Chapter - 7

"I Find No Peace And All My War is Done"

- Sir Thomas Wyatt

Question- What was the Thomas Wyatt's contribution as a sonneteer in Elizabethan Age?

Or
The sonnet as a verse form usually expresses personal feelings. Discuss this statement with reference to the sonnets of Thomas Wyatt.
Or
Write a note on Thomas Wyatt was a pioneer in English sonnet writing.

Answer -

Thomas Wyatt was the first English poet, who introduced 'sonnet' in English language. Not only this, he also developed and modified it considerably. It is because of his contribution of Wyatt, that he occupies an important position in the history of English literature. Though Wyatt's sonnets lack intrinsic merits yet his contribution for English language is not unsignificant. According to F.W. Lever, "Wyatt proved to be very beneficial to the later Elizabethan poets".

In the court of Henry VIII, group of poets arose who would make significant contribution to development of literature in English. Chief among these 'Courtly makers' were sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of surrey Latter Wyatt was identified as the father of modern English poetry: it is with his translations from Petrarch, the tradition in English poetry begins.

Wyatt and other who followed him. "exercised" the vernacular in two ways:

They translated from classical models like Petrarch, they experimented with a great variety of lyric measures in an effort to restore flexibility lost after Chaucer.

Since Chaucer's day, English had undergone many semantic and grammatical changes. By the sixteenth century, writers had to workout their own stylistics and metrics.

These early poets were basically craftsmen rather than artists in the standard sense :

• Father than originating fresh. themes, they repeatedly treated a conventional sulyect matter is an effort to create a fluid style.
• They borrowed, initiated and translated from Italian and French poets, as well as from one another.
• They circulated their poetry in manuscript from relied on each other than the large public for encouragement and criticism. Petrarch had divided his sonnets into two parts - the octave and the sestet. Each part embodied one thought but both were integrated into a whole. The rhyme scheme of the octave is abba, and that of sestet is-

(i) cde, cde or
(ii) cde, edc or
(iii) ccd, cdd.

The petrarchan sonnet was sincere and passionate expression of the love for the beloved.

Petrarchan sonnets have a vigour and freshness but after him the passion and the emotions disappeared and sonnet writing became a formal and intellectual exercise. It was blamed monotonous and stereotyped, written according to a formula. Wyatt also could not impart passion and emotions into his sonnets in a true sense to lend a vigour and freshness to his sonnets.

• He often seems unsure of where the stress or accent should fall in a line.
• He often cannot sustain an idea through the entire design of poem, which is critical in the sonnet.
• His spellings are inconsistent which makes the line unclear.
• Most often he uses Petrarchan conventions (the lover as a ship tossed on the seas of love; the lover alternately freezing and burning hot, among them).
• His language and syntax are difficult, making his sonnets a bit tougher to "crack".
• He generally translates from Italian models, which mean his themes or issues don't usually originate with him.
• He generally follows the rhyme scheme of abba, cddc, effe, gg.
• He often presents the two sides of love-physical and spiritual, but no union between them, which makes his work slightly different from Petrarchan mold.

Berdan, an American critic observes that Wyatt's sonnets are mostly translations; imitations and adoptations of Petrarch and lack any permanent value as poems. He intellectual exercise, a poet, first selects a metaphor and then carries it to the last or he further tries to think out the analogies for embellishment. Waren on 18th century critic is also of the view that Wyatt torture passions of love by intricate-comparisons and unnatural allusions and uses common and fantastic thoughts.

However, whatever the critics may say, Wyatt did write, at least, half a dozen sonnets that have merit. In these sonnets, the fire of love burns with a glow and Wyatt imparts emotions and passions, fervour and enthusiasm. In these sonnets we hear for the first time the fervent voice of the poet's heart.

As in the use of form he followed petrarchan model but in the treatment of theme he rejects. Petrarchan attitude revolts against the servility enjoyed by the lover on the code of chivalry. Rather he tells his mistress bluntly that he would no longer fall into her snares. He seems to be disillusioned, disappointed and dissatisfied with his beloved, he says: "It was no dream, for I lay broad awaking But all is turned now, through my gentleness into a bitter fashion of forsaking."

Unlike Petrarch he seems to be sceptic in his approach. His approach is more realistic, bold and blunt. Sometimes he asks for reciprocated love and some other times, he has ambivalent approach towards his beloved. He also uses personal and autobiographical note in his poetry. At times he makes his picture complicated by means of paradoxes and by the use of irony.

To conclude, it can be said that Wyatt is historically important as a sonneteer in the history of English literature, he modified the form of sonnet which later came to be known as Shakespearean sonnet. However, some of his sonnets deserve to be praised though none of them can be considered as great J. W. Lever says, "He contributed significantly to the Elizabethan poetry".

C.S. Lewis has called the age of Wyatt as Drab Age of English poetry.

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