Tag Archives: Time

The tragedy of J. Alfred Prufrock

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As stated in the footnotes, the quote used in the beginning of the poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” comes from Dante’s Inferno. Before I could even begin reading the poem I had to understand what these 6 lines meant and why T. S. Elliot thought it was essential to the poem. I explicated that the quote is used to inform the reader that the narrator, for whatever reason, feels doomed. The narrator, presumably Prufrock, believes that his love song is between himself and it’s intended reader, therefore, it should be regarded as the truth.

I believe that Prufrock could be addressing myself as the reader, a beloved person, or even himself. Regardless of who he is speaking to, I believe he is admitting that he cannot approach a woman because he is afraid. Although he is completely aware of time passing by—he cannot get himself to make a move. His obsession with time used throughout the poem reveals his constant emotions of fear and ultimately dying alone.

In the fourth stanza, Prufrock echoes a poem titled, To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell when he assures the reader (For the sake of the argument, I will assume that he is speaking to the reader), “And indeed there will be time.” In short, Marvell’s poem is essentially a man convincing his lover that life is short, and that there is not enough time in the world for all the things he wishes to to do with her (like take her on a couple dates or take things slow)—and so they should not waste time and just have sex already! Prufrock is alluding that there will be plenty of time for him to meet this woman, take her out on dates, get to know her, and eventually have sex. But why is he stressing so much that, “There will be time, there will be time.?”

In the sixth stanza, Prufrock reveals that there is plenty of time for him to wonder, “And indeed there will be time / To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’” Prufrock’s repetition of time seems ironic at this point. It is as though he is trying to convince either himself or the reader that he has plenty of time to express his love for this woman. In the next lines Prufrock tell us that he’s not going to do anything and that it is, “Time to turn back and descend the stair,” but also, “With a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair.” It is apparent that Prufrock is fearful of approaching his beloved and not because he has plenty of time to do so (after all he has waited so long that he is know losing his hair).

Towards the end of the poem Prufrock begins to admit that he knows he is being a “chicken” about approaching his beloved. In lines 48 and 49 he states, “In a minute there is time / For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” In other words, he is aware that he is thinking to much and that is is causing for him not to act. This is very similar to Shakespeare’s famous protagonist, Hamlet. Prufrock already knows this, stating, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor meant to be;” he tells us that he is completely aware of time passing by and that he is still too scared to make a move. Apparently, the tragedy in which Hamlet realizes the question of life when it is already too late, “To be, or not to be,” is not strong enough to convince Prufrock to be a man.

Prufrock thinks too much
Prufrock thinks too much

John Keats

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John Keats is considered one of the greatest Romantic poets, yet his career as a poet lasted only five short years. Common themes found in Keats’ poetry are aching desire, the dreadful coming of death, and the seductive power of beauty. William Wordsworth, a fellow Romantic poet, had a large influence on Keats and his poetry. Keats paid close attention to structure in his sonnets and his odes, but the complex structures of his works are meant to compliment his meditations on his subject matter.

“When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is a Shakespearean sonnet. In this sonnet, Keats discusses his fear of death. Specifically, he talks about his fear of dying before he is done writing all the poetry he is capable of and his fear of dying before having felt “unreflecting love” (Keats 12). Line 13 of the sonnet says “Of the wide world I stand alone,” meaning that Keats feels he is alone in the world; he ends the sonnet by saying he feels love and fame are worthless. “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is a personal fear that Keats has of dying an early death like the other members of his family.

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” begins with Keats addressing an ancient Grecian urn. He focuses on the fact that the figures on the urn are frozen in time; he describes it as “still unravished bride of quietness” and “foster-child of silence and slow time” (Keats 1-2). Keats also repeatedly asks questions about the urn and its origins. Again focusing on the subject of time, Keats opens the second stanza with “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter,” (Keats 11-12) meaning that unheard melodies are sweeter than normal melodies because they are unaffected by time. He focuses on the beauty of being frozen in time and how the beauty in the moments depicted on the urn will never fade away with time.