Analysis of Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where is an Hind

Sir Thomas Wyatt 1503 (Allington Castle, Kent) – 1542 (Clifton Maybank House, Dorset)



Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.


Scheme ABBAABBACDDCEF
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 1111111111 0101110111 11111101001 1111111101 110111111 101101111 1001111101 1101111111 1111111101 0101100101 1110011101 11111011 011111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 576
Words 123
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 438
Words per stanza (avg) 121
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 25, 2023

37 sec read
85

Sir Thomas Wyatt

Sir Thomas Wyatt was a 16th-century English politician, ambassador, and lyric poet credited with introducing the sonnet to English literature. more…

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