Thomas Wyatt as a Sonneteer II Sir Thomas Wyatt as a Poet II Sir Thomas Wyatt Introduction

 

INTRODUCTION:

Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) has been hailed as the pioneer of sonnet in English literature. He is also known as the first importer of Italian Petrarchan sonnet into English literature. Wyatt visited Italy, on some diplomatic missions and he was much inspired by the 14^th century Italian poet, Francesco Petrarch, a great name in sonnet writing. Influenced by Petrarch’s sonnets, Thomas Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet in England and he himself started writing sonnet in English in Petrarchan style. Before Wyatt, this form of sonnet was not attempted by anyone in England. Hence, he was the pioneer of sonnet writing in English literature.

MAJOR POETICAL WORKS OF THOMAS WYATT:

Wyatt wrote 90 love poems which appeared posthumously (1557) in an anthology called ‘Tottel’s Miscellany’. He wrote 31 sonnets out of which around 10 are translations of Petrarch. He wrote sonnets with two divisions (a sestet and an octave); but he also experimented with this Petrarchan pattern and in some of his sonnets he has two sestets and a couplet. He kept experimenting with the original Italian form and modified  it lightly and greatly to come up with a style most suited to his native language. This modified form of sonnet was further changed by Shakespeare, Spenser and Milton.

CRITICS’ VIEWS ON WYATT’S CONTRIBUTION:

Critics like Tillyard and C.S. Lewis have not been fair to Wyatt. C.S. Lewis has called the age of Wyatt as Drab Age of English Poetry and considers Wyatt as a mere imitator of Italian sonnets. He believes that Wyatt has not made any considerable contribution to sonnets. However, J.W. Lever remarks:

“He contributed significantly to the Elizabethan poetry.”

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