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Explanation
of the Title
.......T.
S. Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) originally entitled this poem "Prufrock Among
the Women." He changed the title to "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
before publishing the poem in Poetry magazine in 1915.
Love Song
.......The
words "Love Song" seem apt, for one of the definitions of love song
is narrative poem. And, of course, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
is a narrative, presenting a moment in the life of the title character.
It is also a poem. In addition, the work has characteristics of most love
songs, such as repetition (or refrain), rhyme, and rhythm. It also focuses
on the womanly love that eludes Prufrock.
Origin of the Name Prufrock
.......Eliot
took the last name of the title character from a sign advertising the William
Prufrock furniture company, a business in Eliot's hometown, St. Louis,
while he was growing up. The initial J. and name Alfred are
inventions, probably mimicking the way Eliot occasionally signed his name
as a young adult:
T. Stearns Eliot.
Type of
Work: Dramatic Monologue
......."The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a modernistic
poem in the form of a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue presents
a moment in which a narrator/speaker discusses a topic and, in so doing,
reveals his personal feelings to a listener. Only the narrator, talks—hence
the term monologue, meaning "single (mono) discourse (logue)."
During his discourse, the speaker intentionally and unintentionally reveals
information about himself. The main focus of a dramatic monologue is this
personal information, not the speaker's topic. Therefore, a dramatic monologue
is a type of character study.
Publication
.......Eliot
published "Prufrock" in Poetry magazine in 1915 and then in a collection
of his poems, Prufrock and Other Observations, in 1917.
The
Speaker/Narrator
.......The
poem centers on a balding, insecure middle-aged man. He expresses his thoughts
about the dull, uneventful, mediocre life he leads as a result of his feelings
of inadequacy and his fear of making decisions. Unable to seize opportunities
or take risks (especially with women), he lives in a world that is the
same today as it was yesterday and will be the same tomorrow as it is today.
He does try to make progress, but his timidity and fear of failure inhibit
him from taking action.
Setting
.......The
action takes place in the evening in a bleak section of a smoky city. This
city is probably St. Louis, where Eliot (1888-1965) grew up. But it could
also be London, to which Eliot moved in 1914. However, Eliot probably intended
the setting to be any city anywhere.
Characters
J. Alfred Prufrock:
The speaker/narrator, a timid, overcautious middle-aged man.
He escorts his silent listener through streets in a shabby part of a city,
past cheap  hotels
and restaurants, to a social gathering where women he would like to meet
are conversing. However, he is hesitant to take part in the activity for
fear of making a fool of himself.
The Listener: An
unidentified companion of Prufrock. The listener could also be Prufrock's
inner self, one that prods him but fails to move him to action.
The Women: Women
at a social gathering. Prufrock would like to meet one of them but worries
that she will look down on him.
The Lonely Men in Shirtsleeves:
Leaning out of their windows, they smoke pipes. They are like Prufrock
in that they look upon a scene but do not become part of it. The smoke
from their pipes helps form the haze over the city, the haze that serves
as a metaphor for a timid cat—which is Prufrock.
Themes
Loneliness and Alienation:
Prufrock is a pathetic man whose anxieties and obsessions have isolated
him.
Indecision: Prufrock
resists making decisions for fear that their outcomes will turn out wrong.
Inadequacy: Prufrock
continually worries that he will make a fool of himself and that people
will ridicule him for his clothes, his bald spot, and his overall physical
appearance.
Pessimism: Prufrock
sees only the negative side of his own life and the lives of others.
The Love Song of
J. Alfred Prufrock
By T. S. Eliot
With
Stanza Summaries, Annotations, and Explanations of Allusions
S'io credesse che mia riposta
fosse
A persona che mai tornasse
al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza
piu scosse.
Ma perciocche giammai di
questo fondo
Non torno vivo alcun, s'
i'odo il vero,
Senza tema d'infamia ti
rispondo. |
Translation:
If
I thought my answer were to one who could return to the world, I would
not reply, but as none ever did return alive from this depth, without fear
of infamy I answer thee. The words are spoken by Count Guido da Montefeltro,
a damned soul in the Eighth Circle of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy
(Inferno, Canto 27, lines 61-66.)
