They Flee From Me, Sir Thomas Wyatt: Summary, Analysis & Themes
They Flee From Me, Sir Thomas Wyatt: Summary, Analysis & Themes
"They Flee From Me" by Sir Thomas Wyatt is a poignant exploration of love, desire, and betrayal. Wyatt, a prominent poet of the English Renaissance, often reflected on the complexities of courtly love and human relationships in his works. In this poem, he recounts the changing nature of his romantic encounters, shifting from intimacy and tenderness to abandonment and alienation. The poem is deeply personal yet universal, capturing the bittersweet tension between memory and loss. Its elegant yet candid language reflects Wyatt’s mastery of introspective lyricism.
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 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 ple…
