“I find no peace” – Thomas Wyatt – analysis.

The sonnet took into analysis was written by Thomas Wyatt (English poet of the beginning of '500) in 1557. The text is inspired by the famous sonnet "Pace non trovo" by Francesco Petrarca, of whom is almost the translation but in relation to which has small variations as regards the form. Despite this, Wyatt exposes the same issues that are found in the original.

As regards the title in both cases, both the original Italian and in the English version, the noun "peace" is not preceded by the article: in the expressions "I find no peace" and "Pace non trovo" is not present neither a definite nor an indefinite article. The lack of a definite article, clarifying the nature of the point took into analysis, can lead the intelligent reader to draw two separate conclusions: either that the poet / narrator is in search of universal peace not just of his own, or that the poet / narrator does not even know what it means to find peace and live in peace. Analysing the title of the poem of Wyatt you can see two other special features common to the original Italian:

-  The use of the first person in the verb tense and, in the case of the latest of the personal pronoun in the first singular person, introducing the figure of a narrator;

-  The presence of a verb in the indicative present, the way of certainty; the intelligent reader can then deduce the author's assurance about his inability to find peace, conviction arising probably from previous failed attempts (as suggested by the negation "no" approached to the verb).

From this last deduction, the intelligent reader may ask himself two separate questions: in what situation is the narrator? and because he is in this situation? Questions that will be answered at the conclusion of textual analysis.

The text can be divided into four sequences following the classic structure of the Italian sonnet (two quatrains and two triplets), the same structure followed by Petrarch. Petrarch lived in the period of transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and the textual genre is typically medieval. The main themes of medieval poetry were the division between body and soul, the salvific function of the woman and the ultimate goal of salvation. As the sonnet Wyatt is very close to the English translation of the text of Petrarch we can say that the writer casts a look back and that the themes of the composition are those mentioned above. These are proposed, however, after being adapted in light of the concept of existence developed during the Renaissance; totally detached from the standpoint of the Middle Ages.

Continuing to analyse the general structure of the two texts in their entirety, you may notice a first point of disagreement (apart from the historical period of belonging of the two authors): rhymes. The metric scheme of the "medieval version" binds verses in pairs, consecutive or alternate: AB AB AB AB CDE CDE. In the case of translation, the Renaissance, however, the metrical pattern, ABBA ABBA CDD EEC, divides the text into two parts: the first consists of the quatrains and the second from the tercets, which presupposes an element of separation between the two textual blocks or within of them.

Let us now analyse individually each verse of the text of Wyatt, making references to the original of Petrarch based on the similarities and the differences. The first quatrain, which, as is usually the case in the structure of the sonnet, is designed to introduce the topic to be discussed in the poem, is made ​​consistent and cohesive by the continuous repetition of the subject personal pronoun "I". In this way, the narrator emphasizes not only the presence of a first-person narrator already introduced by the title, but also highlights the purely subjective character of the text. The figure of the ego is placed in the foreground (moving from medieval vision and the centrality of man developed in the Renaissance), also thanks to the obsessive "my" in the first verse. The first three lines, in particular, are rendered cohesive by the pronoun "I" in the initial position, position which makes it even keyword of the text. The second terms of the first three verses introduce, on the other hand, a relationship of cause and effect concerning the various reactions and the various feelings described by the narrator: "find" refers to peace not found mentioned as its title of the original; "fear" describes the first reaction of the lyric to the comprehension of his lack of balance (the balance was a synonym for peace in the Renaissance and the lack wore madness); "fly", as well as being part of one of the figures of speech in the sonnet conveys a feeling of detachment of the reality experienced by the narrator. In addition to these alliterations and shoot, the first quatrain is full of oxymorons ("peace - war", "feare - hope", "burn - freeze", "fly - not arise") that underline once again the situation of lack of interior equilibrium in which there is the lyrical, inner conflict main theme of the poem of Petrarch. These expressions of contrasting nature can also be found in the original sonnet, as well as the union of three of the four verses, however, including, in the case of Italian, the second, the third and the fourth and leaving except the first one to which is therefore given more importance .

