The Heart and Service

By Sir Thomas Wyatt 1503–1542 Thomas Wyatt

The heart and service to you proffer'd

With right good will full honestly,

Refuse it not, since it is offer'd,

But take it to you gentlely.

And though it be a small present,

Yet good, consider graciously

The thought, the mind, and the intent

Of him that loves you faithfully.

It were a thing of small effect

To work my woe thus cruelly,

For my good will to be abject:

Therefore accept it lovingly.

Pain or travel, to run or ride,

I undertake it pleasantly;

Bid ye me go, and straight I glide

At your commandement humbly.

Pain or pleasure, now may you plant

Even which it please you steadfastly;

Do which you list, I shall not want

To be your servant secretly.

And since so much I do desire

To be your own assuredly,

For all my service and my hire

Reward your servant liberally.

Biography

Born in Kent, England, Sir Thomas Wyatt was an ambassador to France and Italy for King Henry VIII. Wyatt’s travels abroad exposed him to different forms of poetry, which he adapted for the English language — most notably, the sonnet. Rumored to be Anne Boleyn’s lover, he spent a month in the Tower of London until Boleyn’s execution for adultery. Many consider his poem “Whoso List to Hunt” to be about . . .

Continue reading this biography