Translator and Quotation
Source: G.B. Harrison et al., eds. Major British Writers. Shorter
ed. New York: Harcourt. 1967, page 1015.
Comment:
Eliot opens "The Love Song" with this quotation from Dante's epic poem
to suggest that Prufrock, like Count Guido, is in hell. But Prufrock is
in a hell on earth—a hell in the form of a modern, impersonal city with
smoky skies. The quotation also points out that Prufrock, again like Count
Guido, can present his feelings "without fear of infamy." |
1
Let us go then, you and
I,
When the evening is spread
out against the sky
Like a patient etherised
upon a table;
Let us go, through certain
half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
5
Of restless nights in one-night
cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants
with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like
a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming
question … 10
Oh, do not ask, “What is
it?”
Let us go and make our visit. |
1
Summary, Interpretation:
The speaker invites the listener to walk with him into the streets on an
evening that resembles a patient, anesthetized with ether, lying on the
table of a hospital operating room. (Until recent times, physicians used
ether—a liquid obtained by combining sulfuric
acid and ethyl alcohol—to render patients unconscious before an operation.)
The imagery suggests that the evening is lifeless and listless. The speaker
and the listener will walk through lonely streets—the business day has
ended—past cheap hotels and restaurants with sawdust on the floors. (Sawdust
was used to absorb spilled beverages and food, making it easy to sweep
up at the end of the day.) The shabby establishments will remind the speaker
of his own shortcomings, their images remaining in his mind as he walks
on. They will then prod the listener to ask the speaker a question about
the speaker's life—perhaps why he visits these
seedy haunts, which are symbols of his life, and why he has not acted to
better himself or to take a wife.
Allusion, overwhelming
question (line 10): Eliot appears to have borrowed this
phrase from James Fenimore Cooper's 1823 novel, The Pioneers, one
of five novels that make up The Leatherstocking Tales (1823-1841),
about life on the frontier in early America. When he was a youth, Eliot
read and enjoyed The Pioneers. In the novel, one of the characters,
Benjamin, asks a series of questions ending with the "overwhelming question."
Following is the passage:
.......“Did’ee
ever see a British ship, Master Kirby? an English line-of-battle ship,
boy? Where did’ee ever fall in with a regular built vessel, with starn-post
and cutwater, gar board-streak and plank-shear, gangways, and hatchways,
and waterways, quarter-deck, and forecastle, ay, and flush-deck?—tell me
that, man, if you can; where away did’ee ever fall in with a full-rigged,
regular-built, necked vessel?”
.......The
whole company were a good deal astounded with this overwhelming
question, and even Richard afterward remarked that it “was a
thousand pities that Benjamin could not read, or he must have made a valuable
officer to the British marine.
|
2
In the room the women come
and go
Talking of Michelangelo. |
2
Summary, Interpretation:
At a social gathering in a room, women discuss the great Renaissance artist
Michelangelo. Prufrock may wonder how they could possibly be interested
in him when they are discussing someone as illustrious as Michelango.
Allusion, The
Women . . . Michelangelo (lines 13-14): Eliot borrowed most of
this line from the Uruguayan-born French poet Jules LaForgue (1860-1887).
In one of his works, LaForgue wrote (in French):
Dans la piece les femmes
vont et viennent / En parlant des maîtresde Sienne. Here is the
loose translation: In the room the women go and come while speaking
of the Siennese (painting) masters.
