flee+history

=**Historical context of "They Flee From Me"**=

They flee from me that sometime did me seek With naked foot, stalking in my chamber. I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek, That now are wild, and do not remember That sometime they have put themselves in danger To take bread at my hand; and now they range, Busily seeking with a continual change.

Thanked be Fortune, it hath been otherwise Twenty times better; but once in special: In thin array, after a pleasant guise, When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall, And she me caught in her arms long and small, And therewithal sweetly did me kiss And softly said, "Dear heart, how like you this?"

It was no dream, I lay broad waking. But all is turned, thorough my gentleness, Into a strange fashion of forsaking: And I have leave to go of her goodness, And she also to use newfangledness. But since that I so kindly am served, I would fain know what she hath deserved.

"They Flee From Me" was first published in 1557. The title of this poem, "They Flee from Me" shows how Wyatt felt bad that his lovers were not very faithful him. The poem was definitely influenced by the separation of the poet from his wife, which he pitied himself for. Also, there is speculation that Wyatt was in an affair with Anne Boleyn. With the turbulent love life he had, it seems obvious that Wyatt would write about the fickle nature of love.

=Biography of Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)=

= Sir Thomas Wyatt = Thomas Wyatt was born in 1503 in Maidstone, Kent. His parents were named Anne and Henry Wyatt. He entered St. John’s college in Cambridge at age thirteen and soon after gained his B.A. degree (1518), and his M.A. (1522) (Jokinen, 2007). He then had an early marriage with Elizabeth Brooke in 1520, at age seventeen. This early marriage was a very unhappy one, shown in letters sent from Elizabeth's brother talking about how Wyatt was not providing for his wife, and also from a friend of Wyatt's who writes about how Elizabeth was a bad wife (Sir Thomas Wyatt (Poet), 2006). However, just five years later, in 1525, he separated from his wife and charged her with adultery. This event definitely influenced his poetry, as is shown in "They Flee from Me". We believe that the reference to his lover in the second stanza was about his wife who eventually became separated from Wyatt.

In 1541, charges were put against Wyatt for treason because he had been too rude to the king while he was an ambassador. However, while held prisoner at the tower, Wyatt wrote a piece of literature that was so moving that the king released him. After his pardon, Wyatt was restored to his previous status. Just after welcoming Charles V to Falmouth, Wyatt died in 1642 (Jokinen, 2007)

(1)--Jokinen, Anniina."They Flee from Me." __The Luminarium__. 6 Apr. 2007. 16th Century Renaissance English Literature. 9 Dec. 2008 .

"Sir Thomas Wyatt (Poet)." __Classic Encyclopedia__. Oct. 2006. Encyclopedia Britannica (1911). 9 Dec. 2008 <[|http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sir_Thomas_Wyat_(Poet])>.

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