The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: T. S. Eliot
- First Published: 1915
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Folkloric or magical people, Twentieth century, Authors or writers, Alienation, Poetry or poets, Dreams, Nightmares, Fear, City life, Human behavior, Life, philosophy of, Shakespeare, William, or Shakespearean plays, Mermaids or mermen, Allusions
The masterpiece of his poetic apprenticeship, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” remains one of Eliot's most intriguing and challenging poems; it may be usefully examined by listening to the voices it embodies. Like much of the poetry of Robert Browning, it is a dramatic monologue. Like the poetry of Jules Laforgue, it is a Symbolist poem that explores the narrator's stream of consciousness as he relates, in fragmented fashion, his seemingly random thoughts that are unified by the structure of the poem.
One key to this song of misprized, reluctant, hesitant love is in the...
[The entire page is 573 words long]
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