My heart screams YES! even as my mind sighs a mournful No...

"One part of the courtly lover yearns to believe in female virtue; he desires to 'ride ten thousand days and nights' (12) and on that sweet pilgrimage find one who is true. The more worldly self, however, rejects such a possibility for fear of disappointment." (Blythe & Sweet)

It's the oldest trick in the book, mostly. Everyone wants something that they can't have (or seem like they can't have). Then comes the next problem, the one where the heart is desperately pleading it's case to go and have faith or hope, while the mind is firmly holding back, pleading rationality based on fear. It's human nature to wage war within oneself, no matter what subject it may be. However, finding the perfect mate often brings these feelings into sharp repose. Wouldn't you ride to the ends of the Earth if you could find your other half? But, just as you started to answer, there was that inkling that it's too good to be true. Just like when Donne writes "Such a pilgrimage were sweet;/Yet do not, I would not go," from the poem, "Song." It's an eternal battle that will more than likely never have a clear winner, at least, not while we still have free will.

1. Quote the main claim or argument (the thesis) that Blythe and Sweet set out to prove.

“The parallel between the two poems, then, seems so close that, rather than simply an allusion used for contrast, Donne's seventeenth-century "Song" may be a source of Eliot's twentieth-century ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’.” (Blythe&Sweet)

2. Quote at least one important piece of evidence the authors use to support their claim.

“One part of the courtly lover yearns to believe in female virtue; he desires to "ride ten thousand days and nights" (12) and on that sweet pilgrimage find one who is true. The more worldly self, however, rejects such a possibility for fear of disappointment. At the poem's conclusion, the worldly self wins the debate; his view of the unfaithfulness of women triumphs.” (Blythe&Sweet)

3. • What do Blythe and Sweet spend their time talking about? 

- Blythe and Sweetspend their time talking about the possible contributing sources to both Donne’s “Song” and Eliot’s “Love Song of Alfred Prufrock” in addition to drawing significant parallels between both works.

• How do they work their own opinions into their article? 

- They work their own opinions into the article by presenting the possible contributing sources that the authors may have used. It is their opinion that Donne and Eliot drew upon these proposed works.

• How do they communicate the idea that their claim is worth arguing -- that it's not so obvious that everyone would automatically see it their way?

- They communicate that their claim is worth arguing over and that it is not so obvious by drawing sublte parallels and themes between both poems.

Oooh! Look at the Mermaids! Mmm...pretty. What's that? We're goin' where?!