesar is impossible. Caesar could represent a man who can provide someone with anything they desire. How could the speaker compete with a man like Caesar? Additionally, the words “am” and “tame” share a similar vowel sound. When put to together, these words give the sonnet a sense of closure for the speaker.
Essentially, the speaker announces that he is content with giving up on catching the deer. On the other hand, this rhyme describes the deer’s ownership. However, since this rhyme is imperfect, the connection between the two words produces the idea that the deer is not completely caught. Lastly, these lines are a couplet. For this reason, the poet emphasizes the relationship held between Caesar and the deer. With regards to line fourteen, the arrangement “Wild for to hold” states that the deer is too much to handle. Subsequently, the clause “though I seem tame” signifies that the deer gives mixed signals.
As a result, these two line do not provide closure for this sonnet. Therefore, the chase either closes with the last line of this sonnet or continues again depending on the speaker’s final decision. The poet forms this final decision to be the made not only by the speaker, but also by the reader. As previously stated, the sonnets message went from a statement to a warning. However, this warning encompasses all hunters including the speaker. Should hunters chase after an unattainable deer? Should love stricken individuals chase after unrequited love?
The speaker throughout this poem states that the chase for this love is futile. However, he continues to question whether he should entirely give up on the chase. For instance, this sonnet contains details explaining how tired the poet is by emphasizing details such as how sore he is. So why does the speaker decide to give up now? The poet presses the idea that the speaker finally realized how futile the chase is. Additionally, the speaker seems to be an emotionally mess. However, there is evidence that the speaker might react differently if the deer comes wandering to him.
For example, the speaker speaks against chasing the deer but can’t take his eyes off of it. Furthermore, the speaker is close enough to the deer to realize that the deer belongs to Caesar. Lastly, the final phrase “though I seem tame” signifies that the deer may not be completely caught. Therefore, the speaker seems to still be in on the chase, however, the speaker is now just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Essentially, the speaker is still hunting the deer, but instead of chasing, the speaker seems to be waiting in a deer stand.