Michelangelo: Michelangelo
di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564), Renaissance sculptor, painter,
and architect and one of the greatest artists in history. He sculpted the
famous David for the Duomo Cathedral in Florence, painted the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, and designed the dome of St. Peter's
Basilica, also in Vatican City. |
3
The yellow fog that rubs
its back upon the window-panes,
15
The yellow smoke that rubs
its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the
corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools
that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the
soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace,
made a sudden leap, 20
And seeing that it was a
soft October night,
Curled once about the house,
and fell asleep. |
3
Summary, Interpretation:
Smoky haze spreads across the city. The haze is like a quiet, timid cat
padding to and fro, rubbing its head on objects, licking its tongue, and
curling up to sleep after allowing soot to fall upon it. The speaker resembles
the cat as he looks into windows or into "the room," trying to decide whether
to enter and become part of the activity. Eventually, he curls up in the
safety and security of his own soft arms—alone,
separate. What this stanza means is that Prufrock feels inferior and is
unable to act decisively. He consigns himself to corners, as a timid person
might at a dance; stands idly by doing nothing, as does a stagnant pool;
and becomes the brunt of ridicule or condescension (the soot that falls
on him). |
4
And indeed there will be
time
For the yellow smoke that
slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the
window-panes; 25
There will be time, there
will be time
To prepare a face
to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder
and create,
And time for all the works
and days of hands
That lift and drop a question
on your plate; 30
Time for you and time for
me,
And time yet for a hundred
indecisions,
And for a hundred visions
and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast
and tea. |
4
Summary, Interpretation:
There's no hurry, though, the speaker tells himself. There will be time
to decide and then to act—time to put on the
right face and demeanor to meet people. There will be time to kill and
time to act; in fact, there will be time to do many things. There will
even be time to think about doing things—time
to dream and then revise those dreams—before
sitting down with a woman to take toast and tea.
Allusion,
there will be time (line 23): This phrase alludes to
the opening line of "To His Coy Mistress," by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678):
"Had we but world enough, and time." In Marvell's poem, the speaker/persona
urges his beloved not to be coy but instead to seize the moment—to
take advantage of youth and "sport us while we may." Prufrock, of course,
continually postpones even meeting a woman, saying "There will be time."
face (line 27): affectation;
façade.
Allusion, works
and days (line 29): Works and Days is a long poem by Hesiod,
a Greek writer who lived in the 700's B.C. "Works" refers to farm labor
and "Days" to periods of the year for performing certain agricultural chores.
The poem, addressed to Hesiod's brother, was intended to instruct readers,
stressing the importance of hard work and right living and condemning moral
decay. |
5
In the room the women come
and go 35
Talking of Michelangelo. |
5
Summary, Interpretation:
The women are still coming and going, still talking of Michelangelo, suggesting
that life is repetitive and dull. |
6
And indeed there will be
time
To wonder, “Do I dare?”
and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend
the stair,
With a bald spot in the
middle of my hair— 40
[They will say: “How his
hair is growing thin!”]
My morning coat, my collar
mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest,
but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how
his arms and legs are thin!”]
Do I dare
45
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions
which a minute will reverse. |
6
Summary, Interpretation:
Prufrock says there will be time to wonder whether he dares to approach
a woman. He feels like turning back. After all, he has a bald spot, thinning
hair, and thin arms and legs. Moreover, he has doubts about the acceptability
of his clothing. What will people think of him? Does he dare to approach
a woman? He will think about it and make a decision, then reverse the decision.
simple pin (line
43): Pin inserted through the tie and shirt to hold the tie in place. |
7
For I have known them all
already, known them all:—
Have known the evenings,
mornings, afternoons, 50
I have measured out my life
with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying
with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a
farther room.
So how should I presume? |
7
Summary, Interpretation:
Prufrock realizes that the people here are the same as the people he has
met many times before—the same, uninteresting
people in the same uninteresting world. They all even sound the same. So
why should he do anything?
Evenings, Mornings, Afternoons:
This phrase, as well as others focusing on time, refers obliquely to the
philosophy of Henri Bergson (1859-1941), author of a revolutionary and
highly influential work, Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate
Data of Consciousness. In this work, he argued that the mind perceives
time as a continuous process, a continuous flow, rather than as a series
of measurable units as tracked by a clock or a calendar or by scientific
calculation. It is not a succession, with one unit following another, but
a duration in which present and past are equally real. Ordinarily, we think
of a day as consisting of morning, evening, and afternoon—in
that order. But, since time is a continuous flow to Prufrock, it is just
as correct to think of a day as consisting of morning, afternoon, and evening
as a single unit.
