love song explication

A detailed Summary of love song explication

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" Lines 37-52

In this stanza the man regrets some of the decisions that he has made in his life. The man feels that if he allows himself to reflect upon his past he will have to deal with the emotions and consequences of a life of poor decisions. He questions if there is a chance to turn back the hands of time to, hopefully, bring an opportunity for change in his life, "Do I dare? and, Do I dare" (Line 38). His physical aging embarrasses him, "With a bald spot in the middle of my hair" (39). He is very depressed because he is worried about what other people will perceive of him. "My morning coat, my collar mounted firmly to my chin," this shows how he is trying to hide the evidence of physical aging by covering it up with clothing (42). This is another sign that he is depressed. He is hoping that with a "necktie rich and modest" he will appear upstanding, but will not be noticed for being richly dressed (43). He hopes that his colorful piece of clothing will distract others from his thin arms and legs, "His arms and legs are thin" (44). Once again he is concerned with how people perceive him. He uses imagery to describe how he looks, he is trying to look upstanding and righteous but in

reality he is sad and gloomy. Being thin brings up the theme of poverty, physical starvation, or perhaps even the starvation of a life that was wasted by poor judgment. These references to aging reveals this man's feelings of helplessness that increases as the poem continues on and he continues to feel regret about his life. There is the repetition of the phrase "Do I dare" in which he ponders the question is it worth all of the trouble to be concerned with all of his physical characteristics that God so intentionally gave him (45). These thoughts of which he questions his appearance sets the tone to be of despair and desperation. He badly wants to change his life's history. The question of whether he should or should not disturb the perfect harmony of nature, Do I dare/Disturb the universe?" (45-46), brings up his desire to have a moment to turn back time and make different choices. "In a minute there is time," this hyperbole describes how he feels that in just one minute he could change his life forever (47). There is paradox with the phrase "decisions and revisions" these two are contradictory emotions, but no matter how hard they work together this one minute that he desires it could reverse them and change his life forever. The man knows now everything that he should have done. Every day it was clear to him that decisions he made were not the best, "Have known the evenings, mornings,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Prufrock Lines, change life, life coffee, life coffee spoons, coffee spoons 51, change life forever, collar mounted firmly, mounted firmly chin, collar mounted, mounted firmly, poor decisions, coffee spoons, spoons 51, physical aging, firmly chin, people perceive,

Approximate Word count = 947
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English