The Persona's Embarrassment
The narrator says that when his friends started talking about sex he got embarrassed. He described his embarrassment as,
I only know a little bit about that, without a doubt:
When people spoke about it when I was around,
I grew as red as an ember for embarrassment.
But now let’s turn our attention to my moral meaning.
The persona has built imagery in the description of his embarrassment when his friends were talking by describing the blush on his face. He uses a simile, ‘I grew as red as an ember’ to describe the blush. The simile creates visual imagery for the reader can visualize that his face turned to a red color.
Effects of Poverty
The persona described the reaction of his friends when he is poor. He says,
Generous spending enhances a man’s reputation
While it lasts and when it is over and done with
His name is dead: people keep their mouths closed,
As if he had not spent even a penny beforehand.
My thanks are ended, my purse has lost his contents,
And my carcass filled with misery.
Be careful, Hoccleve, I warn you therefore,
And set yourself to a moderate way of life.
The persona has created visual imagery in the description of the change of attitude in his friends when he becomes poor. The imagery is built by descriptions such as, ‘ and my carcass filled with misery’ ,’ the purse has lost its contents’ that build imagery and show the parallelism between a full purse and an empty one.
The Young Girls in the Tavern
The young girls in the tavern The persona says that when he and his friends went out to the taverns, there were many young girls there. He describes them as
I dare not admit how the lively company
Of Venus’s pleasing dear young girls,
Who were so nice and shapely and pretty
And so charming in behavior and manner,
And who could feed all a world with a smile,
And were very nicely decked out in their clothes.
The description creates visual imagery. This is because the narrator describes their physical attributes such as body shape and their beauty. The persona describes them as shapely and pretty and good-looking in their clothes. The descriptions creates a mental image in the minds of the reader.
