Notes
1] The source of the poem is perhaps Petrarch's 190th (157th) sonnet (Mestica, 270), but referring to Anne Boleyn, thought to have been Wyatt's mistress before Henry VIII wed her.
Una candida cerva sopra l' erbaWhoso list: whoever wishes.
Verde m' apparve, con duo corna d' oro,
Fra due riviere, a l' ombra d' un alloro,
Levando 'l sole, a la stagione acerba.
Era sua vista sí dolce superba,
Ch' i' lasciai, per seguirla, ogni lavoro;
Come l' avaro, che 'n cercar tesoro
Con diletto l' affanno disacerba.
"Nessun mi tocchi," al bel collo dintorno
Scritto avea di diamenti e di topazi;
"Libera farmi al mio Cesare parve."
Ed era 'l sol già vòlto al mezzo giorno,
Gli occhi miei stanchi di mirar, non sazi;
Quand' io caddi ne l' acqua, ed ella sparve.
2] hélas: alas.
3] vain travail: futile labour.
6] deer: playing on the word "dear."
8] Sithens: Since
in a net I seek to hold the wind: proverbial (Tilley W416).
13] Noli me tangere: "touch me not," a phrase from the Vulgate. See Christ's words to Mary Magdalene in the garden after his resurrection: "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: British Library Egerton MS. 2711, fol. 7v; cf. Richard Harrier, Canon (1975): 104-05.
First publication date:
1815
Publication date note: First published in Nott's Works of Surrey and Wyatt, 1815.
RPO poem editor: F. D. Hoeniger, Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RP 1963: I.3 (F. D. Hoeniger); RPO 1994 (IL).
Recent editing: 2:2002/5/1
Form: sonnet
Rhyme: abbaabbacddcee