Allusion, dying
fall (line 52): Phrase borrowed from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Duke Orsino speaks it in line 4 of Act I, Scene I. Here is the passage
in which the phrase appears:
If music be the food of
love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that,
surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken,
and so die.
That strain again! it had
a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like
the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank
of violets,
Stealing and giving odour!
|
8
And I have known the eyes
already, known them all—
55
The eyes that fix you in
a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated,
sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling
on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends
of my days and ways? 60
And how should I
presume? |
8
Summary, Interpretation:
He has seen their gazes before, many times—gazes
that form an opinion of him, treating him like a butterfly or another insect
pinned into place in a display. How will he be able to explain himself
to them—the ordinariness, the mediocrity,
of his life?
fix (line 56): Evaluate. |
9
And I have known the arms
already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted
and white and bare
[But in the lamplight, downed
with light brown hair!]
It is perfume from a dress
65
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table,
or wrap about a shawl.
And should I then
presume?
And how should I
begin? |
9
Summary, Interpretation:
Yes, he has known women like these before, wearing jewelry but really bare,
lacking substance. Why is he thinking about them? Perhaps it is the smell
of a woman's perfume.
Arms that lie along table
(line
67): This phrase echoes line 3.
should I then presume?
(line 68): This clause repeats words in lines 54 and 68.
how should I begin?
(line 69): This clause repeats words in line 59. |
10
Shall I say, I have gone
at dusk through narrow streets
70
And watched the smoke that
rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves,
leaning out of windows?
I should have been a pair
of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors
of silent seas. |
10
Summary, Interpretation:
Will he tell a woman that he came through narrow streets, where lonely
men (like Prufrock) lean out of windows watching life go by but not taking
part in it? He should have been nothing more than crab claws in the depths
of the silent ocean.
smoke that rises from
the pipes (line 71): The smoke becomes part of the haze. |
11
And the afternoon, the
evening, sleeps so peacefully! 75
Smoothed
by long fingers,
Asleep
… tired … or it malingers,
Stretched
on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and
cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force
the moment to its crisis?
80
But though I have wept and
fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head
brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s
no great matter;
I have seen the moment of
my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal
Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
85
And in short, I was afraid. |
11
Summary, Interpretation:
The time passes peacefully. It is as if the afternoon/evening is sleeping
or simply wasting time, stretched out on the floor. Should the speaker
sit down with someone and have dessert—should
he take a chance, make an acquaintance, live? Oh, he has suffered; he has
even imagined his head being brought in on a platter, like the head of
John the Baptist. Of course, unlike John, he is no prophet. He has seen
his opportunities pass and even seen death up close, holding his coat,
snickering. He has been afraid.
evening
. . . floor (lines 75-78): This metaphor/personification echoes
the simile in lines 2 and 3.
cakes (line 79):
Cakes or cookies.
ices (line 79): Ice
cream.
Allusion, head
brought in upon a platter (line 82): Phrase associated with John
the Baptist, Jewish prophet of the First Century AD who urged people to
reform their lives and who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus as
the Messiah. John denounced Herod Antipas (4 BC-AD 39), the Roman-appointed
ruler of Galilee and Perea, for violating the law of Moses by marrying
Herodias, the divorced wife of his half-brother, Philip. (Herod Antipas
and Philip were sons of Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed ruler of Judea.)
In retaliation, Herod Antipas imprisoned John but was afraid to kill him
because of his popularity with the people. Salome, the daughter of Herodias
and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, danced at a birthday party for Herod
Antipas. Her performance was so enthralling that Herod said she could have
any reward of her choice. Prompted by Herodias, who was outraged by John
the Baptist's condemnation of her marriage, Salome asked for the head of
the Baptist on a platter. Because he did not want to go back on his word,
Herod fulfilled her request. John was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Accounts of his activities appear in the Bible in the gospels of Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John and in the Acts of the Apostles.
prophet (line 83):
Another allusion to John the Baptist.
