Conventions Of Love In John Wyatt's 'Whoso List To Hunt'

Introduction:

Although, people might say out of emotions that their feelings are so intense that they cannot be expressed in words. Because of the same emotion, people may say that love cannot be described by words. It is evident that the language has proved to be sufficient enough to not only analyze, dissect or explain the feelings of love from so many angles, but also the chemical reactions happening in the body when somebody is in love. Subversions of conventions of love is not the matter of insufficiency of language but a matter of how a poet experiences love or how a poet chooses to express those experiences.

Thesis:

Even though poets are looking for new ways to portray love and hence subverting the conventions, it is mainly the poet’s era and ethos that determines how he/she represents love. An abreast analysis of a poet’s life and their work allow

Wyatt portrayed himself as a frustrated and regretful lover who can no longer hunt (get back) a hind (his lover) because he already lost his love for the sovereign. This is a perfect example of subversion of courtly love where lovers normally keep loving the mistress even if she is out of reach or belongs to somebody else.

Another line of the poem states “Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.” the narrator correlated the catching of wind in a net to emphasize his pointless chase to get back his former love. The essence of the poem was to narrate the Wyatt’s inner condition that he couldn’t get his love and in response what he possessed was a never ending agony.

In Wyatt’s another verse “How like you this, what hath she now deserved?” from “They flee from me” it is clearly seen that Wyatt has condemned a cruel lover which again is against the rules of courtly