I Find No Peace
by Sir Thomas
Wyatt
Paraphrased and analysed by Carol
Dandira
Biography of Sir Thomas
Wyatt
He was born in 1503 in the UK and passed away
in 1542, UK. He is quite famous for having an
affair with Anne Boleyn. He was arrested for
committing adultery with Boleyn in 1536 though
he was released thanks to his father’s friend,
Thomas Cromwell, and went back to his duties
of being Henry VIII’s (that king that had mother
issues) Sewer Extraordinary (or was it his
ambassador? Idk) . While he was in prison, he
witnessed Anne Boleyn being beheaded along
with five other men she had committed adultery
with. Wyatt got married to Elizabeth Darrell later
but some time later it was said that she was
going to be Henry VIII’s next wife, despite still
being married. Thomas died not long after that.
Heart breaking.
I find no peace, and all my war is done.
I fear and hope. I burn and freeze like ice.
I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;
And nought I have, and all the world I seize on.
That loseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison
And holdeth me not—yet can I scape no wise—
Nor letteth me live nor die at my device,
And yet of death it giveth me occasion.
Without eyen I see, and without tongue I plain.
I desire to perish, and yet I ask health.
I love another, and thus I hate myself.
I feed me in sorrow and laugh in all my pain;
Likewise displeaseth me both life and death,
And my delight is causer of this strife.
Let me rewrite
the poem for
you to
understand…
line by line!
Paraphrased by me.
I am not peaceful despite having nothing to worry about
I am scared yet hopeful. I am burning and freezing just like ice
I am flying higher than the wind but I can’t rise up
I have nothing yet I rule the whole world
I am neither free nor am I locked up in prison
Nothing is holding me back but either way, I can’t escape
I can’t live the way I want to, neither can I die by choice (kill myself)
Yet I always get thoughts of dying (suicidal thoughts)
I can see but I don’t have eyes, I can speak but I don’t have a tongue
I want to die but yet I take good care of my health
I love another person and therefore I hate myself
I make myself sad and laugh when I’m in pain
Both life and death don’t make me happy
And the things that make me happy are the ones that cause this self conflict
What is this poem
about?
It is about the persona’s conflict against their thoughts. They are in a state
of confusion as they do not know how they feel. The persona can be said
to be in love ‘I love another,’ but this love is both torture and joy. When
they are in love they ‘find no peace’ yet there is really nothing to worry
about as they are not fighting with anyone but their own emotions as they
cannot control them. This feeling of love is like a prison- locked in love.
They can easily escape this prison but at the same time they fail to do so.
The love they have for this person will not allow them to live freely though
they are not in the position to end their life, perhaps they think that the
person they love, loves them back and therefore ending their own life may
hurt the person. Because of this, the persona has self hate because the
love limits them to what they can do with their own life. Perhaps the
reason why this love hurts is because the persona is rejected, maybe their
love got them into serious trouble or they are failing to express their love
to that person. Either way, the feeling of love is the ‘causer of this strife.’
The poem may also just be of the mind of a generally depressed, anxious
and traumatized being who is deprived of joy, using the above analysis. For
the ‘I love another, and thus I hate myself’- you can actually say that the
persona pleases other people but forgets to put their joy first hence bla bla
bla (you get it…) … or something like that
Animation by Carlotta Notaro
on behance
Themes
Trauma
Wisdom
War and
peace
Imprison
ment
Death
Pain
Suffering
Tone
Distressing
Disturbed
Confused
Literary Devices
This is a
sonnet
Paradox
A statement that contradicts
itself
I find no
peace, and all
my war is
done
Welcomes the theme of confusion. The
peace here is peace of mind. The speaker is
having a war against their own thoughts
and emotions. The ‘war’ may be as a result
of trauma, some event that occurred and
left a permanent mark on their mind to the
extant that they ‘find no peace’ ‘til this day.
Their reason to worry is over but because
of the trauma, they have to live with it. The
theme of trauma is also introduced.
I fly above
the wind, yet
can I not
arise
The persona is free from any
physical struggle yet they cannot
get rid of their emotional pain.
And nought I have, and all the world I seize
on
(nought means nothing) The speaker is a good
example to other people yet they do not even
understand the meaning of life. They are
depressed but yet they show the world their
joyful side, pretending to be what they are
not.
That loseth nor
locketh holdeth
me in prison
The persona is not free yet they are not in prison. They are not free
from their mental instability despite not being in prison.
