May 04, 2017
Most of Thomas Wyatt's poems have been about love and "I Find No Peace And All My War Is Done" is no exception. The poem is about the frustration the poet or poem speaker faced in a certain love relationship. The poet opened the poem with the conclusion in his mind saying that since he couldn't find no peace, he would give up his fighting.
Line 2-7 further explains the poet's or the poem speaker's state of dilemma which precedes the poet's conclusion:
"I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice;
I fly above the wind, yet can I not rise,
And naught I have and all the world I seize on;
That looseth nor locket holdeth me in prison,
And holdeth, me not yet can I scape nowise;
Nor letteth me liv
e nor die at my devise"
The cause of the poet's frustration was shown in line 14 "And my delight is causer of this strife" meaning that his pains and sorrows were self-inflected due to his desire for love "I love another, and thus I hate myself"; the hatred was so strong to the point where he was displeased with living but didn't prefer dying as an alternative.
The poem has the theme of love, dilemma, unfulfilled emotion, vanity of possession when love is shattered, etc. As said at the beginning of this post, love is very paramount in the poem; where the poet expressed a certain love experience which led him to an unfulfilled emotional state, leaving him in a state of dilemma. Everything the poet acquired were worth nothing since he couldn't hold unto the love he desired.
The poem is a sonnet with end rhyme pattern of ABBAABBACDDCEE. It looks anti-climatic and has the old form of English language. The repetition of first person singular "I" made the poem more personal. Most lines of the poem are antithesis. Silmile in line 2 "freeze like ice", hyperbole in line 3 and 4 "I fly above the wind" "all the world Iseize on" alliteration in lines 5, 7, 13 "That looseth nor locket" "Nor letteth me live nor die at my devise" "Likewise displeaseth me both death" personification in line 14 "And my delight is causer of this strife" Assonance in lines 2, 3, 7, 9, "like ice" "fly above the wind, yet can I not rise" "die at my devise" "eye I see"
According to wikipedia.org article, "Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 11 October 1542) was a 16th-century English ambassador and lyrical poet. He is credited with introducing the sonnet into English literature. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent."
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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)
