I have measured out my life with coffee spoons

The poem The love song of J. Alred Prufrock first gave me a usual expression when I see a long and potentially meaningful poem. The first time I tried to analyze the poem, there weren’t much meanings. It just seemed like a simple time and love poem, but after some detailed analysis, it now holds so many aspects. It’s not even about love or time, and if I were asked what this poem was about, I could write so much. The poem began as himself walking down a deserted streets in a cheap neighborhood, in a very dreamy setting, having no specific destination, but as if moving in a monotonic road of his life. The first stanza has not yet indicated his age or time, only to compare his dull world and the world of the high class. Later he proceeds on to the concept of time, indicating that there is time for everything; do not rush to do everything in your life. This stanza gave an idea that he is giving an advice to a young reader, that there is no need for a rush, because in the next stanza, he gave a physical description of himself, such as "how his hair is growing thin!" and "But how his arms and legs are thin!". With that in mind, he asks if he should dare attempt to move back in time, to act young again or "disturb the universe", or accept the present and move on. Now looking back the first stanza of himself comparing his own life to the high society, the poem started to have a tragic tone.

One of the lines I primarily found meaningless has so much messages behind after the analysis; "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;". The "coffee" in the line represented morning, or a routine, perhaps of his daily routine, but nothing is changing and he is only asking himself, "should I?". He is old and his life is measured out with little coffee spoons that represent his hopeless desires, fantasies and dreams. This interpretion is supported by the next line, "I know the voices dying with a dying fall beneath the music from a farther room.", saying that the world of the young and sophistication is moving and fading away from him. Then the next stanzas, he expresses his life being looked at by everyone while he is helpless and hopeless.

There is a reference to the concept of crab from Hamlet by Shakespeare. As a crab, he would be stretching out on the beach and sleep, which almost wastes his time. He asks whether he should put this moment into crisis, meaning rushing to do something, or stay the way he is. So in a way, he is again saying that there is no need to rush time, but he also fears death.
From the part where he indicated his life measured in coffee spoons, the poem is filled with the same question; would it be worth to have it all? Would it be worth to live in luxury drinking tea in cups and marmalades, to live in high soceity?

The poet kind of rambles on at this point, until he makes another reference from Hamlet, which is assumed to be Polonius. Polonius is not Hamlet, nor any part of the loyalty, yet he keeps trying to sound smart and imporant and be included in the group, the high society, like how the poet attempts to move back in time. In the last couple of stanzas, the poet admits his oldness. He speaks of the mermaids, possibly the women of the high society or his fantasies, who would not sing to him, leaving him lonely. Lastly, all this time he would be floating in his fantasies thinking that he could move back in time and act young again, until the reality strikes in and his life would go down the drain.

The overall tone and theme of this poem is very sad, and after reading this, I feel the same fear as well, that even though I may be young now, eventually I would be old, and that the world would no longer revolve around me. It has implied to me that it is important to do the best I can when I can, so that I may live the life I want when I grow up. The poem is great, not only because of its writing structure or the theme, but because of the poet's ability to really embed the feelings and fear the poet tries to indicate.