The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

,.~*' My reaction '*~.,

The poem was a bit hard to understand because each line seems to be describing something else and the poem was digressing alot, but all making some sort of a similar point. Some parts of the stanza seemed to describe himself getting old, by using a sense of time, or physical descriptions such as when he said "'How his hair is growing thin!'". The poem begins as himself and possibly his lover walking down the deserted and tedious street in a cheap neighborhood. In one stanza he continually repeats the phrase, "there is time", implying that even though he may be walking in deserted streets and that he may be getting old, there is no rush for a better life, possibly of the woman who he describes "the woman come and go, talking of Michaelangelo." His aging is physically described by the thin hair, limbs, and he asks the question rather or not he should try to act young again, but he indicates that, "there is time." In an another interpretion, it could be implied that he may be giving advices to readers who are young and that there is nothing to rush about.

In the later part of the poem he makes a reference to the crab, which was also used in Hamlet by Shakespeare, by Prince Hamlet subjected to Polonius. In the play it was interpreted that he meant to describe Polonius or the situation by the crab's ability to walk backwards or shed its skin, as if turning back the time or shedding Polonius or Hamlet's uncle's crime. In my opinion the poet seems to mean just sitting around and sleeping like a crab and dreading the time moving on, therefore being afraid. Besides, the poem partially seems to use the idea of aging. Also he makes another reference to Hamlet, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;", which seemed to portray Polonius, since he was "Politic, cautious, and meticulous", just like when he always spies on people. The line "Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;" also portrays Polonius's habit of talking and acting lenthgly and foolishly, therefore dying in the end. I wasn't really sure what that reference related to his concept or idea but in an indescribable way, it did make sense.Lengthy but great poem.