Footman (line 85):
Servant in a uniform who opens doors, waits on tables, helps people into
carriages. The footman is a symbol of death; he helps a person into the
afterlife. |
12
And would it have been worth
it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade,
the tea,
Among the porcelain, among
some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth
while, 90
To have bitten off the matter
with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe
into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming
question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come
from the dead,
Come back to tell you all,
I shall tell you all”—
95
If one, settling a pillow
by her head,
Should say: “That
is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at
all.” |
12
Summary, Interpretation:
Would it have been worth it for the speaker while drinking tea to try to
make a connection with one of the women? Would it have been worth it to
arise from his lifeless life and dare to engage in conversation with a
woman, only to have her criticize him or reject him.
porcelain (line 89):
glassware or hard, brittle people
Allusion, To
have squeezed the universe into a ball (line 92): This phrase is
another allusion to Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress." (Click
here to see the previous comment on Marvell's poem.) In the last stanza
of that poem, the speaker/persona says, " Let us roll all our strength
and all / Our sweetness up into one ball." In Eliot's poem, the speaker
asks whether it would have been worth it to do the same thing with a woman
of his choosing.
Allusion, Lazarus
(line 94): Name of two New Testament figures: (1) Lazarus of Bethany, brother
of Martha and Mary. Jesus raised him from the dead (Gospel of John, Chapter
11: Verses 18, 30, 32, 38); (2) Lazarus, a leprous beggar (Gospel of Luke,
Chapter 16: Verses 19-31). When Lazarus died, he was taken into heaven.
When a rich man named Dives died, he went to hell. He requested that Lazarus
be returned to earth to warn his brothers about the horror of hell, but
his request was denied. |
13
And would it have been worth
it, after all,
Would it have been worth
while, 100
After the sunsets and the
dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after
the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say
just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern
threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
105
Would it have been worth
while
If one, settling a pillow
or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window,
should say:
“That is not it at
all,
That is not what
I meant, at all.” |
13
Summary, Interpretation:
Would it have been worth it, considering all the times he would be with
the woman at sunset or with her in a dooryard? Would it have been worth
it after all the mornings or evenings when workmen sprinkled the streets
(see sprinkled streets, below), after all the
novels he would discuss with her over tea, after all the times he heard
the drag of her skirt along the floor, after so many other occasions? Would
it have been worth it if, after plumping a pillow or throwing off her shawl,
she turned casually toward a window and told him that he was mistaken about
her intentions toward him?
sprinkled
streets (line 101): This may be a reference to the practice of wetting
dirt streets with oil or water to control dust.
magic lantern (line
105): Early type of slide projector. The magic lantern (also called sciopticon)
projected an image from a glass plate. |
14
No! I am not Prince Hamlet,
nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord,
one that will do
To swell a progress, start
a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt,
an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be
of use, 115
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but
a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost
ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool. |
14
Summary, Interpretation:
Prufrock and Hamlet (the protagonist of Shakespeare's Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark) are both indecisive. But Prufrock lacks the
majesty and charisma of Hamlet. Therefore, he fancies himself as Polonius,
the busybody lord chamberlain in Shakespeare's play.
Allusion, Prince
Hamlet (line 112): Hamlet, the protagonist of Shakespeare's Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark, famous for his hesitancy and indecision while plotting
to avenge the murder of his father, King Hamlet, by the king's brother,
Claudius. Prufrock is like young Hamlet in that the latter is also indecisive.
However, Prufrock decides not to compare himself with Hamlet, who is charismatic
and even majestic in spite of his shortcomings. Instead, Prufrock compares
himself with an unimpressive character in the Shakespeare play, an attendant
lord, Polonius. (See next entry.)
Allusion, attendant
lord (line 113): Polonius, the lord chamberlain in Hamlet, Prince
of Denmark. Polonius, a bootlicking advisor to the new king, Claudius,
sometimes uses a whole paragraph of important-sounding words to say what
most other people could say in a simple declarative sentence. His pedantry
makes him look foolish at times. Prufrock, of course, is worried that the
words he speaks will make him look foolish, too.
