Analysis of "The Love Song"

The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock In the poem, The Love song, written by T.S. Elliot, J Alfred Prufrock is a man who is very lonely and insecure. He goes throughout his life wishing for a change, but never stepping up to the plate and actually making a change. The title of the poem portrays to the reader that the poem is going to be full of love and romance. The reader soon found out later that the poem is just the opposite from the title, a sad, lonesome man who is not only lacking love, but also lacking self confidence and self esteem. The Story of Prufrock starts out with him deciphering with himself if he should make this “change” in his life; he has always been a loner who only observes the world, instead of joining it, but he decides in his mind that he is going to “dare” to change and try to make his life worth wild. He goes through a process of observing other relationships and people, hoping for reassurance, but only finding more and more depression. He is insecure about the way he acts, looks, and feels, and in the end he decides on not changing, for the fear of what would happen if he tried to. The Author uses many different literary devices to help the reader get the best picture of Prufrock possible. He uses a metaphor of being a cat, which hides and sneaks around in the corners of rooms instead of including himself in the activities; he says “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes.” This describes Prufrock perfectly because he does that exact same thing in his own life. Also, when Prufrock says he has “measured his life in coffee spoons,” he is saying that he has gone through a daily routine of being depressed and feeling sorry for himself, that now, it is almost impossible to change because of the habits he has created. “In the room the women come and go Talking of Michaelangelo.” This allusion is significant because the author is trying to get the point