Poetry reminds most individuals of lyrics to a song because of the way it is written, including using rhymes and rhythms in the lines of poems. Unlike short stories, poems rely heavily on metaphors, similes, and emotion, in addition to symbols and imagery. Generally speaking, if a writing follows a specific, nearly musical pattern, then it can be defined as a poem. Andrew Marvell 's poem, “To His Coy Mistress,” meets all of the necessary requirements that fulfill his work as a poem. Its lyrical quality can be defined as an iambic tetrameter because of its constant use of unstressed then stressed syllables and follows the familiar AABB rhyme scheme. The first stanza of this poem carries multiple symbols, which are the poet 's ways of slighting …show more content…
According to an essay by Jennifer Bussey, since many of Dickinson 's poems were not intended to ever be published and read by the public, it is possible that this poem was written solely for Dickinson 's own self-clarification. The “Fellow” that Dickinson writes about is none other than a snake that is riding the grass, which can be read literally, meaning that the snake rode through the grass as a person would ride (during this time period) a horse, although having someone “ride” you can also mean that one is being put under pressure, much like a persistent lover would do. The poem and the narrow Fellow also can symbolize the changes in the lives of people and the individuals that pass through, and the change can be temporary, since snakes and certain people come into our lives only to do and take what they want, whether or not it harms us, but just as the snake leaves the Boy, people can also leave our lives just as simply without destroying …show more content…
S. Eliot 's “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” contains a unique and almost disjointed rhyme and meter, which I was not able able to firmly and confidently identify, though there seems to be themes of a desire to be loved and to change the world 's norms. The main character, Prufrock, is a timid, self-unassured man that can make readers blame him for these petty qualities that are nothing more than the silly norms of the overly idealistic society that he is a part of, though with careful, conscious reading, the audience may begin to realize that Prufrock is more than a shy, self-kept man to be belittled by following the unspoken rules of his world. Reality is often cruel, such as seen in Prufrock 's rational and sensitive mind, whose sensual feelings for a young woman cause him to feel rejected even before he considers approaching her. An essay by Shyamal Bagchee suggests that this poem is not an answer to the foolish morals of society, but rather a question given by the author (who could very well be using his main character to reflect his own circumstances) who invites his audience to go on a journey with him to the occurrence of his account described in the work, and though it is easy to think of this character as someone who is a social outcast, he can be admired for acknowledging his world 's useless ideals though he abides by them. Although Prufrock does not get a chance to express his thoughts and
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is about a timid and downcast man in search of meaning, of love, and in search of something to break from the dullness and superficiality which he feels his life to be. Eliot lets us into Prufrock's world for an evening, and traces his progression of emotion from timidity, and, ultimately, to despair of life. He searches for meaning and acceptance by the love of a woman, but falls miserably because of his lack of self-assurance. Prufrock is a man for whom, it seems, everything goes wrong, and for whom there are no happy allowances. The emptiness and shallowness of Prufrock's "universe" and of Prufrock himself are evident from the very beginning of the poem. He cannot find it in himself to tell the woman what he really feels, and when he tries to tell her, it comes out in a mess. At the end of the poem, he realizes that he has no big role in life.
Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." An Introduction to Poetry. 13th ed. Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966. 369-372. Print.
In his poem Eliot paints the picture of an insecure man looking for his niche in society. Prufrock has fallen in with the times, and places a lot of weight on social status and class to determine his identity. He is ashamed of his personal appearance and looks towards social advancement as a way to assure himself and those around him of his worth and establish who he is. Throughout the poem the reader comes to realize that Prufrock has actually all but given up on himself and now sees his balding head and realizes that he has wasted his life striving for an unattainable goal.
The speaker in Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress'; is a man who is addressing a silent listener, who happens to be his mistress. In this dramatic monologue the speaker tries to explain his feelings to his mistress. The speaker uses many allusions to empires and other objects, events and ideas that are not directly related to his feelings, in order to explain how he feels. He uses these allusions to exaggerate his feelings in order to clearly show them. After reading over the poem once, you get a sense of what the speaker is feeling. Upon further analysis of the poem you realize that the allusions used in the poem, are in fact, what makes this poem so interesting.
Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1996.
