Analyze how the complex attitude of the speaker is developed through such devices such as form,

diction, and imagery.

George Gascoignes For that he looked not upon her delineates his complex attitude about
not being able to look directly to his lovers face. He believes avoiding any sort of contact with her would
cause the desire for her to halt and allow him to live his life with ease. Through the structure, diction,
and imagery, Gascoigne attempts to explain to the readers about his complicated emotional situation in
which he does not know what to do next.

By endeavouring to follow the strict rules and patterns of a Shakespearean sonnet, Gascoigne
was able to present his emotional predicament effectively. Firstly, the fact he decided to write a sonnet,
which is a specific type of poem about love or a lovers betrayal, instantly gives the reader an impression
that his complex problem is specifically about love and affection. Additionally, by following the classical
ABAB rhyme scheme for the three quatrains and ending with the rhyming couplet, he organizes the
poem to have an elegant structure to try to understand the reasons to his misery and depression.
Having set rules to follow restricts his freedom to express his emotions to the readers; he had the choice
to vividly describe all the various facets to his feelings, however he did not. Unfortunately, by the end of
the poem, he realizes that there is no solution to his current situation because your blazing eyes my
bale has bred and continues to hold down my (his) head. The type of poem and the structure
Gascoignes chose facilitated in introducing his sole purpose of this sonnet, he wanted to discover what
his problem was by trying to convince others that he did not have any problems.

Gascoigne employs two distinct images to express the dimension of his emotional distress. The
initial impression the readers receive from the image of a rat and a fly to depict his complex situation
was unexpected. Both rats and flies carry nasty, foul, and sickening associations that juxtaposes against
the sweet, jubilant and surreal side of requited love, causing the readers to focus more specifically in
that area of the poem. Nevertheless, the beautiful qualities of love and affection are not mentioned
anywhere, only the miserable qualities of unrequited love are emphasized, which justifies the reasoning
on why he used a rat and fly as his images. Additionally, the rat is seldom ticed with the trustless bait,
but lies aloof for fear of more mishap while the fly once hath scaped the flame and will hardly come
to play again with fire. Just like how the rat would not take the bait and how the fly would never
adventure close to the fire, he is afraid of developing a desire for someone. He is paranoid and afraid of
the possibility that someone may break his heart again. Even though the reward when successful is
appealing, it does not entice him. Using imagery related to rats and flies, Gascoigne depicts his situation
as unappealing and believes the only solution is to remove all aspects of love, one of the most profound
human emotions.

Using carefully chosen diction reinforces and culminates the final line of Gascoignes sonnet. The
fact that the lovers face seems to gleam and glow creates a delicate and elegant image of her
through the soft sounds produced by the letter g. Nevertheless, the initial image of her comes into
question as he learn(s) grievous is the game/ which follows fancy dazzled by desire. She is the person
who made Gascoigne believe love is pointless like a game and defines it as fancy dazzled by desire;
love is something superficial. It is the desire for her that is the source of his depression and blames her
blazing eyes. Here, the adjective blazing gives the impression of her having evil and malicious
qualities and by extension presents a satanic image due to the words close associations of hell. Altering
his lovers image from someone graceful to someone possessing demonic qualities is another
Gascoignes way to try to forget his problem.

George Gascoigne expresses his complex situation and emotions through utilizing structure,
imagery, and diction in For that he looked not upon her. He has created a Shakespearean sonnet that
requires following a certain pattern in order to present his problems easily for the readers and for
himself to see. A rat and fly imagery helps Gascoigne focus on the unattractive and vile side of love
because of their negative connotations. Finally, by his carefully chosen diction, it causes the readers to
notice the change of his lover from someone who was beautiful and precious to him to someone who is
pointless and the source of his misery. George Gascoigne provides no references to the future leaving
the readers to wonder how he is going solve his problem.