Sir Thomas Wyatt. "Sometime I fled the fire, that me so brent."

THE

LOVER THAT FLED LOVE NOW FOLLOWS

IT WITH HIS HARM.

OMETIME I fled the fire, that me so
brent,
By sea, by land, by water, and by wind ;
And now the coals I follow that be quent,
From Dover to Calais, with willing mind.
Lo! how desire is both forth sprung, and spent!
And he may see, that whilom was so blind,
And all his labour laughs he now to scorn,
Meashed in the briers, that erst was only torn.

[AJ Notes:

brent, burned.
quent, quenched (extinguished).
whilom, at one time, formerly.
labour, i.e. his efforts to gain favor.
meashed, meshed (entangled).
briers, briars.
erst, earlier, before.

This is another of the poems thought to have been written
in reference to Anne Boleyn. Wyatt accompanied Anne and
Henry VIII to Calais in 1532, from which time this poem
possibly dates.]

Source:
Yeowell, James, Ed. The Poetical Works of Sir Thomas Wyatt.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1904. 171.

to the Works of Sir Thomas Wyatt