The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (composed February 1910 - July 1911) is the titular poem in the book Prufrock and Other Observations published by T. S. Eliot in 1917, which marked the start of his career as one of the twentieth century's most influential poets. Prufrock is one of the most anthologized 20th century poems in English. The poem takes the form of a dramatic monologue, a form that had been much favoured by Robert Browning.

The poem itself tells the inner feelings of a man in love, who realises that his aspirations and his outlook on life are much deeper than those of the rest of the people. He feels the need to stir those around him, to make them conscious of the seriousness of life and of their frivolity, but at the same time he fears being rejected and mocked. Another thematic element is the subject of ageing: the speaker contemplates his wearied heart (vis-à-vis the mornings and afternoons he has known), the repetitions inherent in life causing his physical deterioration (a bald spot, weak teeth making him fear food), and the consuming idea of an impending death.

The poem begins with a quotation from Dante's Inferno (XXVII, 61-66), which reads:

S`io credesse che mia risposta fosse

A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,

Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.

Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo

Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero,

Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Which translates as:

If I believed that my answer would be

To someone who would ever return to earth,

This flame would move no more,

But because no one from this gulf

Has ever returned alive, if what I hear is true,

I can reply with no fear of infamy.

This introduction may be viewed as a criticism of English society at the beginning of the 20th century. The opening passage establishes a parallel with Dante's exploration of Hell. Eliot compares Alighieri's theme of journeying through the rings of Hell with 'asking' the daunting question never broached by Prufrock.

The poem may be viewed as an embodiment of bathos (a Modernistic style-figure): the lover (Prufrock) wants to be serious, but he is just an ordinary (and even comic) individual.

Prufrock wanted the reader to follow him through "half-deserted streets" and experience the juxtaposition of the mundane with the esoteric world. Prufrock posited a fundamental question: "Do I dare disturb the universe?" If one cannot ask the hard questions, then the persona stated that he "should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas." The persona believed that, on the other hand, he was an attendant lord; one who could advise humanity of the real course to take in life. While he could hear the mermaids singing, he did not think they were singing to him.

References to the poem in popular culture

A well known example of this poem being quoted in later popular culture exists in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Dennis Hopper's character, a photojournalist, refers to himself, saying "I should have been a pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of silent seas." This line follows a reference to another famous poem, Rudyard Kipling's If— . This particular line is also parodied by Woody Allen in his 1975 comedy Love and Death: the main character writes it while composing a poem, then throws it away, remarking "Too sentimental!"

Prufrock's lament about having "measured out my life in coffee spoons" is quoted in an episode of the US television series Law & Order, as is the line, "Do I dare to eat a peach?" The poem also inspired the song Afternoons & Coffeespoons, by the Canadian band, Crash Test Dummies.

The 2nd Season Finale of The Paper Chase (May, 1984) was titled "Not Prince Hamlet (aka Rashomon)", referring to a student's suicide note quoting lines 111-115 of the Eliot poem.

Lloyd Cole's song "Mr. Malcontent" contains a reference to this poem as well. The song is a character study of Daniel Day Lewis's character Johnny in the movie My Beautiful Laundrette. In the song, Johnny asks himself a question that Prufrock asks: "Should I part my hair behind?"

The American indie rock band Joan of Arc rework the enigmatic, recurring two-line stanza, "In the room the women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo." Lead singer Tim Kinsella croons, "In the room the women come and go talking of Leonardo DiCaprio." The lyric may be found in the song "White Out" on the 1998 album A Portable Model Of... on Jade Tree Records.

The Manic Street Preachers song 'My Guernica' from their 2001 album 'Know Your Enemy' includes the line 'Alfred J. Prufrock would be proud of me'.

The poem's name is also referred to in the name of the radio play The Lovesong of Alfred J. Hitchcock

The Australian movie Till Human Voices Wake Us, starring Guy Pearce and Helena Bonham Carter, is inspired by this poem. It is recited more than once, especially the lines "Let us go then you and I," which are the foundation for the movie.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events features a school by the name of Prufrock Preparatory School as well as references to T.S. Eliot

James Kerwin's film Yesterday Was a Lie (Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson, John Newton, Peter Mayhew) is partially inspired by this poem and is said to contain veiled references to it.

The title of the 1987 film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing references the poem.

See also

• Modernist poetry in English
• Ezra Pound

External links

• Eliot's Prufrock Text and extended audio discussion of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
• Audio of T.S. Eliot reading the poem aloud
• A translation into Spanish
• Prufrock and Other Observations at Project Gutenberg
• An illustrated version