I Find No Peace

 I Find no Peace

                SIR THOMAS WYATT

I find no peace, and all my war is done.

I fear and hope. I burn and freeze like ice.

I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;

And nought I have, and all the world I season.

That loseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison

And holdeth me not—yet can I scape no wise—

Nor letteth me live nor die at my device,

And yet of death it giveth me occasion.

Without eyen I see, and without tongue I plain.

I desire to perish, and yet I ask health.

I love another, and thus I hate myself.

I feed me in sorrow and laugh in all my pain;

Likewise displeaseth me both life and death,

And my delight is causer of this strife.

 

 

Summary

            Most of Thomas wyatt's works revels about his uncertaintyof his life. He was the one who introduced the sonnet structure in the English literature.  His many works were the translation of the Italian poet Petrarch. His poems were uncountable, till now there were no exact number to be mentioned. Through his work he indirectly speaks about the political and social tensions of his time. 

            One among his works, I Find No Peace was the one which reflects wyatts’ uncertaintyof his life. The rhyming scheme of this poem – ABBA-ABBA-CDE-CDE. This Petrarchen sonnet was further divided into two, octave and sestet. The title itself tells about the poet’s state of mind which was unrest and have no peace of mind. 

            There were number of reasons, for what wyatt was so unhappy in his life. His first marriage was unsuccessful, so he got divorced from his first wife, after some years he was very close Ann. One of his trip to France, that time Ann got married the king Henry VIII. This was so distressed for his. Due to his against the king, the queen ordered him to join with his first wife, it was so terrible for him. And he was not interested towards the kings court. These are the results for his uncertainty. As a result of uncertainty, he wrote this poem.  In this poem he explains about his struggle, not with any other person but with himself.  That conflict arose because of the love for someone. The theme of the poem is about his inner conflict, love, wisdom, age and unrest state of mind.

            The first line itself describe about his state of mind. He was unrest therefore he cannot find peace.  And he said  that “war is done”. Here indirectly he mentioned about two thing- both physical war and mental war. Physical war was happened in his country and the mental war was more important here, because he was not at all happy. He was optimistic yet he was afraid “I fear and hope”, in this line the poet uses oxymoron (the combination of two words that seems opposite of each other). These two words were two different extent. Then he said that he was a not a person that something everyone would expect. Some many think that he was a cool person and some may think that he was a hot. He said that he was not what others thought on him. Then he was trying to fly away but due to some hurdles he was unable to fly. He was both trapped and at the same time he was free. His thoughts were continuously conflicting. He was not able to escape from his own thoughts. Though there was no long , he was imprison him and he cannot escape. He was trying to say that without using eyes he was able to see and without tongue, he simply acted and moves on with his gesture. Although he wants to die but at the same time he ask God for his health and wellbeing. Here he explains about the pain of love, because he gave his heart to someone else, so that he think that he hate himself.  Even though he have so much of pains, he uses to laugh. He was disconnect with life and death.. A person who lives with his inner conflict was more miserable. Physical difficulty may vanish but the inner sorrow was not. He almost conclude that the situation was almost living as a dead and the cause of his pain was his greatest pleasure.

Reference : 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45579/i-find-no-peace

https://www.gradesaver.com/collected-poems-of-sir-thomas-wyatt/study-guide/summary-i-find-no-peace

http://vaidehi09.blogspot.com/2016/12/i-find-no-peace-sir-thomas-wyatt.html