–The poem opens, “Let us go then, you and I….” Whom do you think the speaker is addressing here?
–What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
–Look at the description of the yellow smoke in the second and third stanzas of the poem. What do you make of this description?
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
–Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
–In the final lines of the poem, the speaker shifts from “I” to “We.” How do we explain this shift?
14 thoughts on “T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock””
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What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
It is that he just lets it pass him by. He does not take advantage of the time he does have. It is interesting to note that he is aware of the time passing by especially when he describes his aging self yet seems to postpone certain actions in his life such as actively seeking a woman companion. He knows he is not getting any younger yet when he starts of with “Do I Dare” he inevitably settles to take action another day and consoles himself with “there will be time.”
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
In this line Prufrock’s shows us his uncertainty and boring life. All his life he measure every action of his life but he never can move on. So in this line he is comparing his life with coffee spoons, because he never could make a relation with women. I thinks he should be serious about retaliation with women at the right time. So he do not have to live dark boring life.
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
Laments Prufrock meant by, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons, was meant to show its un satisfied and boring lifestyle, he was facing many insecurities during his life which mad him less confident to find the person he can be with. His insecurities ended up taking up his life in such a bad manner that he could not lived the fulfilling life one might have. This is why he “measured his life in coffee spoons”, he’s comparing his life to be as boring as a spoon of coffee.
In the final lines of the poem, the speaker shifts from “I” to “We.” How do we explain this shift?
In the poem, the shift from ‘I’ to “We” signifies a change. The change being in Prufrock. Rather than being alone and speaking of his experiences alone, towards the end of the poem he is speaking almost with us and not to us. He understands that he is not alone in his feelings and has come to terms with himself and is more accepting now.
–Look at the description of the yellow smoke in the second and third stanzas of the poem. What do you make of this description?
I didn’t think about the yellow smoke until I read somewhere that it was referring to a cat. Re-reading the poem it makes sense to me when I found the description “rubs its muzzle on the window-panes”. What T. S. Eliot is drawing here is the similarities between the cat and Prufrock. The willing of the cat to go inside the room, where the ladies are chatting, as he wants too, but both failing to do it. Also, the cats consider the time as Alfred Prufrock does, they never seem to be pressured about time, their moves normally are quiet and slow. And if something is not done today, it can be done any other day, there is no rush because there is always time, this seems to be the attitude of the cats too.
Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
I was very happy after reading the poem. The poem reminder me of school crushes. The procrastination of letting someone know you like them. Like when you wait till the last day of school to tell someone you like them. The poem was romantic to me and reminded me of being an underdog.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
The quote, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” means Prufrock does not have anything significant going on in his life. He has a dry love life and is unable to go on a date with women. His insecurities are the reason why he can’t build the confidence to simply talk to girls.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
That he has counted his days and he can see the end coming. Is sad because all he keeps mentioning is that he’s going to “grow old” basically. He knows he has an end and theres no fixing that.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
A line before he says that, he also says he “has known the evenings , mornings, afternoons”, which means he thinks there is nothing that he does not know, however, by telling us “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”, he realizes there is much more thing that he has never known. Therefore, he compares small “coffee spoons” to long and huge “life” in order to emphasizes how he shallow is.
What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
He think that he has all the time in the world. He keeps procrastinating things to be dealt with in the future even if its a simple task like eating a peach…
He’s simply afraid of doing things, and one of his biggest fears is getting familiar with women. He blames things for his appearance or that he has to many things on his hands that he cant find time for other things. possible Philosophy of his, There is a time and place for everything, except now, now’s to risky.
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
Human being are mortal and life is too short. I think he compared his lifespan with coffee spoon since the coffee spoon is also quite small. Moreover, like the coffee spoon doesn’t get to experience a lot of things and has a routine and confined life, our narrator has similar life. His life is boring and same everyday activity. He never experiment something exciting alike the spoon.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
He means that his life has been mundane, boring, and small. Given one of the critical subjects of this poem, the main character feels his life has been unfulfilling and tame as he never had the confidence to approach women. He keeps asking whether he will dare to make the change after, but we know that he doesn’t.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
He means that his life has been absolute trash. Boring and very one dimensional. He keeps double thinking about the results of everything instead of just taking the risks and that is exactly why his life was so unfulfilling.
What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
He believe he has all the time in the world that’s why he keeps holding off on what he wants to do. It’s fine if he hesitates and prepare his face because time will always be there for him.