I shared a sonnet by the wonderful Sir Thomas Wyatt the other day, and I reminded myself of how much I love his poems. Here is what I wrote about another sonnet:
‘My galley, chargèd with forgetfulness‘: Thomas Wyatt must have experienced all sorts of weather on the sea as he was travelling to the different places he was sent as an ambassador for his king, Henry VIII. He must have known ‘sharp seas in winter‘, and when you consider how small the ships were in those days, being on board a sixteenth century galley must have been very different from our travels.
Some years ago we went to France and crossed the Channel on a modern ferry, a world away from what Thomas would have known. Our journey was about ninety minutes, his would have been about fifteen hours in those days! Thomas would have experienced many dangers of sea travel himself, maybe passing ‘tween rock and rock‘. However this poem is a translation and interpretation of Petrarch’s sonnet 189, ‘Passa la nave mia colma d’oblio‘. In the modern jargon of TV chefs, Wyatt has put his own ‘twist’ on Petrarch:
My galley, chargèd with forgetfulness, at the time
Thorough sharp seas in winter nights doth pass
‘Tween rock and rock; and eke mine en’my, alas,
That is my lord, steereth with cruelness;
And every owre a thought in readiness,
As though that death were light in such a case.
An endless wind doth tear the sail apace
Of forced sighs and trusty fearfulness.
A rain of tears, a cloud of dark disdain,
Hath done the wearèd cords great hinderance;
Wreathèd with error and eke with ignorance.
The stars be hid that led me to this pain;
Drownèd is reason that should me comfort,
And I remain despairing of the port.
***
PS am I being fanciful to see a face in my featured image, of a swirly sea off the coast of Northern Ireland?
Lois Elsden 
Love this one Lo, never read it before ….
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Anthony Easthope introduced it to us!
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Gosh Lo Anthony Easthope …. 55 years ago.
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Oh ssshhh!! Unbelievable, isn’t it!
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Dear Lois
this reminds me of the dolce stil novo that was first used by Dante and later by Petrarca and other poets from Tuscany. But this poem misses the idealisation of women and love which was typical for this medieval style.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this poem by Thomas Wyatt. We never read anything by him before.
Keep well
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thank you so much, Klausbernd! Wyatt was an extraordinary man, and had an interesting career in those dangerous times. He would make a marvellous “hero” for a novel, tv series or film! All best wishes, from Lois
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One can see a face in that turbulent water, either an imp or the Devil itself! Or perhaps just a cat?
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Miaow!!!!
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