Whoso List to Hunt

E655436

"Whoso List to Hunt" is a sonnet by Sir Thomas Wyatt that adapts a Petrarchan theme of unattainable love through the metaphor of a futile deer hunt, often associated with Anne Boleyn.

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Label Occurrences
Whoso List to Hunt canonical 1

Statements (42)

Predicate Object
instanceOf poem
sonnet
adaptationOf a Petrarchan sonnet about unattainable love
approximateCompositionDate early 16th century
associatedWith Anne Boleyn NERFINISHED
author Sir Thomas Wyatt NERFINISHED
centralImage hind (female deer)
collectedIn Tottel’s Miscellany (attributed to Wyatt in later scholarship) NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin England
device Latin biblical allusion
allusion to Caesar
form Petrarchan sonnet
genre courtly love poetry
historicalContext court of Henry VIII NERFINISHED
inspiration Francesco Petrarca NERFINISHED
language English
literaryMovement Petrarchism NERFINISHED
literaryPeriod English Renaissance NERFINISHED
literarySignificance early example of English Petrarchan sonnet
important work in Wyatt’s adaptation of Petrarch
metaphor futile deer hunt
meter iambic pentameter
narrativePerspective first person
notableLine Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am
numberOfLines 14
openingLine Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind
originalLanguage Early Modern English
refrainElement the speaker gives up the hunt
rhymeScheme abba abba cddc ee
setting royal courtly environment
studiedIn English literature courses
subjectMatter a lover pursuing an unattainable woman
subjectOf literary criticism on Tudor court politics
scholarly debate about its reference to Anne Boleyn
symbol collar inscribed with Noli me tangere
hind as a symbol of the beloved
theme desire and renunciation
frustration in courtly love
power and possession
unattainable love
tone resigned
weary

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Thomas Wyatt notableWork Whoso List to Hunt