Rhetorical Devices In 'For That He Looked Not Upon Her'

In the poem, “For that he looked not upon her,” George Gascoigne uses devices such as comparison, imagery and diction to convey the speaker’s complex attitude changes from an uneasy and hurt attitude to determination in moving on from a relationship he saw as toxic. He is telling himself how he felt with her so he would not make the mistake of going back and getting hurt like before.
In the poem the author uses comparison to portray the process of him learning from his mistake. It helps him think over the past relationship he had and start coming to terms that he must move on from the past. This also shows the reader how helpless and defenseless the speaker is to the girl. The speaker says “The mouse which once hath broken out of trap is seldom ‘ticed with trustless bait”(5-6) This portrays how he is starting to see the situation …show more content…
For example, the speaker states, “To see me hold my louring head so low . . .” (2) In this quote the speakers uses the word “louring,” to show what the character is feeling in this exact moment and the rest of the poem. By choosing to use “louring,” the speaker sets the mood of the poem and and the beginning of his attitude shift towards the situation. Furthermore, the speaker states that relationship is “fancy dazzled by desire”(12) and “whereby I learned grievous is the game”(11) This use of diction displays the speaker’s attitude towards the situation/relationship. He is aware of the harmful relationship and does not want to cover up the negative actions and feelings anymore. The relationship is sold in a pretty bottle and he must remember to not fall for it. He knows that the only way they know how to be together is harmful to both people and there’s no other way they know how to avoid such problems.This shows the shift in the speaker’s attitude because he is no longer debating the situation, he is making a decision to move on and is