Compare And Contrast The Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock And Walt Whitman

The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is the exact opposite “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. It is a brief poem that uses very simple vocabulary. The poem is a description of the man Richard Cory. Plenty of imagery is used to describe just what type of man Richard Cory was. The speaker of the poem seems to be a collective we. The speaker is all the people who saw and knew Richard Cory.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is not a love song at all—but an insight into the mind of an extremely self-conscious, middle-aged man. Prufrock struggles in coping with the world he is living in—a world where his differences make him feel lonely and alienated. Eliot uses allusions and imagery, characterization, and the society Prufrock lives in to present how Prufrock partly contributes to his own alienation. Our ability of self-awareness separates us from other species, making humans more intelligent and giving people the upper hand in social settings, but, like Prufrock, it can sometimes cause us to feel alienated.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot is a poem I would not recommend anyone still trying to hang on to his or her youth. T. S. Eliot’s poem, about a man named J. Alfred Prufrock, is a pessimistic poem looking at the seemingly wasted life of an aging man. The poem is told from the viewpoint of a very sad man named J. Alfred Prufrock. The poem takes place in the city of St. Louis, which T. S. Eliot does not portray in a very good light. T. S Eliot’s creation of a depressing mood, powerful metaphors, and the character of J. Alfred Prufrock all result in a very disheartening poem, not enjoyable to the middle-aged reader, especially male readers.

When reading the title of T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” it is believed we are in store for a poem of romance and hope. A song that will inspire embrace and warmth of the heart, regretfully this is could not be further from the truth. This poem takes us into the depths of J. Alfred Prufrock, someone who holds faltering doubt and as a result may never come to understand real love. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” takes us through Prufrock’s mindset and his self-doubting and self-defeating thoughts. With desolate imagery, a tone that is known through the ages and delicate diction we see a man who is insecure, tentative and completely fearful.

In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," T. S. Eliot reveals the silent insecurity of a man, for whom the passing of time indicates the loss of virility and confidence. Throughout the poem, Prufrock struggles with his fear of inadequacy, which surfaces socially, physically and romantically. The desire to ask some "overwhelming question," of the one he wants is outweighed by his diffidence, reinforcing his belief in his shortcomings. Ultimately, this poem is the internal soliloquy of someone who attempts to know what he wants and how to get it, but whose social paralysis and lack of self-assuredness prevents either of these possibilities.

“A Love Song for Bobby Long” written by Grayson Capps and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” written by TS Eliot remind the world of men who struggle with the demons of life. The little voices in your head saying “I don’t think you can do that.” These voices cause you to doubt yourself and your talents. They take the life out of you, and cause you to wonder if you even have a purpose here on earth. Now let’s take a deeper look into these poems and closely analyze their similarities and differences.

   Upon reading Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the first question which sprang to my mind was the question of how Eliot, a poet who was in his mid-twenties at the time, was able to write a poem dealing with the problems of aging in such a penetrating manner. Upon closer examination, however, I realized that Prufrock's aging was only incidental to his central problem. Prufrock's major problem is a problem of existential anguish. Prufrock's doubts about aging at a dinner party are merely one example of this anguish, and this party brings his psychology into sharp focus when the reader examines closely the moment in which the poem's events occur.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" depicts the conscious thoughts of a single, timid, and middle aged man. Prufrock is talking or thinking to himself, these thoughts or speeches making up the entirety of the poem. For the first forty-eight lines of the work, he considers the aimless pattern of his solitary life. He is a lover, but unable declare love to someone. In the very first line, he is both the "you and I, "pacing the city 's streets on another lonely walk. He watches the fog settle over him in the evening. Growing more hesitant throughout, he stops to consider his decision. Should he, a lonely and middle-aged man, even

The monologue style of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” is interesting because it doesn’t clearly identify whether or not the speaker is talking to another person or his inner self. A monologue is like a conversation, but uses the language of poetry. This particular dramatic monologue tells the story of J. Alfred Prufrock, a man who is so wracked with insecurity and worried about how others perceive him that he is afraid to live his life.

T.S. Eliot characterizes his speaker in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” based on his own personal experiences. In 1915, Eliot wrote one of his most famous poems as a skeptic (Schneider 1103). He constantly questioned the meaning of human life and the reasons why human beings were created at all. In the same way, Prufrock also has a difficult time in finding the purpose of his long life. The speaker of this poem takes the reader on a journey so that maybe the listener can aid him in finding meaning to his life. Throughout T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the narrator is overwhelmed by the nothingness in his life through the characterization of himself, the wandering to many different settings, and the feeling of death approaching him.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a uniquely styled piece of literature.  In this poem Eliot employs a literary method of writing called "stream of consciousness."  This is a difficult method to grasp outside of the literary genre to attempt to understand it within the context of the higher language of poetry can further confuse readers.

The poem “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” by T.S Eliot is one extended metaphor depicting the trials the character must go through in his attempt to achieve his quest for the ideal. In this case, the ideal is the world inhabited by the ladies he wants to talk to. The perils the character, Prufrock, has to contend with are low self-esteem and his fear of rejection. The poet illustrates his character’s low self-esteem with the image that Prufrock paints of himself as a man “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair” (39). Prufrock’s poor self-image is also evident in his

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Elliot is a poem that tells a character’s story with the use of emotions and imagery. The character J. Alfred Prufrock is first introduced as taking a walk and describing the surroundings such as vacant streets and dreary sights. Women are also introduced as talking about Michelangelo. The setting is covered in a yellow fog that stretches over every detail of the town. Prufrock’s emotions at first seems to be confident with the ladies. As the poem progresses, Prufrock is seen more as an average middle-aged man, but also a sad honest man. He seems to stick to a routine and does not stray from it much. His bland personality is not much of an appeal to the women, thus making him pathetic. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, T.S.

T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is inhabited by both a richly developed world and character and one is able to categorize the spaces in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” to correspond to Prufrock’s mind. Eliot uses the architecture of the three locations described in the text to explore parts of Prufrock's mind in the Freudian categories of id, ego, and super-ego; the city that is described becomes the Ego, the room where he encounters women his Id and the imagined ocean spaces his Super Ego.

The lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, written by T.S Eliot, contains a variety of allusions to previous legendary works that continue to have significant meaning. These allusions bring significant value to the verses written by Eliot, providing significant background and multiple meanings to certain phrases. As such, these allusions are extremely abundant in his work and affect the story in various ways. Additionally, the works alluded to in the Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock are well known and understandable as well. Thus, through the masterful use of allusions, T.S Eliot created a relevant work in which the allusionary details and their effects are extremely important in understanding the piece.