Love Versus Power “Whoso List to Hunt,” by Thomas Wyatt is an extended metaphor that paints his personal relationship as a hunt. At first Wyatt poses the question of who likes to hunt and the doe he has found. Because of the pain and sorrow brought on by the hunt, he no longer enjoys it. However, as tired as he is of chasing her, he cannot forget her and abandon the hunt. Wyatt also warns anyone trying to chase her that it is a fruitless endeavor because trying to catch her is like trying to capture the wind with a net. He ends the poem by explaining how she seemed tame, but is really a wild thing that belongs to someone else. This sonnet touches base on multiple important topics like that of unrequited love, a futile pursuit, and absolute power. Throughout the poem the author describes his fruitless pursuit of a doe. This actually symbolizes his personal relationship with an unrequited love whom he was never able to obtain. The theme of absolute power is also important because it’s the reason why his hunt never proved successful. No matter what he did he would never win as his opponent was undefeatable. This is clear from the second to last sentence when he states “for Caesar’s I am”. This compares the owner of the doe to the invincible and all powerful Caesar. …show more content…
In the opening lines the speaker poses a problem and a resolution for the remaining lines. Wyatt uses a combination of different metaphors inside the extended metaphor to further illustrate what he is really trying to say to the audience. Wyatt writes, “And graven with diamonds in letters plain, There is written, her fair neck round about”. Those lines describe the woman as having a collar meaning she isn’t independent and has an owner. He uses this to tell the reader that she belongs to someone and is therefore unattainable. The speaker also compares his trying to catch her to someone attempting to capture the wind with a