THEY FLEE FROM ME BY SIR THOMAS WYATT

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42) lived nearly all his life during the reign of King Henry VIII and died quite twenty years before Shakspere was born. this suggests that modern readers of his poems must expect to encounter difficulties in understanding them, especially when apparently familiar words have changed their meanings over the centuries. "They Flee From Me" may be a case in point.

The poem

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 put themself 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;

Therewithall 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 newfangleness.

But since that I so kindly am served

I would fain know what she hath deserved.

Discussion

The poem comprises three seven-line stanzas with an ABABBCC rhyme scheme, in order that each stanza resembles a half-sonnet (like a sonnet with lines 6 to 12 removed). Wyatt's poetry has been criticised for the clumsiness of its metre, and editors are tempted to "tidy" his poems so they read more smoothly. However, the stresses that are forced on to the words are probably deliberate, and there's an almost "modern" feel to the diction of this poem that seems entirely right for its meaning.

The opening stanza presents a puzzle with the very first word. Who, or what does Wyatt mean to point by "they" in "They flee from me, that sometime did me seek"? The reference may well be to animals that "sometime … put themselves in peril / to require bread at my hand", but that doesn't seem to accord with the second line's description of "With naked foot, stalking in my chamber". the employment of "naked" suggests a personality's foot, and "stalking" implies stealthy movement by someone. However, in 16th century usage, "naked" could simply mean "manifest" or "evident", and "stalking" can just mean "walking", which could apply to an animal also as an individual.

The ambiguity allows the reader to work out both animal and person (presumably female) during this image, and to imagine that the poet is switching between memories of getting both animals and girls "eating out of his hand". Whether or not this is often particularly complimentary to women is another issue. However, the very fact remains that "they" "now are wild" and "range busily" as they pursue "continual change".

There is also a tone of self-pity within the first stanza. The poet bemoans the very fact that "they" have left him and clearly wishes that they'd not done so, but at the identical time he appreciates that "they put themselves at danger". He therefore sees himself as possessing an influence over animals or women that he could have exercised had he chosen to try to to so. he's not just the passive victim of chance happenings but a potent force.

This theme of being a possible predator within the game of affection is stressed within the second stanza when the poet boasts that "it hath been otherwise / Twenty times better". He then relates a selected encounter with an unnamed "she" who "let her loose gown from her shoulders … fall". This takes us back to the "naked foot … in my chamber" and removes all ambiguity on the attribute of the being who has visited him.

However, the third stanza confirms the prediction of the primary, which is that the special encounter was a brief liaison and also the couple aren't any longer together. The parting has been by mutual consent. Despite the implied threat of sexual power gathered from the primary stanza, the poet has lost the lady "through my very own gentleness" and, likewise, "I have leave to travel of her goodness". this is often indeed "a strange fashion of forsaking" because it's finished little regret as each partner moves on to some other person. At the end, the poet merely wonders ("I would fain know") how she is doing now and whether her next conquest is "what she hath deserved".

This poem must are deeply shocking to Victorian readers, who would have condemned the immorality of easy sexual encounters and "one night stands" that's portrayed during this poem. it had been mentioned above that the diction is surprisingly modern, but so is that the message and tone of the poem. this can be the planet of 1960s "free love" and 21st century "swinging", within which couples move and break apart with none desire for permanence on either side, but merely a seeking after pleasance and novelty, or "newfangleness" to use Wyatt's term.

However, is there just a touch here that Wyatt wishes it would be otherwise? he's happy to play this particular game of partner switching, but why write this poem in the least if he had not had the sensation that this one girl was perhaps the special one? He uses the term "in special", which suggests that this can be the case. He has stuck to the principles, when he may not have done, but, just this once, he could have acted differently. "They Flee From Me" is that the results of this lingering regret.

Just as a footnote, it's worth remembering that Sir Thomas Wyatt was a courtier to King King of England and was involved within the negotiations with Pope Clement VII that sought the annulment of Henry's marriage to Queen Catherine after the king had become enamoured of Anne Boleyn. Wyatt therefore knew all about the casual sexual relationships that were rife during this environment. His own marriage foundered on the grounds of adultery, and Queen Anne's downfall was to come back about after tales of bed-hopping (real or invented) flew round the Court. "They Flee From Me" is therefore greatly a poem that belongs to the current era