'Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where Is An Hind'

I love this poem because it was written for Anne Boleyn by Wyatt before her unfortunate meeting with Henry the VIII.  The Latin phrase 'Noli me tangere' is taken from the Vulgate; it is translated as 'Touch me not'.  The poem is believed to be a direct comment upon Henry VIII's infatuation for Anne and her newfound importance at the English court.  So I have wrapped your history AND poetry lesson up in one!

'Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where Is An Hind'

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1521)