And holdeth
me not-yet
can I scape
no wiseNothing is holding back the
persona yet they cannot find
a way to escape their
melancholy.
I desire to perish, and yet I
ask health
This is passive suicidal ideation.
I love another
and thus I
hate myself
The reason for their
depression may be because of
someone they loved.
I feed me in
sorrow and
laugh in all
my pain
This shows the madness that
the depression is driving them
into.
Delight is cause of this strife
Oxymoron
Fear and hope
This shows his ambiguous mindset (just like the
rest of the oxymorons and paradoxes)
Burn and
freeze
This could mean that physically, they
are in pain or maybe they have a
confused mental state which they
cannot explain. Though burning and
freezing can go hand in hand as when
you hold ice for a long time you feel a
burning sensation
Letteth me
Live nor die
at my device
There is lack of freedom in
terms of their choices.
Even though they are
alive, their life is painful
and depressing and even
when they try to escape it,
their mind stops them
because of the fear of
missing out the better
aspects of life
Life and
death
The speaker hates
them both equally
though these are the
only states a human
can be in, it shows
suffocation and an
inescapable
claustrophobia.
simile
Burn and
freeze like ice
Ice is cold… obviously.
This simile is powerful as
it likens the word ‘freeze’
with something so cold…
maybe just like the
personas personality. Ice
doesn’t move, just like
how the persona is
unable to leave the
prison (their mind)
despite being unchained.
Visual
Imagery
I fly above the
wind
The shows the freedom the speaker
has but still remains sad.
All the world I
seize on
The speaker rules the whole
world despite their
depression, making it seem as
if they are joyous
Holdeth me in
prison
Claustrophobia
Without eyen I see
Tactile imagery
I burn and
freeze like
ice
Symbolism
ice
It is a symbol of rigidity, frigidity, the waters of the
earth as opposed to the fresh and living WATER of
the fountain of Paradise. It is coldness, absence of
love, difficult and unexplored territory not conducive to
human life and life in general. With winter, the season
of death
The symbolism of ice is rigidity and stillness that we
can readily relate to our present circumstances in life
when they appear to be standing still. Sometimes, we
associate ice with our emotions; in most cases, it
stands for a chilly individual devoid of any sentiments.
It also represents the absence of hate and,
occasionally, wrath. In both life and dreams, ice can
stand in for many different things. Ice’s primary
symbolism is cooling, of course, but it also has a
variety of additional, sometimes implicit, meanings.
Ice can represent an undiscovered entity since most
cold regions of the earth are uncharted.
wind
The wind represents nature's
uncontrolled and raw force.
The wind god represents
perseverance and power.
Weaklings, both mentally and
physically, are carried away by
the wind's enormous strength
prison
prison represents deprivation of freedom.
Prisons make people feel trapped and cannot
get out until the time comes. The symbolism
of prison is also related to the anxiety that
comes.
metaphor
All my war is done
The speaker likens their internal conflict to the literal
battle field. Though the battle is over, the trauma
continues to scar them emotionally. The battle
symbolizes trauma
Holdeth me
in prison
A prison is a lonely place. The
speaker does not have anyone
to share their sorrow with and
is forced to stay trapped on
their own in that state of
despondency.
I feed me in sorrow
The speaker lives with so much sorrow that it is now part of them. They
have gotten used to this that is becomes like their food.
Juxtaposition
War and peace
There’s actually a novel called ‘War and Peace’ and
its theme is – ‘The Irrationality of Human
Motives
Although a large portion of War and Peace
focuses on war, which is associated in our
minds with clear-headed strategy and sensible
reasoning, Tolstoy constantly emphasizes the
irrational motives for human behavior in both
peace and war’
According to SparkNotes.
The persona does not find it fair that they have to
live in confusion because of someone who
probably does not love them… (this can be argued
because the novel was written after the sonnet.
Burn and freeze
Love and hate
Life and death
Delight and strife
Pronouns
I
a break between words within
a metrical foot
Caesura
And holdeth me notyet can I scape no
wise
Hyperbole
War is done
I burn and
freeze like ice
I fly above the
wind
And nought I
have
Without eyen I
see, and without
tongue I plain
I feed me in
sorrow
Archaic
vernacular
Holdeth,
letteth, eyen
Allegory
Both about how
love makes the
speaker feel though
it can be about their
depression