Thomas Wyatt, The Works of Sir Thomas Wyatt

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

From his death onwards, Sir Thomas Wyatt (

c

.1504–1542) was recognised as the foremost poet at Henry VIII’s court. He was—according to his poetic acolyte Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/17–1547)—the “hand that taught what might be sayd in ryme” (Jones, 1964, p. 27). While remembered primarily as a pioneering poet from the “new company of courtly makers” that “sprong vp” towards the end of Henry’s reign (Puttenham, 1968, p. 48), Wyatt was also an accomplished writer of prose. Indeed, Wyatt’s first published work—

The Quyete of Mynde

(1528)—is a pithy prose translation of Plutarch’s essay

De tranquillitate animi

[“On tranquillity of mind”]. Wyatt’s poems were printed only posthumously, so Wyatt’s first and only appearance as an author in print during…

3452 words

Citation: Stamatakis, Chris. "The Works of Sir Thomas Wyatt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 March 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34388, accessed 19 March 2024.]

34388 The Works of Sir Thomas Wyatt 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.