For That He Looked Not Upon Her

"For That He Looked Not Upon Her:" Full Text

Here is George Gascoigne's English sonnet, "For That He Looked Not Upon Her," in its entirety.

"For That He Looked Not Upon Her:" Meaning

"For That He Looked Not Upon Her" is a poem that expresses how deception in love leads to disappointment. The woman addressed in the poem has been deceitful, and the speaker mistrusts her. Although it is never clear what she has done, it has deeply affected the speaker. The unfortunate insight he has gained is similar to a mouse that has learned not to trust bait in a trap or a fly that knows fire will burn wings. He has been incapacitated to the extent that he would rather avoid all danger, including avoiding her, than try to repair any damages.

"For That He Looked Not Upon Her:" Structure

The poem "For That He Looked Not Upon Her" is an English sonnet. Also known as an Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet, this type of poem is written as one 14-line stanza. The sonnet form was considered an elevated form of verse in the 1500s and often dealt with important topics of love, death, and life.

The stanza comprises three quatrains, which are four lines of verse grouped together, and one couplet (two lines of verse together).

Like other English sonnets, the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The pattern of rhyme is identified in English sonnets by end rhyme. Each line of the sonnet consists of ten syllables, and the poem's meter is iambic pentameter.

"For That He Looked Not Upon Her:" Analysis

In "For That He Looked Not Upon Her," Gascoigne implements several literary KK devices, including carefully chosen diction and visual imagery, to reveal the disillusioning experience of courtly love. The speaker is a lover that has been badly hurt in matters of the heart. Like a rodent that was trapped while searching for bait and narrowly escaped death, the speaker ignores what he desires rather than suffer anew. The following literary devices are key components to understanding the meaning of the poem "For That He Looked Not Upon Her."

Fig. 1 - Visual imagery appeals to the reader's sense of sight and helps the audience imagine the writer's message more precisely.

Apostrophe

Although the title of the poem is in the third-person point of view, Gascoigne implements apostrophe within the poem to express the speaker's sentiment. The poetic voice is part of the action, contrary to what the title indicates. Beginning the poem with a title that removes the audience from the action using a third-person perspective helps the reader see things from a seemingly objective point of view.

Implementing apostrophe throughout the poem simultaneously gives the speaker authority and authenticates the subject matter, the speaker's suffering. The audience can empathize with the speaker but is not invested in the action. The poem begins with the speaker addressing directly a woman who has hurt him, presumably in a romantic relationship.

Diction

Gascoigne uses key diction throughout the poem to express the speaker's emotional pain and the irreparable damage the relationship has suffered. The woman has all the traits the speaker finds attractive, but her actions have ruined the affection the poetic voice felt.

The speaker begins the poem using diction like "louring" (line 2) to establish his feelings of anger and sadness toward the situation he finds himself in with the addressee. "Louring" sets the mood by establishing that the speaker is hardened toward love and his previously beloved. By focusing on his feelings rather than her actions, the initial diction prepares the audience for the speaker's inevitable poetic shift in attitude later in the poem.

While initially establishing a dejected mood, the final couplet shows the speaker's determination to move forward and leave a bad situation or relationship. The transition "so" in line 13 reveals the speaker's conclusive resolution to ward off the pain by holding down his head and avoiding her gaze, which has caused his sorrow.

Metaphor

Throughout the poem, Gascoigne uses several metaphors to establish the speaker's helplessness against the poem's subject and how damaging her actions have been. While the first quatrain establishes the apostrophe, quatrains two and three use metaphorical language and visual imagery to reveal the speaker's situation.

Using visual imagery, the speaker compares himself to a mouse escaping from a trap. No longer enticed by "trustless bait" (line 6), the mouse is avoidant and constantly afraid of deceit. The woman addressed is the speaker's "trustless bait," something beguiling and attractive but false and corrosive at the core. The bait she represents is not true sustenance, but a ruse meant to hurt and even kill the rodent struggling to survive.

Fig. 2 - The speaker compares himself to a mouse avoiding bait in a trap meant to kill him.

The second controlling metaphor in the poem directly compares the speaker to a fly. The fly has been "scorched" (line 9) and just narrowly escaped a fire. The subject of the poem is, therefore, the fire. Fires traditionally represent passion and death; in this case, the speaker's literal ex-flame cannot convince him to "play again with fire" (line 10).

Using visual imagery, the speaker likens himself to a mouse and a fly. Both creatures are helpless and are often considered pests. The poetic voice feels both unprotected against her and as though he is a nuisance in life. The poem's subject is equated to a "trustless bait" and "flame," which both cause irreparable damage. Because the creatures the speaker associates himself with have no means to defend themselves, his final conclusion, to simply avoid the danger, is the best course of action.

Fig. 3 - The speaker compares the woman in the poem to a flame that damages and burns a fly.

Alliteration in "For That He Looked Not Upon Her"

Alliteration in poetry is often used to draw attention to an idea, to create an auditory rhythm to the words, and sometimes show a logical and thoughtful organization of ideas.

In "For That He Looked Not Upon Her," Gascoigne implements alliteration to express the speaker's emotions and express his perspective clearly. Alliterative word pairs such as "for fear" (line 7) and "grievous" and "game" (line 11) bring added emphasis to the speaker's feelings of distress and disgust. At once guarded against the addressee's actions, and appalled by her shameful behavior, the repeated strong consonant sounds of "f" and the hard "g" sound highlight the doubt the poetic voice feels in the relationship.

Gascoigne also uses alliteration to emphasize the speaker's attraction to the woman addressed in the poem.

"For That He Looked Not Upon Her" Theme

Gascoigne's "For That He Looked Not Upon Her" explores themes of deceit and disappointment in love to express the overall message of the damaging effects that dishonesty can have in a romantic relationship. Most individuals have or will experience betrayal in romance, and these universal themes are explored in the poem.

Deceit

The poem exemplifies how the speaker suffered in the relationship and has become indifferent to love and the woman he is addressing. Although her beauty "gleams" (line 4), the speaker does not enjoy looking at the woman because her actions, her "deceit" ( line 8), has ruined his love for her. The poem expresses deception in love as bait in a mouse trap. Love, or the beloved, is tantalizing, promising, and almost a necessary sustenance of life. However, once enticed and trapped, the mouse is lucky to escape with his life. In a relationship, deception is just as damaging.

The speaker has barely survived the lies from the "trustless" (line 6) woman. Expressing a sentiment that most can relate to, the poetic voice feels burned and victimized.

Disappointment

Like many scorned lovers, the speaker is disappointed. Jaded with the woman, her behavior, and his experience, he resigns himself to avoiding her, like a rat does a trap or a fly does a flame. He feels that continuing in a relationship with her would be damaging to his health. Her deceit has bred distrust, and it is an unsustainable relationship. Describing his experience as a "game" (line 11), the speaker expresses that he has been played with. He has learned from the appalling treatment he has suffered and will not return to the same situation.

His attitude proves he has gained insight and will likely be more guarded in future experiences. His relationship with her is obliterated, and his disillusionment is clear. The poem ends with more visual imagery as the speaker compares the woman's eyes to a blaze. He asserts his intent to avoid her and "look not upon her," which has bred his "bale" (line 14) or contempt.