Wyatt was a 16th-century English lyrical poet credited with introducing the sonnet into English. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent – though his family was originally from Yorkshire. His mother was Anne Skinner and his father, Henry Wyatt, had been one of Henry VII's  Privy Councillors.  None of Wyatt's poems were published during his lifetime—the first book to feature his verse was printed a full fifteen years after his death. Wyatt's professed object was to experiment with the English tongue,to civilise it, to raise its powers to those of its neighbours.