Customer Reviews

The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

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Wyatt is, quite simply, a brilliant poet, taking the Petrarchan love poem and adapting it to represent life in the promiscuous court of Henry VIII. And "They Flee from Me" is one of the greatest poems in the English language. Rebholz's introduction and notes make this THE edition for serious study of Wyatt's achievement.

His voice still rings beautiful and true after five hundred years. What he has to say concerns our daily lives in this hard, competitive society as much as the intrigues of the Henrician court.

Let me start out by saying that I am NOT a devotee of poetry in general but I do see the attraction of the sonnet form. Like a good short story much is conveyed in very little. Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder is my 13G grandfather. My genealogical interests are what caused me to become acquainted with him. He and his father, Sir Henry Wyatt, acted as ambassadors for the Tudors at the great courts of Europe.
The unhappy nature of poet's marriage is evident throughout the body of his work. His wife, Elizabeth Brooke, came from a more socially prominent family. This, she apparently believed, entitled her to do just as she pleased; including freely taking lovers.
The search for true love, and the loneliness of betrayal create an air of melancholy which wafts over the reader and invites him to reflect upon the successes and losses of his own romantic life. As important as the fact that Wyatt introduced the sonnet form into English, this open and personal display of the artists hopes and dreams make him a intimate read.

This is the authoritative book on the subject of this the first modern English Poet - more neglected than he ought to be - out of print in Europe - Wyat survived life as a courtier/diplomat in the court of Henry 8th - a king as corrupted by power as its possible to be - a 16th C saddam Hussein - and yet produced these deeeply sensitive poems.