Stand Whoso List

By Sir Thomas Wyatt 1503–1542 Thomas Wyatt

Stand whoso list upon the slipper top

Of court’s estates, and let me here rejoice;

And use me quiet without let or stop,

Unknown in court, that hath such brackish joys:

In hidden place, so let my days forth pass,

That when my years be done, withouten noise,

I may die agèd after the common trace,

For him death gripeth right hard by the crope

That is much known of other; and of himself alas,

Doth die unknown, dazed with dreadful face.

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 . . .

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