Reading The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S Elliot got me to thinking. This is the second time around that I have read this poem. This may seem a little silly and a little off base.
As I has stated in Dr. Jerz's intro to lit class last year, I thought when I first read this poem it was about this guy sending a letter to the girl that he admires. It seems like he really cares about this love but, cares way to much of what people think. I can't help but feel bad for the poor guy. It sounds like he has a pretty low self esteem and he just doesn't have good luck with the ladies.
The other thing that caught my attention was the fact that T.S. Elliot mentions a good paragraph about mermaids. This interested me.
In all the legends of mermaids, mermaids are known loring sailors to their death by singing to them. There are also legends of them grabing their victims and drowning them. Not a very pretty picture (No wonder Disney Ariel so nice). Now, the mention of mermaids in the poem brings me back to Frufrock, who could have possibly been admiring someone from a far. This person for all we know could have lored him in by her charming personality or her dazzling beauty. This person holds him captive, in awe. Even though he feels that he is unworthy of this girl's love, he writes a letter because he cannot pull himself away. If this person show's her detest for him, it will feel as though she has thrown his heart against the jagged rocks, of pain and despair.
Ok, those are my thoughts. I know, you are probably thinking they are a little far fetched. Since T.S. Elliot isn't alive to tell us what it means, to each his own.
Posted by SueMyers at February 22, 2005 9:55 PM