Jeff Dolven on Sir Thomas Wyatt ("They Flee from Me")

Close Readings

"Dear heart, how like you this?" There's really nothing better than that, is there? I talked to Jeff Dolven about Sir Thomas Wyatt's gorgeous poem "They Flee from Me." It's one of the hottest poems I know, and after talking to Jeff I know it much better.

Jeff Dolven is Professor of English at Princeton University, where he teaches courses in poetry and poetics, especially of the English Renaissance. He is the author of three books of criticism, including, most recently, Senses of Style: Poetry before Interpretation (Chicago, 2018), and two books of poetry: Speculative Music (Sarabande, 2013) and *A New English Grammar (dispersed holdings, 2022).

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