Poetry and History

Thomas Wyatt

Two sonnets about the same thing to introduce some more Poetry and History:

COMPLAINT OF A LOVER REBUKED.

LOVE, that liveth and reigneth in my thought,
That built his seat within my captive breast;
Clad in the arms wherein with me he fought,
Oft in my face he doth his banner rest.
She, that taught me to love, and suffer pain;
My doubtful hope, and eke my hot desire
With shamefaced cloak to shadow and restrain,
Her smiling grace converteth straight to ire.
And coward Love then to the heart apace
Taketh his flight ; whereas he lurks, and plains
His purpose lost, and dare not shew his face.
For my Lord's guilt thus faultless bide I pains.
Yet from my Lord shall not my foot remove:
Sweet is his death, that takes his end by love.
Henry Howard

THE LOVER FOR SHAMEFASTNESS HIDETH HIS DESIRE WITHIN HIS FAITHFUL HEART

The long love that in my thought I harbour,
And in mine heart doth keep his residence,
Into my face presseth with bold pretence,
And therein campeth displaying his banner.
She that me learneth to love and to suffer,
And wills that my trust, and lusts’s negligence
Be reined by reason, shame, and reverence,
With his hardiness takes displeasure.
Wherewith love to the heart’s forest he fleeth,
Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry,
And there him hideth, and not appeareth.
What may I do, when my master feareth,
     But in the field with him to live and die?
     For good is the life, ending faithfully.
Thomas Wyatt

Thomas Wyatt introduced the sonnet to English along with Henry Howard.  Rather literally, as it transpired, as Henry VIII used Wyatt extensively as a diplomat, including in negotiations with the Rome regarding marital issues.  He physically brought them back and translated / adapted a fair few of Petrarch’s sonnets.  Henry Howard, if memory serves, got his first dose of sonnets on work trips to Spain.

As with the entire cast of characters in this era of poetry and history, Thomas Wyatt knew all the main players.  He knew Anne Bolyn.  In fact, Thomas spent some time in prison on suspicion of having an affair with Anne.  The evidence pointed to his having ungentlemanly relations with some other man’s wife rather than the King’s wife, so it turned out well for him.

Thomas Howard (father of Henry the poet) certainly knew Wyatt, if for no other reason due to the alleged goings on with his niece Anne.  It turns out, however, that Wyatt’s son was Thomas Howard’s godson.  That Thomas Wyatt and his son did not know all the Southwells – grandfather and granduncle to the Saint – is inconceivable.

To review the story thus far, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, had a son Henry (Earl of Surrey is as far as he got) the poet.  Henry Howard grew up with both Southwells and at one point more or less lived with Richard the grandfather when he, Richard, was a “ward” following the deaths of his father and his uncle.  They played together as children.

Around the time Henry VIII had clearly started his final descent into the grave, there was all that nervousness and scheming concerning the succession and, in particular, about Henry’s son Edward taking the throne.  Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, had the singular misfortune of being related to a former King of England, one of the Edwards if memory serves.  What happened to poor Henry the poet was this: at some banquet he put on it was alleged, in all likelihood falsely, that Henry had included his Royal relative’s coat of arms on his own banners.  This could only mean one thing: he planned to take over the country and had to be killed.  All his property, as well as that of his father Thomas (richest of the aristocrats by many’s reckoning) would also come in handy.  Sir Richard Southwell bore (false) witness against Henry, who fell to be convicted and sent to the executioner’s block.  In a charming twist to the tale, Sir Richard himself wound up dragging Henry to the block.  His childhood friend offered to fight Sir Richard just before execution.  The Southwells then assisted in the liquidation of the Duke and Earl’s estates.

As for the other character who brought the sonnet upon the English speaking lands, he, or rather his, fared little better at the hands of the Southwells.

Thomas Howard, Henry’s father, escaped execution due to the death of Henry VIII but did not get out of prison until Mary’s reign.  I can find no hint of open animosity toward the Southwells on his part.  He certainly “worked” for Mary as did they.  I don’t imagine they spoke much though.

Then it came about that Mary was going to marry King Philip of Spain.  This displeased quite a few, one of whom was Thomas Wyatt’s son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger.  Thomas the Younger, along with a startling number of others, raised the flag of rebellion and descended upon London.  Thomas Howard, father of Henry and grandfather to Thomas (the former pupil of Master Foxe) led troops out of London to Norfolk to face Thomas Wyatt the Younger.  They all promptly defected to Wyatt’s side.  In the end, Thomas Wyatt the Younger and his troops  were run to ground not far from where the Earthquake Synod took place.  In today’s terms, in the Ludgate Circus / Ludgate Hill region of the City of London.  Thomas Wyatt the Younger later met his predictable end in a gruesome public execution.

Who might it have been who ran Thomas Wyatt and his rebellious hoard to ground?  None other than Robert Southwell, St. Robert Southwell’s namesake and granduncle.

In Tudor times, it seem that to know him is to kill him.  At least at times.  I would also venture to say that I now, perhaps, appreciate why St. Southwell did not write any sonnets.  It’s a rough business.

The poetry and history continues all the way through the good Jesuit and martyr’s life.  It’s not looking up for those Howards.  Until then, I remain,

Your faithful sinner,

Peregrinus