–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?
18 thoughts on “T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock””
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The line “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”, shows us that the speaker Prufrock did not live an expensive lavish life. The terms coffee spoons shows he lived a small and more frugal lifestyle. This is important because modernist do not just go with the way things are supposed to be but rather pave their own way and do something different. This shows that because most people in a capitalist society are looking to achieve more and more financial gain.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” means Prufrock is not a big dreamer. He is a type of person who likes to do things that he is capable of, without looking outside of the box. Everyone else is running for the wealth but he doesn’t want a luxurious life or fancy things but a happy and decent life.
Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
I felt the mood was sort of sad as it left a feeling of emptiness. Prufock fought with his internal super-ego which held him back from doing what he wanted, which was approaching and conversing with the women. He had went over many different scenarios on what he would say/talk about, all of which were intelligent as he would make references to Lazar and various other literary texts as a way to impress these sophisticated women. In the end he submits to his fear of time and appearance, which are tied together, by not acting on his intentions by saying there is always time was showing defeat as time was what had led to his circumstances of deteriorating appearances.
–Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
I believe the mood was depressing and bleak, with no signs of positivity. Prufrock is described in a way that makes the reader feel sympathy for his empty life. He simply just wants to be acknowledged by the pretty high class girls, but he goes through life without acknowledgement. I feel like the story is relatable to a degree because everybody knows what it is like to feel like an outsider. It is especially relatable to the people who may not take chances and also “measure their lives with coffee spoons.” After reading this I felt sadness for Prufrock, and I just felt sympathetic for him because he deserved better, even though he is a fictional character.
Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
The mood of the poem is very sad, it is also sort of dull. By the way the poem was read in the audio we heard in class by T.S Eliot we were able to truly understand the poem’s mood. It is sort of dull and without excitement, it sort of reflects Prufrock’s character. He says, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” meaning he has lead a pretty ordinary life, without excitement. He also seems to feel like he doesn’t belong. He also lacks the confidence to live the life he pleases.
The poem opens, “Let us go then, you and I….” Whom do you think the speaker is addressing here?
The speaker is addressing his super- ego. Where he invites a conversation with his deeper self of his desires in life and the reasons for doing them. It seems that the speaker is creating a conversation to himself since he is unable to do so in reality. That because he lacks people to ball blank ideas with he talks to his super-ego instead.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
I think that Prufrock was trying to tell the readers that he just settled for anything. He wasn’t planning big things for his future. Him measuring his life to a coffee spoon is his way of showing us that his life is boring. He knows what to do in order to change his lifestyle around and make it more interesting not just dull as it is now. He does not change because he is afraid of change.
Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
The overall mood of the poem sounds so depressed. It makes me feel that there is nothing precious or interesting exist in the world. In Eliot’s poem Prufrock is a man who is lack of self-confidence. For example, he likes to join with a group of women to make friend with them. But, he worries the women might think he was old. Also, the women are talking about Michelangelo which makes them more brilliant than him. This makes Prufrock’s character as a weak man to the readers.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” means the speaker doesn’t like to take any chances with his life and has settled for what’s within his comfort zone. He doesn’t really have any plans for the future and even if he did, he wouldn’t pursue them because he is too afraid. The spoon symbolizes that he has lived a simple life and he’s content with his accomplishments and his way of life.
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
In my opinion, I hold the belief that Prufrock is an extremely ego man who is not longing for the luxurious life and he is only in favor of the plain lifestyle that he shouldn’t schedule in the past. Indeed, he is not a people who would consider about the life in the future. On the contrary, he so enjoys the life at the moment of right now. On the other hand, the coffee spoon shows us that his life is dull and boring. In his mind, he feels depressed by the boring life but he does not hope to change it.
–Look at the description of the yellow smoke in the second and third stanzas of the poem. What do you make of this description?
T.S. Eliot talks about the yellow fog/smoke in the poem, which points us to the location of the poem. The use of his yellow smoke description suggests that he’s talking about London (because London’s supposed to get really foggy). He says that the yellow fog “fall from chimneys… slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap… curled once about the house, and fell asleep”. I think what he’s trying to portray here is the swiftness of the fog, it comes and goes quickly without notice.
The mood of this poem is a somber one. Throughout the poem, Alfred continuously speaks about how he is scared to speak to the woman at the bar. He says so as if he is a young man, however, later we find out that he is actually an old man and that his time to find a woman is running out. Rather than spending his time with a woman he loves he says he has measured his life “with coffee spoons”. This makes the poem sad because it is a reality that people do not wish to be a part of and that makes people sad.
Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
The mood of the poem is very bleak. We can tell from the poem that Alfred hasnt been part of a lavish lifestyle and that he has been through a frugal life in his past. Him trying to talk to women in that time is difficult for him as they refer to completely different things that he cannot comprehend or relate to as he is not at the same level of status for. That makes you realize that he is actually old and running out of time to find a woman that understands him and meets his criteria. He lacks self confidence and instead talks to himself his “ego” rather than talking to real women. This leaves the reader with a very depressing and sympathetic feeling.
-What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
Prufrock shows how time passes fast, and how he keeps getting older while not worrying about the important things in life. He states that he has accomplished much during his time, i.e., drinking coffee, eating a peach, and lived through many mornings and afternoons. In reality, those are not accomplishments. He believes those are accomplishments, because he couldn’t accomplish the things he wanted to. For example, talking to women but with fear of being rejected. This shows that as time passes, you start to brush off your real accomplishments for other simpler alternatives.
Prufrock relation with time is one of dominion over it. HE says there will always be time but in the poem there is no hint of him actually intending to do anything. This is a cowardice move as he will never experience what people truly feel about him and now lives in a false imagination of himself.
The mood of this poem is a melancholy . As we dive deeper into the poem, Alfred speaks about how he is scared to speak to this woman at the bar.
“In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. ”
He is somewhat admiring her from afar but does not have the courage to speak to her. This poem is for the people who do not take initiative on what they want and who they seek. It is deep but within reach of being meaningful even to a child.
What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
Prufrock believes he has time, even if he is aware that it is passing each and every day. He knows that he is becoming older, but he states that he has enough time to do all the things he still wishes to accomplish. He’s very indecisive about the activities that he wants to perform; he knows that he’s running out of time, but he contradicts himself that he still has enough. He doesn’t want to make a mistake or cause an imbalance in feeling that because he doesn’t enough time, he has to do something before Death claims him; so his mentality assumes that there is enough time, and that he should not speed through.
What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
T.S. Eliot employs the use of repetition by J. Alfred Prufrock in saying “There will be time.” This statement is quite ironic considering the fact that simultaneously, he is growing even more self conscious due to the fact that he is aging. He mentions his balding and thin hair, signs of leaving his youth behind. This brings him tremendous worry amongst other insecurities. In order to address this cognitive dissonance he is experiencing, which includes approaching the ladies at the event or not, he introduces the idea that he does have time though. He does this in order to comfort himself, and also displays a certain apathy in his character. Prufrock knows very well that his aging symptoms will get no better, and that there is no going back. He simply chooses to conform to the unfavorably position he finds himself in instead of doing something about it.