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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Passive Lovers

T. S. Eliot was the dominant force in twentieth-century British and American poetry. With poems such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, he introduced an edgy, disenchanted, utterly contemporary version of French Symbolism to the English-speaking world. Most poets recognize that in producing a sensational poetic work, many concerns arise with the use of various literary tools to convey ideas, opinions or simply an observation. Through vivid imagery and metaphors, TS Elliot in his "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" delivered readers the thoughts and emotions of a tormented character J. Alfred Prufrock and also reflected self-debasing nature of a passive lover's effort that kept deteriorating till it finds hellish discomfort in isolation.

As a poet explicates an event in poetry, he does his best to capture the audience, to entertain the reader. The reader must be drawn into the situations of the event and be able to form opinions as he/she goes along. The author wishes to bring to mind certain emotions from the reader, certain feelings and understandings from the characters of the story. Elliot's sensational poetic work "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" embraces that idea and provides information by symbolic representation, and also enlightens the audience with experiences that fails to reach them

And I have known the eyes already, known them all--
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume? And I have known the arms already, known them all--
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
Is it perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
And should I then presume?
And how should I begin?

Elliot

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