T.S. Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock has a plethora of possible interpretations. Many people argue that the poem represents a man who appears to be very introverted person who is contemplating a major decision in his life. This decision is whether or not he will consummate a relationship with someone he appears to have an attraction to or feelings for. People also debate whether or not Prufrock from the poem is typical of people today. While there are a plethora of reasons Prufrock is not typical of people today the main three reasons are he is very reserved, he overthinks most situations and he tries avoid his problems instead of solve them.
In conclusion, after exploring the theme of this poem and reading it for myself, Eliot has created this persona, in industrialised England or somewhere else. A man of low self-esteem, you embark his journey as he struggles with a rational fear of being rejected by a woman. Which gives the reader sympathy to Prufrock, as he lives within his own personal
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the author is establishing the trouble the main character, Prufrock, is having coming to terms with middle age. He is deeply distressed over the fact that he is growing old, and feels that the prime of his life has passed him by. His preoccupation with time throughout the poem characterizes his fear of aging. He is a man experiencing a mid-life crisis, brought about by his perception of aging and his own feelings of inadequacy.
In the poem, “It was not Death, for I stood up,” Dickinson uses words to describe the sense of hopelessness she feels as she tries to pinpoint the source of her anguish. In the first two stanzas, she uses specific sensory details to convey her chaotic feelings to tell the reader what her condition cannot be. A repetition of “it was not” (1) is then followed by a reason of why she eliminated the possibility, using the senses of sound or touch. She merges together the conditions she had eradicated and through her chaotic state, her thoughts turn toward funerals. This causes her to think about her death and her current state of mind. She feels her “life were shaven” (13), so that the only emotions left were despair and terror with the feeling of hope lost. She also “could not breathe without a key” (15); terror does not directly affect a person’s breathing, but it sometimes causes a person to feel as if he were suffocating, unable to breathe. Her “key” that she needs is to understand what she is feeling, but she cannot figure it out (15). The last stanza in the poem expresses an overwhelming feeling of bleakness, there is no opportunity for rescue, “like Chaos— Stopless— … / Without a Chance… / Or even a Report of Land—” (21-23). In the last line, there is a paradox, that since there was no possibility of hop...
Emily Dickinson’s poem uses symbolism, metaphors, and tone to portray the message that she will never live her life selfishly if she can end her suffering and save someone from experiencing the same pain she is.
having the same human qualities as the other character in the poem. She has?Death? physically arriving and taking the other character in the carriage with him. In the poem, Dickinson shows the reader her interpretation of what this person is going through as they are dying and being taken away by?Death?. Dickinson gives images such as?The Dews drew quivering and chill --?
Marvell chooses not to employ many of these techniques in the opening of "To His Coy Mistress." Instead, his images and tools stress how he wishes his love to be- tranquil and drawn out. Rather than beginning with a focus on the concept of death, he opens the poem with the lines, "Had we but world enough, and time / This coyness, lady, were no crime" (ll. 1-2) He will later take on the trappings of the carpe diem poem, but his focus will then be on the grandeur and passion of love, rather than its instability.
A Comparison of ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell and ‘To His Mistress Going to Bed’ by John Donne
One of T.S. Eliot’s earliest poems, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, is a prime example of a text that takes a turn inwards in terms of conveying the experience it presents. The poem provides a look into the distressed mind of an archetypal modern man of the times. It does this using the speaker’s stream of consciousness presented as a dramatic monologue. Prufrock, the poem’s speaker, seeks to advance his relationship with a woman who has caught his eye. He wonders if he has “the strength to force the moment to its crisis” (Eliot, 80). Prufrock is so entrenched in self-doubt that he is uncertain whether he is capable of having a relationship with this woman. His knowledge of the world he lives in and his circumstances keep him from attempting to approach this prospective lover. He contemplates the reasons for which he believes he cannot be with her and scolds himself for even thinking that it was possibl...
The title T. S. Eliot chose for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is ironic. Mr. Prufrock does not love anyone, nor does he believe he is loved. He has disdain for the society of which he wishes he were a part, and he believes society views him no differently. The imagery of Mr. Prufrock's thoughts provide the audience a more detailed insight into his character than had Mr. Eliot simply listed Mr. Prufrock's virtues and flaws. Mr. Prufrock is seen as an exaggeration or extreme for the sake of literary commentary, but the world has many Prufrocks in many differing degrees, and T. S. Eliot has made them a little easier to understand.