The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock

The poem itself tells the inner feelings of a man in love who realises that his aspirations and his outlook on life are much deeper than those of the rest of the people. He feels the need to stir those around him, to make them conscious of the seriousness of life and of their frivolity, but at the same time he fears being rejected and mocked. Another thematic element is the subject of ageing: the speaker contemplates his wearied heart (vis-à-vis the mornings and afternoons he has known), the repetitions inherent in life causing his physical deterioration (a bald spot, weak teeth making him fear food), and the consuming idea of an impending death.

The poem begins with a quotation from Dante 's '' Inferno '' (XXVII, 61-66), which reads:

::''S`io credesse che mia risposta 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.''

Which translates as:

::''If I believed that my answer would be''
::''To someone who would ever return to earth,''
::''This flame would move no more,''
::''But because no one from this gulf''
::''Has ever returned alive, if what I hear is true,''
::''I can reply with no fear of infamy.''

These passages may be viewed as a criticism of English society at the beginning of the 20th Century . The passage described helps draw a parallel between the journey in which Dante explores on through Hell. Eliot contrasts Alighieri's notion of journeying through the rings of Hell with 'asking' the daunting question never broached by Prufrock.

The poem may be viewed as an embodiment of Bathos (a Modernistic style-figure): the lover (Prufrock) wants to be serious, but he is just an ordinary (and even comic) individual.

Prufrock wanted the reader to follow him through "half-deserted streets" and experience the juxtaposition of the mundane with the esoteric world. Prufrock posited a fundamental question: "Do I dare disturb the universe?" If one cannot ask the hard questions, then the persona stated that he should have just been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the ocean floor. The persona belived that, on the other hand, he was an attendant lord; one who could advise humanity of the real course to take in life. While he could hear the mermaids singing, he did not think they were singing to him.

A well-known example of this poem being quoted in later popular culture exists in Francis Ford Coppola 's '' Apocalypse Now ''. Dennis Hopper 's character, a Photojournalist , refers to himself, saying "I should have been a pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of silent seas." This line follows a reference to another famous poem, Rudyard Kipling's '' If— ''. This particular line is also parodied by Woody Allen in his 1975 comedy '' Love And Death '': the main character writes it while composing a poem, then throws it away, remarking "Too sentimental!"

Prufrock's lament about having "measured out my life in coffee spoons" is quoted in an episode of the US television series '' Law & Order '', as is the line, "Do I dare to eat a peach?" The poem also inspired the song '' Afternoons & Coffeespoons '', by the Canadian band, Crash Test Dummies .

SEE ALSO

Modernism

Ezra Pound

EXTERNAL LINKS

Eliot's Prufrock Text and extended audio discussion of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Audio of T.S. Eliot reading the poem aloud

A translation into Spanish

An illustrated version

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The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock