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The Love Song Of J Alfred Pufrock Analysis

Decent Essays

Eliot’s poems generally captured the life of humanity in the 20th century. This was a time that the world including England was recovering from the effects of World War I. It was also a period that experienced a lot of industrialization. In the poem “Preludes” Eliot explores the misery of city life. In “The Boston Evening Transcrpt” he highlights the disparities between individuals that lived life to its fullest and those that just existed and made no meaningful experiences. In “the Love Song of J. Alfred Pufrock” he emphasizes the need to use time effectively in pursuing life’s goals. In these poems, Eliot uses imagery and symbolism to reinforce his themes of suffering, the disconnect amongst people, and time.
Imagery in poetry refers to words or phrases that the poet uses to ignite the five senses such as touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste. These words enable the audience of the poem to become part of the experience that the poet is describing. Whereas, symbolism on the other hand refers to elements in a poem that have a deeper meaning in the manner they are used beyond their immediate meaning. Generally, imagery and symbolism are used to make a poem more interesting to recite and also add more meaning to it.
The main theme that Eliot explores in the poem “Preludes” is the suffering of the city people. It is evident that the poem is set in the city. The passageways that the narrator describes in the poem support this view. The suffering of the town inhabitants is also

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