Alfred prufrock, commonly known as prufrock, is the first professionally published poem by americanborn british poet t. Eliot as the speaker tries to convey what he sees through imagery and the way he feels through m. Eliots dramatic monologue takes us into the mind of an ageing j. This pervigilium section describes the vigil of prufrock through an evening and night. Alfred prufrock, fictional character, the indecisive middleaged man in whose voice angloamerican poet t. He describes the street scene and notes a social gathering of women discussing renaissance artist michelangelo. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. A magazine of verse at the instigation of ezra pound. This poem, the earliest of eliots major works, was completed in 1910 or 1911 but not published until 1915. Alfred prufrock, a presumably middleaged, intellectual, indecisive man, invites the reader along with him through the modern city. Alfred prufrock, commonly known as prufrock, is the first professionally. Imagery and metaphors play an important role in the poem the love song of j.
Why does eliot describe the fog as a cat in the love song of j. Alfred prufrock is a modernistic poem in the form of a. What is the effect of repeating words like yellow and windowpanes in lines 1522. One of the most influential poems of modern times, t. His negative view of the world, doubts about misunderstanding, fear of rejection, vanity and weakness are expressed by the poet in language, imagery and metaphor. For i have known them all already, known them allhave known the evenings, mornings. Let us go then, you and ito the enotes quiz on the love song of j. Alfred prufrock, but prufrocks problem is finding love and talking to the women. In 1910 and 1911, while still a college student, he wrote the love song. Alfred prufrock questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on the. Eliot began writing prufrock in february 1910, and it was first published in the june 1915 issue of poetry. It was later printed as part of a twelvepoem pamphlet titled prufrock and other observations in 1917.
Alfred prufrock is the sort of man who can never muster up the strength to force the moment to its crisis 80. Eliot is a poem about a man who is extremely insecure with himself. Alfred prufrock is a lonely, middleaged man who moves through a modern, urban environment in a state of confusion and isolation. Eliot, the 1948 winner of the nobel prize in literature, is one of the giants of modern literature, highly distinguished as a poet, literary critic, dramatist, and editor and publisher. Eliot was kind enough to provide us with the perfect metaphor for the sound of this poem. It is an examination of the tortured psyche of the prototypical modern manovereducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally stilted. Eliot is about a man who is unsatisfied with life and with his decisions to think rather than to act. The epigraph to this poem, from dantes inferno, describes prufrocks ideal listener. After reading the poem through several times you start to see that prufrock eliot is very insecure with himself and with life in general.
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