The Love Song
Of
J. Alfred Prufrock
Devon Stanaford
Ac. 2
Ms. Wilson English IIIB
April 7, 2013
Have you wondered where your life is going to go, or wonder what it is
becoming? As if it were a pattern and you did not know they next move or turn. J. Alfred
Prufrock has that problem. His life is a problem and tries to share his London stories with
us. A big pattern is a way to describe his life. He asks himself what is going on in life and
what is purpose is. Only time will tell, and in the end he will know.
The use of imagery used by Prufrock in this poem helps get his point across the
table and shows how he feels. The feeling he is expressing is him being lost in his own
world, and trying to walk us through it . Also, it shows he is not good with staying on one
subject. For instance “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare eat a peach?” line 122,
shows he cannot stick with one subject and that he is confused. Although, when he is
referring to mermaids, that is a very good use of imagery and shows that he has been
through a lot.
Through the life of Alfred Prufrock, he has not accomplished a lot, besides seeing
a bunch of women and roaming the streets of London. Life is not fair to everyone in this
world and it certainly is not to Prufrock. His images used in the beginning of the poem
show he has not lived the best life and that he does not live in the best part of town. “Let
us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in
one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells;” lines 4-7. A night in
a city like this will change a life, as it did to Alfred.
He shows that he is not sure if he
wants to come out to the world or stay put in his own little nutshell, “Do I dare Disturb
the universe?” Lines 45-46
Alfred has too many imagery concepts to grasp a hold of in his poem. Some of
which are metaphors that compare to life and others that compare to himself and what he
does. Prufrock is not the nicest guy nor the most trustworthy man in the world. “Let us go
and make our visit. In the room the women come and go” lines 12-13. This shows Alfred
has not only been with a couple women, but a few. He is trying to get women to enjoy a
night with him so he can take them through the “half deserted streets” and the “cheap
hotel rooms.”
He is too classy of a guy and really likes to show the women a night on the
town.
Many people have different ways of expressing themselves and showing how they
live. Alfred Prufrock uses imagery and makes it clear to how he lives. His life is not the
best, and he is not the nicest person, but he gets his point across on how he lives his life.
Alfred was good at describing himself and his surroundings. Imagery is a very important
thing and Prufrock told us his life using imagery.
1. Evening is spread out against the sky; line 2
2. Etherized upon a table; line 3
3. Through certain half-deserted streets; line 4
4. Restaurants with oyster-shells; line 7
5. Rubs its back upon the window-panes; line 15
6. The soot that falls from chimneys; line 19
7. Yellow smoke that slides along the street; line 24
8. Taking of a toast and tea; line 34
9. Bald spot in the middle of my hair; line 40
10. My collar mounting firmly to the chin; 42
11. Music from a farther room; line 53
12. Pinned and wriggling on the wall; line 58
13. Braceleted and white and bare; line 63
14. Perfume from a dress; Line 65
15. Lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl; line 67
16. Gone at dusk through narrow streets; line 70
17. Smoke that rises from the pipes; line 71
18. Men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows; line 72
19. Across the floors of silent seas; line 74
20. Smoothed by long fingers; line 76
21. Bitten off the mater with a smile; line 91
22. Squeezed the universe into a ball; line 92
23. Settling a pillow by her head; line 96
24. Dooryards and the sprinkled streets; line 101
25. After the skirts that trail along the floor; line 102
26. Nerves in patterns on a screen; line 105
27. Bottoms of my trousers rolled; line 121
28. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare eat a peach?; line 122
29. white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach; line 123
30. Riding seaward on the waves; line 126
Collage:
http://www.photovisi.com/s/zaOtAuU/?vt=1pQHIEA
Ms. Wilson, I apologize, but it would not let me download the collage so here is the link.
