The title of this poem is misleading. It is not a typical romantic love song. This poem shows the indecisive mind of J. Alfred Prufrock. “Love Song”, a poem by T.S. Eliot, is an exploration of Prufrock’s confused thinking processes and his less than optimistic mind. T.S. Eliot’s “Love Song” is a bleak, timeless tone with carefully connoted language. Eliot depicts J. Alfred Prufrock, a man who is uneasy, uncertain, and scared.
The poem’s first few lines give an indication of its content. The poet uses a simile to compare the evening “spread across the sky” with “a sick patient lying on a bed.” This comparison is not very appealing and creates an uncomfortable image for the reader. He continues to describe a sort of city tour: “Let’s go through certain half deserted streets…of sleepless nights in cheap one-night hotels …” (pages 4-7). The reader is again left with a dark image of Gotham City, where only those who are accompanied by someone dear would be happy to stay there. Prufrock, however, is not in the city.
He continues to compare “etherized” things later, adding to the uneasy, dark feeling.
The eyes I already know.
The eyes of a phrase that fixes you.
Then I can be formulated on the pin.
If I’m pinned and wriggling up the wall
How do I start?
To spit my entire life and all its shite?
How can I know?
This stanza conveys Prufrock’s uneasy character through the careful connotation of words, such as “pin”, which conveys an image of a bug that is ready to dissect. He is describing how people who he knows “fix” him with a formulated sentence, then pin him. Then he must interact with them to explain how his day was. Most people don’t experience this feeling of being pinched down. They are used to it and do it every day. Prufrock is not a person who is prone to lighthearted social interactions. His unease is similar to Holden Caulfield’s in The Catcher in the Rye. Prufrock sees every detail as a series of high-strung decisions, not an idle task.
Prufrock’s thoughts are abstract and seem to be a constant jig in his head. The fragmented and wavering tone reflects Prufrock’s indecisiveness. Eliot creates a wavering tone by using a non-specific rhyme scheme. For example, a stanza ends with words “dare”, stair”, and hair, but the following lines may not have any rhyme. This wavering rhythm adds to Prufrock’s sense of indecision.
In addition to the inconsistent rhyme scheme, Prufrock seems uneasy. Prufrock is a man who constantly asks questions and always doubts things. Although this may appear normal, the subjects and uneasy feelings associated with them make it seem that this way of thinking does not sound healthy. Prufrock questions something in nearly all the stanzas of “Love Song”. The subject of his questions is never static. He constantly asks himself whether or not he wants to “disturb” the universe or what he will do when people ask him about his day. He mockingly asserts the indecisiveness of his manners with “Do i dare disturb universe?” In a moment, decisions can be made and changes made. But a second will change everything” (45-48) He’s basically declaring that, even though he only has one minute left, it is enough time to make the decision.
The poem is filled with this feeling that time is passing too quickly. The poet repeats “And indeed, there will come time” more than once. This not only adds a sense of irresolution, but also highlights his tendency to digress and change topics on a dime. Prufrock says this directly when he is analyzing a women’s arm by lamplight. He also confirms that he has begun to bald, indicating that he’s aware of his age and the passing of time. This realisation of his mortality is what makes him most afraid:
Prufrock seems more and less confident and shaky as the poem progresses. Prufrock is a more nervous, uneasy figure. In line 120 he starts to waffle: “I get old…I get old …”,. It gives the impression of a man pondering without any answers while the world passes by. The last stanza solidifies Prufrock’s elusive thoughts.
The sea chambers have been our home.
Seaweed wreathed in red and Brown by the sea-girls
Till we hear the human voice, we will drown.
Eliot uses bleak imagery and a wavering tonality, along with carefully connoted words, to portray Prufrock as a man who is uneasy, uncertain, and afraid. The “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” isn’t a real love song. Instead, it takes you into J. Alfred Prufrock’s shades-of grey world and reveals the serious flaws of an unresolved mind.
