Whoso List To Hunt Analysis

Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder’s “Whoso list to hunt” encompasses the love of a man for a beautiful, yet unattainable woman. Wyatt compares the unattainable love to the hunt of a hind, a female deer. The first quatrain introduces the hunt to the readers. The second quatrain counters the idea of hunting the female and rather acknowledges the task as unimaginable. The focus of the third quatrain regards the new idea that the female belongs to somebody else. The concluding couplet relies the ownership of the female, while revealing why the hind is unreachable. While Wyatt’s sonnets are typically about love and relationships, the purpose of “Whoso list to hunt” is the idea of letting go of an impractical love affair. Wyatt’s sonnet is an extended metaphor in which several people are hunting a deer, which metaphorically represents the chase

This metaphor is introduced in the first lines of the sonnet, “Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind, / But as for me, alas, I may no more.” In this very first line, Wyatt is stating to whoever likes to hunt, that he knows where there is a hind, however he no longer hunts. In this context, a “hind” is referring to a female deer, in which metaphorically is beautiful woman, and the “hunt” can either mean a literal hunt where the men are pursuing to kill a wild animal (OED 1) such as the deer, or more metaphorically referring to searching determinedly (OE 2) for to the courtship of the woman. In the second line, Wyatt utilizes commas around the word “alas” then shortly after ending the sentence. This usage of punctuation gives the impression that the hunt has caused a fatigue status and that he is breathless. Moreover, in the same quatrain, Wyatt says, “The vain travail hath wearied me so sore, / I am of them that farthest cometh