‘ T A G U S,¹   F A R E W E L L ’

Tagus, farewell, that westward with thy streams
Turns up the grains of gold² already tried,º assayed
With spur and sail³ for I go seek the Thames,
Gainward⁴ the sun that showeth her⁵ wealthy pride
And to the town⁶ which Brutus⁷ sought by dreams
Like bended moon⁸ doth lend her lusty side.º bank
My king, my country, alone for whom I live,
Of mighty love the wings for this me give.⁹

1. Tagus ['tay-gus]: A river flowing westward into the Atlantic Ocean from the interior of Spain. Wyatt served as a diplomat in that country until 1539.
2. grains of gold: The sand at the bottom of the Tagus was celebrated by, among others, Geoffrey Chaucer (1342–1400) and John Skelton (1460–1529) for its resemblance to granulated gold.
3. spur and sail: i.e., by horseback and by ship; "With spur and sail" is a prepositional phrase modifying "seek." "[F]or" is used in its sense of "because."
4. Gainward the sun: i.e., against the sun. The Thames, in contrast to the Tagus, flows "gainward" the sun, or eastward.
5. her: i.e., the Thames's.
6. town: Indirect object of "lend." Modern readers may be duly confused by Wyatt's syntax here, where "Gainward," an initially ambiguous part of speech, is made parallel to the verb combination, "doth lend." A more modern paraphrase of these lines might run thus (beginning from line 3): "the Thames, [which flows] against the sun that illuminates her splendor, and [which] lends her lusty crescent-shaped bank to the town that Brutus sought . . ."
7. Brutus: A mythical Trojan supposed to be descended from Aeneas. Diana, the goddess of the moon, was said to have appeared to Brutus in a dream, in which she ordered him to travel to Albion (ancient Britain) and found a city. The city he founded was supposed to have been Troynovante, later London.
8. like bended moon: i.e., like a crescent moon. The bend in the Thames at London is shaped roughly like a crescent.
9. Of mighty love . . . give: i.e., "For this [purpose], give me the wings of mighty love."