Sir Thomas Wyatt's poem "Is It Possible?"

[الدكتور دسوقي]

Sir Thomas Wyatt's poem "Is It Possible?"
Is it Possible
Is it possible
That so high debate,
So sharp, so sore, and of such rate,
Should end so soon and was begun so late?
Is it possible?

Is it possible
So cruel intent,
So hasty heat and so soon spent,
From love to hate, and thence for to relent?
Is it possible?

Is it possible
That any may find
Within one heart so diverse mind,
To change or turn as weather and wind?
Is it possible?

Is it possible
To spy it in an eye
That turns as oft as chance on die,
The truth whereof can any try?
Is it possible?

It is possible
For to turn so oft,
To bring that lowest which was most aloft,
And to fall highest yet to light soft:
It is possible.

All is possible
Whoso list believe.
Trust therefore first, and after preve,
As men wed ladies by licence and leave.
All is possible.

The theme of this poem is love and the uncertainty and difficulty that comes with love. In the poem, the author is asking a series of rhetorical questions about the ways in which love can seem impossible to understand.
The author focuses mainly on the feeling of uncertainty that comes with love. He talks about how hearts can change as easily as the weather, implying that love can be fickle and changing and therefore uncertain...
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) usually wrote his poems in sonnet form, specifically, in the Italian or Petrarchan form, but in the case of "Is It Possible," he chose a form, or variant of a form, called the rondeau (or redouble rondeau).
The epigraph for this poem helps guide us to an understanding: "The Lover Recounted the Variable Fancy of His Fickle Mistress." We can expect the theme, then, to be a lover's lament about.


Sir Thomas Wyatt
He Was born in Allington Castle near Kent in 1503, parents were Henry and Anne Wyatt
In 1516 he entered Cambridge University and studied literature and politics
1520 he married Elizabeth Brooke, they had one son named Thomas Wyatt Jr.
After ditching his wife in 1525 Wyatt spent much of his time in a position of nobility under Henry VIII, many speculate this was due to his love for Henry's wife Anne Boleyn
Wyatt spent a lot of his time running diplomatic missions in other countries in Europe, and during many of his voyages he would create poetry to occupy himself
He was imprisoned in the tower of London twice, once for quarreling with the Duke of Suffolk and another time for quarreling with a bishop of London
Wyatt fell ill in 1542 and died on October the 11th

Summary
In this poem, Is It Possible Sir Thomas Wyatt tries to educate the reader about human emotions and how they can change very quickly. He uses a narrator who has just lost his lover due to an argument, and is debating with himself about how quickly emotions can change.
The narrator's feelings towards his former wife change in an instant from love to hate simply because he felt that she didn't love him back. He is frustrated with how their relationship fell apart in a matter of minutes and continuously questions why a person’s emotions alter with one engagement.

In the middle section of the poem many comparisons are made to drive home the initial point for example that emotions can be as unpredictable as the weather in Britain or that having a good relationship is as dependent on luck as rolling a dice.

Finally, he states that everyone goes through highs and lows but you must make sure that you trust someone fully before you commit to them " As men wed ladies by license and leave”.
Style and Structure
In this poem lines in a stanza add two syllables from line to 3,5,7,9 and always finish with a line of three
The first and last lines in his stanza will rhyme as well as the three in the middle
As far as style goes Wyatt uses many comparisons in his piece ex: "That turns as oft as chance on die"
He does not use very complicated diction which can be both good and bad