Introduction to Poem: What Should I Say

Thomas Wyatt is famous and well known in English poetry for bringing the sincerity, truth, and originality of emotions to lyrical poetry. The lyric under discussion is one of the fine examples of the same nice claim of the poet. The poem (or, lyric, so to speak) is original in thought and style. The feelings expressed in the lyric are altogether real and genuine and the reader feels as being swept off his feet by the true, real, and forceful emotions and feelings of the poet. We will throw a critical light on his poem “What Should I say” in the next lines.

Rhyme Scheme of Poem: What Should I Say

The poem, “What Should I Say”, stands divided into four stanzas, each having 7 lines. The rhyme scheme is a b a b b c c. Most of the lines are end-stopped and this thing gives a strangely strong feeling to the lyric. The poem has even been composed in such a way as to be sung beautifully (like any lyric) with the lute. Each line consists of two feet, each. foot nicely divided into two syllables, one accented and the other non-accented. So much about the beautiful and nice form of the poem.

More explanation

So far as the thought content of the poem is concerned, the poet feels pathetic about his beloved having become double-hearted. He feels small as she has left him all alone even after swearing sincerely about her love for him. The poet feels rather shocked to find out the total change in the behavior of the beloved. She had vowed to always be steadfast and is no longer sticking to that: “The faith is dead, and true love disregarded” as the real title of the poem claims.

The poet doesn’t believe in rumors: he only believes in the attested, proved, and confirmed fact after keen observation. He has had a keen observation of the behavior of the beloved and has reached the conclusion that, after all, she has betrayed him and has falsified her vow or promise. The poet, therefore, feels sad and broken-hearted. He feels forsaken and cheated in the field of love which rules man’s life.