Remembering the hard stuff: Thomas Wyatt's "Forget Not Yet"

Forget Not Yet by Sir Thomas Wyatt
The Lover Beseecheth his Mistress not to Forget his
Steadfast Faith and True Intent

Forget not yet the tried intent
Of such a truth as I have meant;
My great travail so gladly spent,
Forget not yet!

Forget not yet when first began
The weary life ye know, since whan
The suit, the service, none tell can;
Forget not yet!

Forget not yet the great assays,
The cruel wrong, the scornful ways,
The painful patience in delays,
Forget not yet!

Forget not! O, forget not this!—

Wait wait go back. Let’s take a break and talk about those previous two stanzas.  Did  he just say not to forget “the weary life,” “the cruel wrong, the scornful ways” and “the painful patience in delays”?!

Isn’t that stuff that we would most like to forget? When we’re going through cruel wrong and scornful ways, don’t we think to ourselves, “Once this is over, I’ll be able to forget it.” Don’t we look forward to the time when we won’t need to be patient, when an interminable waiting period comes to an end? 


But Wyatt is right. The trials we face throughout life are important, and should not be forgotten, because they are part of what forms our character. The painful patience makes what we’re waiting for all the more valuable. 

Okay, I’m done moralizing.  As you were:

Forget not! O, forget not this!—
How long ago hath been, and is,
The mind that never meant amiss—
Forget not yet!

Forget not then thine own approved,
The which so long hath thee so loved,
Whose steadfast faith yet never moved:
Forget not this!