The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T.S. Elliot
A Review of a Little Known Poem by a Widely Known Author
The poem opens with six lines from a section of Dante’s Inferno in which Guido Montefeltro responds to Dante’s questions. The lines are reproduced in the poem in their original language of Latin but translated they read: "If I thought that I was replying to someone who would ever return to the world, this flame would cease to flicker. But since no one ever returns from these depths alive, if what I've heard is true, I will answer you without fear of infamy."
When these lines are related to the poem they speak directly of Elliot’s expression of a desire for freedom which he can never seem to obtain. This feeling is also something that is expressed throughout the Modernism movement which Elliot was involved with during his lifetime spent in London after being educated at Harvard.
The Love Song and its Origins
The poem is written in first person voice from the perspective of J. Alfred Prufrock and opens with a powerful statement of searching for freedom and uses the metaphor of “[A] patient etherized on a table,” to describe the stillness of night which is when it is proposed they leave (lines 1-10). The poem was originally titled “Prufrock and the Women” but Elliot changed the title just before it was published. The previous title lends a little more understanding to the mention in lines 13, 14 and 35, 36 of the women who come and go. It has also been proposed in “The Bedford Anthology of World Literature Book 6” that this reference indicates that he is going to visit a woman friend.
The poem also deals with sentiments of the frustration of growing old (lines 40-44 and 120-121) and seeming to have no time to accomplish what you set out to do in life which is an idea that still holds true today. Besides the opening reference to Dante several more literary and historical references are present such as Hamlet (line 111) and Lazarus (line 94).
The Metaphor of the Mermaids
The poem ends with Prufrock telling us that he “[has] heard the mermaids singing” and that he “[does] not think that they will sing to [him]” and he goes on to speak of the mermaids dancing in the waves (lines 124-130). This reference to a fictional creature seems to bring the poem back to the theme of freedom. It seems as if Elliot is saying “What could be more freeing than not existing at all?”
This poem can be found online on several sites including Bartleby.com as well in several anthologies.
References:
The Bedford Anthology of World Literature Book 6 2003 Bedford/St. Martin’s Press
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elliot lived in London most of his life
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