Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where Is an Hind

By Thomas Wyatt

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,[1]

But as for me, hélas,[2] I may no more.

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that farthest cometh behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,

Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about:

Noli me tangere,[3] for Caesar's I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

[1] Hind: female red deer

[2] hélas: alas

[3] Noli me tangere: (Latin) Touch me not – this is a Biblical allusion. After his resurrection, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene, “Noli me tangere.”