Both Wyatt's "Whoso List to Hunt" and Spenser's "Sonnet 67" are translations of the Petrarch Rima that appears below. See the page "Pairing Poems" for an example of one of Petrarch's original poems in Italian. Notice what similarities and differences exist between the ones below. How does Wyatt's poem reflect the concerns of his time? What about Spenser's? What similarities and differences do they have with the original?
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Petrarch, Rima 190
A modern Prose Translation
A white doe on the green grass appeared to me, with two golden horns, between two rivers, in the shade of a laurel[JH36], when the sun was rising in the unripe season. [RD30]
Her look was so sweet and proud that to follow her I left every task, like the miser[JH37] who as he seeks treasure sweetens his trouble with delight. "Let no one touch me," she bore written with diamonds and topazes[MJ 34] around her lovely neck. "It has please d my Caesar [DM1] to make me free." And the sun had already turned at midday; my eyes were tired by looking but not sated, [MJ 35] when I fell into the water, and she disappeared. 190. ‘Una candida cerva sopra l’erba’
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[JH36] "Laurel" Noun. Means a small European evergreen tree with dark, glossy green leaves.
[JH37] "Miser" Noun. Means a person who lives in wretched circumstances in order to save and hoard money. [MK36] "Travail," in line 3, means painful or laborious effort. [MK37] "Noli me tangere," in line 13, translates to touch me not. [RG30] An "assay" is an attempt or a try at something. [DM31] My Caeser: a tyrant or dictator; any temporal ruler, in contrast with God, the civil authority [RD30] “Unripe season” refers to either late winter or early spring [HG31] Sonnet 67 (line 14) beguyld- charm or enchant [JM41] “beguile” meaning to enchant or charm in a deceptive way [JM42] “wonne” German for delight [RC31] List means to want or desire. |