Would it have been worth while, To have bitten off the matter with a smile, To have squeezed the universe into a ball To roll it toward some overwhelming question, To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead, Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—T. S. Eliot "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
Lazarus, the only Biblical figure, apart from Jesus, to have been raised from the dead. Invoking the struggle of Lazarus in order to make J. Alfred Prufrock's life more realized is one of the many strokes of genius T. S. Eliot uses in this poem. What this image asks the reader to realize is the opinion of the reawakened Lazarus.
Death cannot be avoided - and Lazarus did not do so - he died. His sisters, Mary and Martha, were the ones to ask Jesus to bring him back - he did not make such a request. So when he emerged from his tomb still in his burial garb, was he happy to tell his tale? That is what J. Alfred Prufrock is asking. He may have returned to tell all, but was the return worth it?
That is an interesting concept. I never thought of it that way before. It's one of those things that no one really knows. There seems to be a lot of these unanswerable questions in this poem.
Posted by: JenniferPrex at January 30, 2007 8:33 PM