The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Imagery, Literary...

The Love Song That was Never Sung A love song or a profession of love usually includes a culminating point where the suitor finally professes his love toward the woman. However T.S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† is almost a guide on how to dissuade oneself from professing love to a woman. It does this by combining several different poetic methods to display a situation of desperation and trapped isolation. Basically, Alfred is clear on the fact that he wants to be a part of this woman’s –whom he loves- life, but he cannot bring himself to the complete the act, to say â€Å"I love you.† The poem itself consists of all of the reasons, going through Alfred’s head, why he should not profess his love.†¦show more content†¦This reluctance to take action is rooted in Alfred’s fear, â€Å"And in short, I was afraid† (86). â€Å"So how should I presume?† is another line that displays modern manâ₠¬â„¢s self inquiry and his fear (54). As a result of the evidence present in the poem, one can conclude that Alfred, or modern man, is cowardly and afraid of consequences that could unsettle his world. This conclusion can be drawn from the lines mentioned as well as this line, â€Å"Disturb the universe?† (46). Eliot provides for the reader all of the content to reach such a conclusion, and he also provides the reader with excellent images that convey his theme of reluctance. There are more than a few images presented to the reader in Eliot’s work that help one see a deeper meaning of isolation. Such images include the description of the fog or smoke, the description of J. Alfred Prufrock, the town or city, and other characters as well. The fog has a cat-like quality when the poem describes it rubbing its back against the window panes and licking its tongue against the corners of the evening. Alfred is comparable to the cat-like fog in the fact that they are both on th e outside looking in, and this can be found on Alfred’s part, â€Å"In the room the women come and go†¦Talking of Michelangelo,† (12-13). What I mean by saying that Alfred is on the outside looking in is that he never takes the leap of action, and like I stated previously he is afraid likeShow MoreRelatedThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay990 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† by T.S. Elliot is in part a satire. It was written in the form of a dramatic monologue delivered by the poem’s speaker, J. Alfred Prufrock. It begins with him asking an unknown â€Å"you† to accompany him on a walk. The two walk through town and stumbles upon women talking about Michelangelo at a social event. The women’s bare arms and long dresses show off their knowledge of art. Prufrock wishes to talk to the women and is attracted to them sexually but he is afraidRead More`` Gold Glade `` And The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufro ck1811 Words   |  8 Pages Poetry, by its formal definition, describes intense literary work that expresses feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. In poems such as â€Å"The Light Comes Brighter†, â€Å"Gold Glade†, and â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†, poets used certain literary devices--such as imagery, personification, symbolism, and rhyme scheme--in order to develop an abstract but simultaneous concrete idea of their internal thoughts and emotions. In â€Å"Gold Glade†, Robert Penn Warren portrayed aRead More The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot Essay example1535 Words   |  7 PagesThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot The poetry of the modernist movement is characterized by an emphasis on the alienation of the individual from the broader community in which he or she exists. In the works of T. S. Eliot, this alienation is expressed as a symptom of spiritual and moral decay within communities, societies, and entire civilizations. Eliot’s modernism, which was strongly influenced by his conversion to Anglo-Catholicism, is a harsh critique of the pervasive self-obsessionRead MoreModernism - Araby and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay1382 Words   |  6 Pageschaotic, especially due to paralysis and alienation in modern society. This newly perceived reality is reflected through techniques of fragmentation in modernist works such as James Joyce’s short story â€Å"Araby† and T.S. Eliot’s poem â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, fundamental and far-reaching changes in society often made individuals feel wary and estranged from their surrounding world. These changes included urbanization, technological advancements, mass marketsRead MoreArtistic Expression: Poems Speak to Emtions and Capture Feelings963 Words   |  4 Pagesfeelings. There is no right format of a poem, but yet a world of possibilities. Instead being unchangeable poems are innately open to interpretation; they should be spoken out loud in order to be â€Å"heard†, convey truth and cause impact. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is an extremely meaningful poem; it is one of Elliot’s best-known works and without a doubt a masterpiece (Hillis). T.S. Eliot introduces the poem with a quote from Dantes Inferno (XXVII.61-66), and with that sparks ourRead MoreTechniques and Concerns of Modernism1482 Words   |  6 Pagesthe meaning of life as well as inner psychological perspectives a re some issues explored through the experimentation of new literary techniques as the progression from the Realism and Romanticism of the 19th century called for more realistic conventions in literature to allow writers express their values concerning the changing world. The poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ by T.S. Eliot and ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ by Ernest Hemingway are two texts which highlight the concerns of rapid industrialisationRead More T.S. Eliots use of Poetic techniques in The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Wasteland1310 Words   |  6 Pageshas written many great poems. Among the most well known of these are â€Å"The Waste Land, and â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†, which share similar messages, but are also quite different. In both poems, Eliot uses various poetic techniques to convey themes of repression, alienation, and a general breakdown in western society. Some of the best techniques to examine a re ones such as theme, structure, imagery and language, which all figure prominently in his poetry. These techniques in particular areRead MoreThe Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock Essay4201 Words   |  17 PagesThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T. S. ELIOT Questions for Discussion 1. How does the epigraph from Dante’s Inferno help Eliot comment on the modern world inâ€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†? What does it tell us about the setting of this poem? How is Montefeltro’s miscalculation related to the poem? Prufrock laments that the mermaids will not sing to him. Prufrocks dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world.[24] McCoy and Harlan wrote For manyRead More Content, Themes, Diction and Imagery of Eliots Poems Essay4170 Words   |  17 PagesDiction and Imagery of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Portrait of a Lady, Rhapsody on a Windy Night and Preludes    The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Portrait of a Lady, Rhapsody on a Windy Night and Preludes deal with the psychological impasse of the sensitive person from whom life has been withheld. Both Prufrock and Portrait of a Lady depict self-conscious, philosophical characters who are unable to act and dare not chance acting. As portrayed in Prufrock the characterRead MoreStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 Pages AP Literary and Rhetorical Terms 1. 2. alliteration- Used for poetic effect, a repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a group. The following line from Robert Frosts poem Acquainted with the Night provides us with an example of alliteration,: I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. The repetition of the s sound creates a sense of quiet, reinforcing the meaning of the line 3. allegory – Where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic