Question

"The Lover Despairing to Attain Unto

His Lady's Grace Relinquisheth the Pursuit"
by Sir Thomas Wyatt

Whoso list* to hunt? I know where is an hind!**
But as for me, alas! I may no more,
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore;
I am of them that furthest come 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,
Since 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;*** for Caesar's I am,****
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.'

What is the structure of this sonnet?

A. two quatrains and three couplets
B. three quatrains and a sestet
C. two quatrains and a sestet
D. three quatrains and a couplet

Answer 1

The right answer is the D: Three quatrains and a couplet. This is an example of a sonnet. It features, on the one hand, three quatrains, or four-line stanzas rhyming ABBA. This type of rhyme is called envelope or enclosed:

Whoso..... HIND (A)

But.... MORE (B)

The vain... SORE (B)

I am... BEHIND (A)

On the other hand, it features a couplet, which is a pair of successive rhyming lines:

"Noli... AM (C)

And... TAME (C)