Just as the first quatrain was made ​​consistent by the repetition of the subject pronoun, the second is unified by the repetition of the sound "-eth" at the end of words scattered along its entire length, mainly in the first verse. Ever since first reading you may notice a difference from the first quatrain: while previously the continuous repetition involved the personal pronoun subject in the first person singular, now to be repeated is possessive adjective at the first singular person . The oppositions present here as in the previous stanza ("looseth - locketh", "holdeth - scape", "live - die") are incurred in this case and do not act by the narrator. First it was the narrator who trembled and hoped, now he is held in prison against his will by another force not mentioned. In this quatrain is therefore added a second character unknown to the reader because of which the narrator is forced to behave passively. Even in this case are found some points of detachment from the original medieval:

-  The repetition in this case involves the negatives "or" and "not" and not the same figure of the lyric, in this way the poet / narrator gives to the acting force more importance removing the centrality from himself;

-  While in the interpretation of the Wyatt the force that submits and imprisons the narrator is not specified, Petrarch mentions it, it is the feeling of love, which is high thanks to an personification. This second point of separation between the two texts highlights the change in the point of view took place between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: while in medieval times the man was subject to the power of love. According to the perspective of the Renaissance man is master of his own destiny and the only thing that can affect his existence is the intrusion of fortune that, however, is not recognized in the feeling of love.

The second textual group to take into consideration during the analysis is formed by the triplets. Within the first triplet already at a first sight, there are two distinct elements that put it in a relationship of similarity in relation to the first stanza of the sonnet: the active position of the lyric and the relationship of consequence. Just as in the first quatrain, in the first tercet also the personal pronoun "I" is repeated along the length of the stanza, this gives cohesion to the tercet and returns to the narrator his favoured position of protagonist. The relationship of cause and effect is given, however, by the connective "Thus" at the last verse, relationship in open accordance with the exposure mode of the situation in the original version of the sonnet: in the last verse Petrarch puts love for others and hate for himself on the same level and not the second below the first. In this way, Wyatt emphasizes the distinction of his ideal from that of its medieval model, as it reconstructs a complex personality of the individual, as well as the worldview of the Renaissance had worked out that the individual, that is, man, had to be. A reminder of the vision of the world developed in the Middle Ages is, however, the noun 'health': salvation was the aspiration the man of the Middle Ages, but was not in the least taken into account during the Renaissance. In this the English poet casts a glance at the past, perhaps to reconnect at the time of the composition of his model, perhaps to remind the reader the values ​​still not entirely forgotten.

The last stanza, the second tercet, is located in relation to the second quatrain: the repetition of the possessive "me" again puts the narrator in a position of passivity respect to what happens to him giving an alternating and swinging pace to the whole composition. The protagonist is drawn to the master of his destiny, at times subject to the will of incomprehensible forces and unalterable forces during the Renaissance were identified in luck and in the Middle Ages were instead reviewed in divine providence.  As in the rest of the text in this last stanza are oxymorons ("laugh-pain", "death - life") that refer to the inner state of imbalance experienced by the narrator. A second element in common with the second quatrain is located in a detachment from Petrarch's version: Petrarch found the cause of his state of madness in Laura (his beloved indicated in the text through the personification "Donna"), while Wyatt leads his suffering to his own feeling of joy. This shift in perspective refers to the detachment of the author's vision of the medieval world, which was replaced in the English version from that of the Renaissance.

Concluding the analysis of the text "I find no peace" Wyatt and comparison with its model to search in the sonnet "Peace can not find" by Francesco Petrarca. It can be said that the two questions that emerged from the analysis of the titles have been answered: the narrator is in a state of disequilibrium due to the condition of his individual. The two versions of the sonnet have in common the general theme but divided from the point of view from which it is addressed: in the case of Petrarch, the theme of inner conflict is analysed with a medieval mentality, while in the case of Wyatt situation of imbalance is purely Renaissance. The centrality of the lyric in the English version is partially absent in the original Italian, which proposes an alternation of two distinct phases: the first in which the narrator is master of his own destiny, the second in which the protagonist undergoes a willingness to external forces.