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