First impressions:
LOVE:romantic, beautiful, happy–or it can sad, gloomy, harsh
EXPRESSIVE
SONG: smoothness in word choice, flow, something about the sound/rhythm of it should be like a song
LOVE SONG: lots of metaphors, esp grand metaphors
After listening to the poem:
didn’t sound like a love song
sounds sad
more like the love song of the devil (is Prufrock a devil?)
a sinner recounting his story
time: when it’s evening–
place: somewhere seedy, somewhere we would not usually be comfortable
city setting–the less attractive part of the city
you and I/us: reader and speaker?
is there something illicit here? “insidious intent”
things passing, not getting to enjoy them
small tedious things
what’s up with time in the poem?
yellow fog
mood: yellow=cowardly; poisonous; sickly; mold or dirt–unclean, discolored; aged
face=facade, artificial
time for everything, including a hundred mistakes–sound play here as well in line 32-33.
not confident
toast and tea–relaxing? is this at bedtime? is this high tea? ritual, culture
does Michaelangelo signify beauty, ideal man?
is this in comparison to him
who asks “do I dare?”=scared, socially anxious person
procrastinating
disturb the universe: is he not a part of the universe? alien?
midlife crisis? did he ever have it together to begin with?
coffee spoons: minute details, a sign of time passing
so much time, yet afraid of death’s grip–“footman”
what do we know about Prufrock?
seems obsessed, paranoid, not good enough to approach women
like Oscar Wao, obsessive, being unattractive, letting life pass by
does he go out there? does he try? yes/no? is it all imagined? internal monologue
is “you and I” two parts of himself? himself and the reader? himself and someone else (not likely)
disconnected poem–unrelated, non-sequential, not traditional
marked by alienation, war,
moves away from flowery language, more real, more disturbed, indecisive
