WHOSO LIST TO HUNT
CONTEXT
• Wyatt (the speaker) and Boleyn (the deer) were rumoured to be lovers
• The poem was published fifteen years after his death
• Adultery with another man’s wife was considered dishonourable; king
Henry VIII beheaded five men accused of adultery with Anne Boleyn.
She was beheaded for not producing a male heir.
CONTEXT (AO3) & TYPICAL LOVE POETRY
(AO4)
Renaissance poetry (1500-1660) Written during the Tudor period (1485-1603 refers to the
rule of the Tudor Dynasty) and when Henry VIII was on the throne. Wyatt – most successful
sonneteer of Tudor poets
 Love poetry was typically about an ideal, romantic love
 It was common for a sonnet to be about courtly love and the celebration of a woman’s
beauty; they are normally an object.
 Love poetry was often presented as a battle ground where men pursued the object of
their affection but often suffered as a result of their advanced being spurned.
 Wyatt was greatly influenced by Petrarch; he wrote mostly about complaints about love
and its effects on the suffering individual. Sonnets often featured an animal symbolising
an aspect or object of love.
 Love is painful and challenging but infinitely rewarding
CONTENT
• A poem which tells of an unsuccessful hunt for a deer but
could be interpreted as a metaphor for Wyatt’s ultimately
unsuccessful pursuit of Henry VIII’s wife Anne Boleyn.
• Many poets at the time were imprisoned or executed for
treason; metaphors were used to protect their author
• He introduced Petrarch’s sonnet form to England and used
his Sonnet 190 as a a source of inspiration for this poem
• Ideas of: unrequited love, rejection, forbidden love
FORM
• Petrarchan sonnet
Octave (first 8 lines ) = tells how the pursuit of the deer has been painful and that he must
accept defeat as he has no chance of capturing her (the problems)
Volta on line 9 = his warning to all other suitors/ hunters that she is the King’s property and
the pursuit is futile (advice to others)
Rhyming couplet at the end of the sestet= Not only do I belong to the King but I am of a wild
nature too. A double rejection? What tone does the rhyming couplet give the lady
speaking?
Impact of this structure?
Abba abba cddc ee
STRUCTURE - MACRO
 Narrates an epiphany , a realisation of the futility of the pursuit –where does this
happen in the poem?
The couplet reverses the expected power attributed to a deer being hunted
STRUCTURE - MICRO
• Octave & sestet including a rhyming couplet at the end. What does this structure add
to the meaning of the poem?
• Regular rhythm with loosely ten syllable lines using iambic metre – what is the effect
of this?
• End stopped lines except for lines 5-7 which describe his inability to stop pursuing
the deer. Effect?
• Caesura around ‘helas’ – what is the impact of this?
IMAGERY
The use of a deer hunt to present his pursuit of Anne Boleyn is
called a conceit (an extended metaphor) that allows a more
intellectual, sophisticated understanding of the object through
its comparison.
‘in a nett I seke to holde the wynde’ – juxtaposes man and
nature to show the futile battle he faces
LANGUAGE
• ‘Father of the Drab’ C S Lewis on Wyatt’s unornate language
But he is known for complex conceits – something that
foreshadowed their use by the metaphysical poets (John
Donne etc)
SOUND
• Sibilance ‘so sore’ – emphasis on his pain and evoke
sympathy in reader
• Discordant sound ‘Drawe from the Deere’ the hard sounds
showing the difficulty he experienced when trying to
relinquish the lady
IS WHOSO LIST TO HUNT TYPICAL FOR THE
TIME OF WRITING? YES……
 Wyatt was greatly influenced by Petrarch; he wrote mostly about complaints about love and its
effects on the suffering individual. Sonnets often featured an animal symbolising an aspect or
object of love.
The poem features a ‘Deere’ that the speaker desires to ‘hount’. Why has the metaphor of a deer
been used to represent he object of his affection?
 A deer was the property of the King and to hunt it without permission resulted in execution
 Horns or antlers commonly symbolised cuckoldry
 Deer hunting was seen as resistance to tyranny – protest against aristocracy’s claim to the forests
and food within it
 Deer was associated with the Greek virginal huntress Artemis – a moral resistance is implied
IS WHOSO LIST TO HUNT TYPICAL FOR THE
TIME OF WRITING? YES……
Love poetry was often presented as a battle ground where men pursued the object of
their affection but often suffered as a result of their advanced being spurned.
1. What tone is evoked with the interjection ‘helas, I may no more’?
2. The speaker calls his pursuit a ‘Vain travail’ – what does this mean?
3. Has he enjoyed the pursuit if it has ‘weried me so sore’?
4. Why has he been spurned? ‘Noli me tangere for Cesars I ame’ (Cesar was a
powerful Roman / by Cesar he alludes to who? / there is a second interpretation if
you consider this as a biblical allusion to Christ’s words to Mary Magdalene.
IS WHOSO LIST TO HUNT TYPICAL FOR THE
TIME OF WRITING? MAYBE NOT…
• Love is painful and challenging but infinitely
rewarding
• Does the poem ultimately reflect love as rewarding?
IS WHOSO LIST TO HUNT TYPICAL FOR THE
TIME OF WRITING? MAYBE NOT…
• It was common for a sonnet to be about courtly love and the celebration of a woman’s
beauty; they are normally an object.
• How is she not just a passive object?
• Would a feminist reading of the poem condemn Wyatt for adopting a hunting
metaphor which implies male ownership or is it possible to commend Wyatt on
breaking with convention by creating a spirited female subject?
IS WHOSO LIST TO HUNT TYPICAL FOR THE
TIME OF WRITING?
Wyatt’s sonnet is very typical of Renaissance love poetry
because it presents/ explores/ bemoans…….
Write for 7 minutes answering this question. Try to embed
short quotes from the poem and make links to literary
conventions at the time and contextual details. Put the
poem at the centre of your answer