T.S. Eliot “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

                After reading this lengthy poem, I would like to make a conclusion or moral of the story; that woman should be sought out before a man’s head begins to bald, and that it doesn’t hurt to work out, if only for aesthetic purposes. However, this I feel is not the meaning of the poem itself. What is Important to take note of is that this “Love Song” is an Ironic, a satire even, version of what love poetry has always been before. I think when one first begins their journey of poetry, they stereotype it with love poems; roses are red… etc. In terms of literary elements, the concept of poetry that I think is most important in this poem is the use of metaphor. When J. alludes to his being as a yellow fog is one time (line 15) is one example, or “I should have been a pair of ragged claws” (line 74). In the end he uses the metaphor of a peach to be a woman, or love, and sets up a whole scene in which he describes the women as mermaids. Let’s not forget line 111 when J. says, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;” Hamlet is alone in his play by Shakespeare, and although this is more of an allusion, than a metaphor, the comparison qualities are still strong.