Sir Thomas Wyatt, or Wyat, born near Maidstone, Kent, and educated at St. John's, Cambridge, has become a member of the court circle of Henry VIII.

Apparently popular and admired for his attractive appearance and skill in music, languages, and arms, Wyatt has served a number of diplomatic missions, but, having been a lover of Anne Boleyn before her marriage to Henry VIII, has twice been imprisoned on suspicion of treason.

He had been knighted, however, in 1537, the year after Anne’s execution.

Together with Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, Wyatt has introduced into English verse the Italian sonnet and terza rima verse form and the French rondeau.

Some of his lyrics are translations from Petrarch, but he has derived some of his finest poems, including his notable satires, from his own experience in love and politics.

His poems carry a strong sense of individuality unusual for the time.

He dies at thirty-nine on October 11, 1542, at Sherborne, Dorset.