AP 2014 POEM “For That He Looked Not upon Her”
Edward Lee
AP English Literature
Ms. Pesqueda
May 5, 2023
A Louring Mind
Human relationships are as complex and weaving as they are necessary for people to maintain. In “For That He Looked Not upon Her” by George Gascoigne, the speaker laments of his sorrow borne of an ensnaring relation that engulfed him in consuming misery. The speaker’s multifaceted thoughts become apparent to the audience through his calm recollection and speech patterns, the burrowing pain of deception, and the subtle yet intrusive emotion.
Throughout the entire passage, the narrator expresses his misery not with an outburst of raw emotion but rather with composed contemplation, shown by his subdued language and strict adherence to structure. Struck with the sting of betrayal, the narrator expresses his pain not through outrage but solemn speech. His litote, “mine eyes take no delight”, and sneer of “will hardly come to play again” are noticeably mild for the severity of the speaker’s suffering. This conveys the speaker’s moderation in discussing this topic. Despite the pain of the relationship, the speaker is not moved to expletives
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The aforementioned comparisons not only convey the regret of being deceived but also the shame inevitable in one’s feeling. As the fly may not blame the fire but scorching it but rather the senses which led it astray, people may tend to blame not the schemer who orchestrated such malevolent designs but themselves for blundering into them. The speaker’s emphasis on his own crestfallen face, “So that I wink or else hold down my head” and “To see my head louring so low” exemplifies how the speaker places the burden of misfortune on himself. As opposed to glaring at the perpetrator as if in accusation, the speaker resigns himself to bearing his own