Allusion, progress
(line 114): In the time of a Shakespeare, a journey that a king or queen
of England made with his or her entourage,
Allusion, high
sentence: The high-flown, pretentious language of Polonius (See
Allusion, attendant lord, just above.)
Allusion, Fool
(line 119): Eliot capitalizes this word, suggesting that it refers to a
court jester (also called a fool) in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
There is no living fool in Hamlet, but there is a dead one, Yorick. In
a famous scene in the play, two men are digging the grave of Ophelia when
they unearth the skull of Yorick while Hamlet is present. Picking it up,
Hamlet says,
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew
him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most
excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand
times; and now, how
abhorred in my imagination
it is! my gorge rims at
it. Here hung those lips
that I have kissed I know
not how oft. Where be your
gibes now? your
gambols? your songs? your
flashes of merriment,
that were wont to set the
table on a roar? Not one
now, to mock your own grinning?
quite chap-fallen?
In the
courts of England in Shakespeare's time, a fool was a comic figure with
a quick tongue who entertained the king, the queen, and their guests. He
was allowed to—and even expected to—criticize anyone at court. Many fools
were dwarfs or cripples, their odd appearance enhancing their appeal and,
according to prevailing beliefs, bringing good luck to the court. |
15
I grow old … I grow old
… 120
I shall wear the bottoms
of my trousers rolled.
16
Shall I part my hair behind?
Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel
trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids
singing, each to each.
17
I do not think that they
will sing to me. 125
18
I have seen them riding
seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of
the waves blown back
When the wind blows the
water white and black.
19
We have lingered in the
chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with
seaweed red and brown 130
Till human voices wake us,
and we drown. |
15-19
Summary, Interpretation:
The speaker realizes that time is passing and that he is growing old. However,
like other men going through a middle-age crisis, he considers changing
his hairstyle and clothes. Like Odysseus in the Odyssey,
he has heard the song of the sirens. However, they are not singing to him.
wear the bottoms of my
trousers rolled (line 121): look youthful and jaunty.
Allusion, mermaids
(line 124): In Homer's Odyssey,
sea nymphs who sit on a shore and sing a song so alluring that it attracts
all passing sailors who hear it. Then the sailors sit on the shore, transfixed
by the song, until they die. But Odysseus plugs the ears of his men with
wax, so that they are unable to hear, after ordering them to tie him to
a mast. Thus, as they pass the island, Odysseus himself hears the song
but cannot go ashore, though he wants to, because he cannot break free
of his bonds.
|
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Style
......."The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a modernistic poem that expresses the
thoughts of the title character via the following:
Conversational
Language Combined With the Stylized Language of Poetry. For example,
the poem opens straightforwardly with "Let us go then, you and I." It then
presents a bizarre personification/simile with end rhyme (lines 2 and 3),
comparing the evening to an anesthetized hospital patient. End rhyme continues
throughout most of the poem, as does the use of striking figures of speech.
The figures of speech generally refer in some way to Prufrock. The anesthetized
hospital patient, for example, represents the indecisiveness of Prufrock.
The yellow fog and yellow smoke of lines 15 and 16 are compared
in succeeding lines to a timid cat, which represents the timidity of Prufrock.
Variations in Line Length
and Meter. Some lines contain only three words. Others contain as many
as fourteen. The meter also varies.
Shifts in the Train of
Thought: The train of thought sometimes shifts abruptly, without transition,
apparently in imitation of the way the human mind works when it dreams
or daydreams or reacts to an external stimulus.
Shifts in Topics Under
Discussion: The subject under discussion sometimes shifts abruptly,
from trifling matters one moment—Prufrock's
bald spot, for example, or the length of his trousers—to
time and the universe the next.
Shifts From Abstract
to Concrete (and Universal to Particular): The poem frequently toggles
between (1) the abstract or universal and (2) the concrete or specific.
