Renaissance Poet Sir Thomas Wyatt,

¶ … Renaissance poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Elder and his poem Who list his wealth and ease retain discussing the euphemisms and meanings behind the use of his language bring forth possible theories as to the reasoning of his writing at such an unsteady political time.

Who list his wealth and ease retain

Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Elder's poem Who list his wealth and ease retain was written at a time when the political regime of England sat on a tenuous grip the only person that mattered in politics was the King, namely King Henry Tudor the eighth.

Wyatt's poem is split into five sections, the first sets the seen that a man who knows and lists his wealth will surely retain it as long as he himself is knowledgeable of it yet any who return too quickly to their treasures are disapproved of Wyatt finishes this verse as with the others with a Latin phrase circa Regna tonat which translated means "It thunders through the realms"

Wyatt continues with a euphemism for possibly the lords and ladies of the court as calling them high mountains and as the King discharges them from his presence yet he is mild to the people of the lower valleys and his nature is soft.

However it can be seen that Fortune possibly mean riches does not mix well with a man's health is threatened when he is living a high life therefore with the stanzas taken as they are a lord or lady may fall foul of the king no matter what his or her status and his fall will be a fall from a great height, however those of the lower classes have nothing to fear from the wrath of the King for they do not interfere with his life or health.

The third stanza reads that bloody days have broken a heart, whose heart the heart of the King perhaps for his lusts and youth have all but departed him in his old age, with a need for more riches or land he cares nothing for anyone else even those who seek his pleasure are pushed back to their lowly status.

The bell tower for this one could argue would be at such a time the Tower of London as it looms above all those who are unfaithful and traitorous to the King, where all are beheaded and as such "That in my head sticks day and night" all the heads are placed on traitors gate as a reminder to all who have thoughts against the King to betray him.

The final stanza leads to those who have suffered is this the relation to those who suffered the beheading at traitors gate or to their folk who were faced to look upon the heads of their loved ones.

By looking at the prose that Wyatt has written and by allowing the elements of euphemism and allegory to take place we can analyze what he is attempting to bring over, due to the political regime at the time we can argue that Wyatt is attempting to criticize the royal attitude and that of his advisors. For there was great fear at the time that any who was suspected of being disloyal to the crown or even his advisors was quickly dispatched under warrant of death to the bloody tower.

It is even see that by Wyatt's own administrations and verses of speech he was deemed disloyal to the crown and was sent to the tower himself, this is clearly illustrated in the final stanza, for it is not what is first believed to be the suffering of many but his suffering that has sent him to the tower.

It must also be remembered that where there is art there will also be undercurrents that are reflected in the art. The greater the constraints placed on political criticism and free speech the greater the number of hidden means that may be found. If we look at other poems by the same author there are political statements made in them of the contemporary time. It should also be remembered that at this time the monarchy of the country was absolute. In a different poem "They Flee From Me," the author is looking at the events surrounding Anne Boleyln, where she has fallen from favor.

This was not only a matter of the heart and the failure to produce a suitable male air, but also a political statement. Royal marriages were matters of political expediency. The former Queen was executed in the sight of the poet, and as such we may see a refection of this in the current poem. " the Bell Tower showed me such sight," in reality it was a tower, but the Tower of London was not a bell tower, yet it was a bell that would declare the time, that can be used for the marking of time towards death. The Tower of London was known for the way in which it would hold those to be executed.

There are also references to royalty and the loyalty that had been felt, in the Latin phrase there is a reference to the 'throne'. The experience of watching an execution such as this may be enough to bring that loyalty into question, to hurt those that saw it. "These bloody days have broken my heart." Is not a reference in extreme language, but an adjective to describe the blood that flowed as a result of the beheading of a Queen.