Upon reading this poem it is very clear to me that the speaker feels very distant from the world he lives in. He says “To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” which leads me to believe that he has to put on a facade or a “face” in order to be accepted in society.
It is clear to me that the person speaking is living in a city. Many references are made to imagery that makes me believe that he is describing the world around him to be a lonely city which he regrets to be a part of and does not feel like he belongs in… “And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?”, “Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument.” He speaks about a possible love encounter which he is apprehensive about. From the tone of the speaker it is clear to me that he wants to express his feelings to this lover but feels that it can be a big mistake. He says:
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
To me it seems that he feels that if he professes his love to this person that his whole universe can potentially be turned upside down, either in a positive or negative way. He speaks about how he knows how life will play out, and he measures his life in “coffee spoons.” That leads me to believe that he is aware that he has conformed to society’s routines. He keeps questioning himself on how he should part his hair or what he should wear, I see that as him patronizing society’s ways.
He keeps thinking about what he should say to her and how he will be able to open up to her. He even begins to imagine arguments in his head “Should say: “That is not what I meant at all; That is not it, at all.”
He ends the poem with his wishes of being a crab in the bottom of the ocean, or wearing white pants on a beach while taking a walk. I feel like T.S Elliot chose to end the poem like that in order to convey a theme of loneliness and the sense that the more the speaker thinks about this woman and what he should say to her, the more he feels like he doesn’t belong.
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