Editing Thomas Wyatt (poet) (section)

== Rumoured affair with Anne Boleyn ==
[[File:Anne boleyn.jpg|thumbnail|right|Anne Boleyn]]
Many have conjectured that Wyatt fell in love with [[Anne Boleyn]] in the early- to mid-1520s. Their acquaintance is certain, but it is not certain whether the two shared a romantic relationship. George Gilfillan implies that Wyatt and Boleyn were romantically involved.{{sfn|Gilfillan|1858|p=x}} In his verse, Wyatt calls his mistress Anna and might allude to events in her life:{{sfn|Gilfillan|1858|p=x}}

''<blockquote><poem>
Sometime I fled the fire that me brent [burnt], By hills, by dales, by water and by wind, And now I follow the coals that be quent [quenched],
From Dover to Calais against my mind</poem></blockquote>''

Gilfillan argues that these lines could refer to Anne's trip to France in 1532 prior to her marriage to [[Henry VIII]]{{sfn|Gilfillan|1858|p=x}} and could imply that Wyatt was present, although his name is not included among those who accompanied the royal party to France.{{sfn|Gilfillan|1858|p=x}} Wyatt's sonnet "Whoso List To Hunt" may also allude to Anne's relationship with the King:{{sfn|Gilfillan|1858|p=x}}

''<blockquote><poem>Graven in diamonds with letters plain,
There is written her fair neck round about,
"Noli me tangere [Do not touch me], for Caesar's I am".</poem></blockquote>''

In still plainer terms, Wyatt's late sonnet "If waker care" describes his first "love" for "Brunette that set our country in a roar"—presumably Boleyn.

Wyatt's grandson [[George Wyatt (writer)|George Wyatt]] included in his ''Life of Queen Anne Boleigne'' a story that Thomas Wyatt obtained a jewel belonging to Anne, and that Henry VIII heard of this. The jewel was loose "hanging by a lace out of her pocket", a "tablet" (a kind of locket)<ref>Helen Wyld, 'The Mystery of the Fettercairn Jewel', Anna Groundwater, ''Decoding the Jewels: Renaissance Jewellery in Scotland'' (Sidestone Press: NMS, 2024), p. 61.</ref> which Wyatt took to wear at his neck. Henry VIII recognised the jewel when he played bowls with Wyatt.<ref>Samuel Weller Singer, ''The Life of Cardinal Wolsey by George Cavendish'' (London, 1827), pp. 426–427.</ref>  Anne said that Wyatt had obtained the jewel without her permission. However, the details of the story seem incompatible with courtly behaviour and are unconvincing.<ref>[[Retha Warnicke]], 'Conventions of Courtly Love and Anne Boleyn', Charles Carlton, ''State Sovereigns & Society in Early Modern England'' (Sutton, 1998), p. 112.</ref>