Examples of abstract language are muttering retreats (line 5) and
tedious
argument of insidious intent (lines 8-9). Examples of phrases or clauses
with universal nouns are the muttering retreats and the
women
come and go. Examples of concrete language are oyster-shells
(line 7) and soot (line 19). Examples of particular (specific) language
are Michelangelo (line 14) and October (line 21).
Shifts From Obvious Allusions
or References to Oblique Allusions or References: Prufrock quotes,
paraphrases, or cites historical or fictional persons, places, things,
or ideas. Some of his references are easy to fathom. For example, everyone
with a modicum of education knows who Michelangelo was (line 14). Other
references are difficult to fathom. For example, few readers realize that
To
Have Squeezed the Universe into a Ball (line 92) is a variation of
a line written by poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). In his use of allusions,
Eliot apparently wanted to show that Prufrock was well read and retained
bits and pieces of what he read in his memory, like all of us. .
.
Use
of Repetition
.......Eliot
repeats certain words and phrases several or many times, apparently to
suggest the repetition and monotony in Prufrock's life. Notice, for example,
how often he begins a line with And—20
times. He also repeats other words as well as phrases and clauses, including
the following:
Let us go
In the room the women come
and go talking of Michelangelo
There will be time
Do I dare
Should I presume
I have known
Would it have been worth
it
Figures
of Speech: Examples From the Poem
Simile: Lines 2-3
When
the evening is spread out against the sky
Like
a patient etherised upon a table
(Prufrock uses like
to compare the evening to a patient)
Personifications, Simile:
Lines 8-9
Streets
that follow like a tedious argument
Of
insidious intent
(Personification 1: Streets
become persons because they follow. Personification 2: An argument becomes
a person because it has insidious intent. Simile: Use of like to
compare streets to an argument)
Metaphor: Lines 15-22
Yellow fog and yellow smoke
are both compared to a living creature. It is obvious that the creature
is a cat. (It licks its tongue, leaps, and curls up.) /
Metaphor: Line 51
I
have measured out my life with coffee spoons
(Life is compared to coffee.)
Alliteration
Lines
20-21: Slipped
by the terrace, made a sudden
leap,
And seeing
that it was a soft
October night,
Line 34: Before the taking
of a toast
and tea
Line 56: fix
you in a formulated
phrase)
Line 58: When
I am pinned and wriggling on the wall
Metaphor: Line 58
When
I am pinned and wriggling on the wall
(Prufrock compares himself
to an insect preserved for display in a collection)
Personification/Metaphor:
Line 75
And
the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
(Personification: The evening
is a sleeping person; Metaphor: The evening is compared to a person.)
Anaphora (Lines 91-94)
Tohave
bitten off the matter with a smile,
To
have squeezed the universe into a ball
To
roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To
say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead
(For a definition of anaphora,
see Literary Terms.)
Hyperbole and Metaphor: Lines
92-93
To
have squeezed the universe into a ball
To
roll it toward some overwhelming question
(Hyperbole and Metaphor:
The universe becomes a ball that is rolled.)
Study
Questions and Essay Topics
-
Are such vapors as yellow fog
and yellow smoke (lines 15-16) apt metaphors for a cat?
-
Does the month of the year,
October (line 21), mean that the speaker is running out of time to make
something of his life or to find the right woman?
-
Prufrock says he sees lonely
men leaning out of windows? How does Prufrock know they are lonely? Is
it possible that he misinterprets their state of mind?
-
T.S. Eliot believed that readers
should interpret a poem without attempting to link it to the life of the
author or to cultural or social conditions at the time the author wrote
the poem. In other words, a poem should stand on its own. Write an argumentative
essay that defends or opposes Eliot's position. Include in your essay opinions
of other authors, as well as literary critics, on this subject.
-
Do you believe Prufrock suffers
from a psychological affliction, such as paranoia, depression, or obsessive-compulsive
disorder? Explain your answer.
-
Write an essay that attempts
to fathom Prufrock's psyche.
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