Which is an example of an allusion from the love song of j alfred prufrock talking of michelangelo

The poem is very confusing. I can’t figure it what direction is it going because it talks about two people who go explore the city streets then there is this yellow smoke then it goes to some formal meeting where the speaker is wearing a nice suit and tie then I got lost when the speaker goes on and on about random things like death, redemption?, getting old, and the sea. I was able to point out some intertext allusions and historical allusions. One of the intertext allusions is Dante’s Inferno which is shown in the first stanza of the poem. However, I don’t know what it really means or why would the author put that excerpt there. The most prevalent historical allusion was Michelangelo who was a Renaissance artist. The women going into a room and out talking about Michelangelo kind of reminds of the salons that women sponsored to facilitate the Enlightenment movement in Europe. In fact, the occurance of tea kind of reminds of the setting that is in Europe because many Europeans drink tea as a favorite past time. The other allusion I found was Lazarus which reminded me of the previous poems we did in class, and i think it is very obvious that the speaker is talking about death in this stanza.

after doing a little research, the poem is actually more of a psychological depiction of things than a logical one. thus, it can be very difficult to interpret the poem because it randomly talks about things that don’t have a logical meaning. I wonder what does the class think of the yellow smoke. is it from industry? and it is also linked to a crisis so is the smoke related to an accident?

J. Alfred Prufrock, or the speaker, does not have the courage to speak up so he’s using the icons in history to speak vicariously through him. He emphasizes his timidity using allusions, because he is unable to form original thoughts. The fact that he needs to site innovative, bold figures of the past contrast with his apprehensive nature. The allusion to Michelangelo, a renaissance sculptor, architect and engineer, was one of the greatest mind of all time. When I hear Michelangelo, I immediately think of his statue “David”. Carved entirely of marble, “David” is a represention of the Renaissance idea of the perfection of man. Contrasted with the name “Prufrock”, which I pronounce as “P-Rough Rock” (perhaps an implied comparison to a statue), an allusion to Michelangelo creates a ironic contrast between the statue and Prufrock. The allusions to figures such as Shakespeare works and the Bible, two of the most influential works ever written, contrast with the Prufrock’s inability to defend a radical or different idea. Line 108-100 are an example, showing the radical idea of raising Lazarus from the dead and Prufrock’s unwillness to defend a statement. Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” emphaizes Prufrock’s coyness, by citing a ballad of companionate love. This poem is the only allusion that is not a contrast to Prufrock’s personality.

Much like what CDT Yap said, this poem was very confusing for me. There is a lot going on and what seems like a complex system of allusions and imagery that portrays the character of Prufrock. There is only one problem: either I am missing some critical allusions, or the ones I notice, I do not remember the refrence to. That being said, there are two allusions I clearly found. First, on line 94 Eliot, in a metaphor, says that he is Lazarus. In this he is saying that he came back to life, he is new, he has changed from before and is now different. Second, on line 111, he says that he is now the direct opposite of Price Hamlet. By this, he is saying that he strives for progress and is happy to do what needs to be done to get the job done. He is meticilous and acts with precise order.

This poem seems very awkward to me. The character of J. Alfred Prufrock sounds like he is very well versed in literature but cannot relate to women at all. Very little of what he says can be interpreted as romantic, although he paints some nice pictures with his words: “After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, / Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me” (88-89). For the most part, I find his literary allusions to be harmful to his “love song.” He sounds more like an intellectual than a romantic, and the allusions make the poem very impersonal. This may have been T.S. Eliot’s intent, but overall this “love song” makes Prufrock about as romantic as a man who would give his girlfriend a bouquet of wilted dandelions.

J. Alfred Prufrock is an indecisive, incompetent, and balding man who is afraid to approach a group of women. In the beginning of the poem, he leads the readers to where women are discussing about Michelangelo, but never speaks to any of the women. He argues with himself using many other figures from the literature world. For example, on line 111 through 114, Prufrock says, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;/Am an attendant lord, one that will do”. The Poet, T.S. Eliot, uses an explicit allusion to reference Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare. Prufrock is related to two characters of the play. First of all, he resembles Hamlet in a way that he is uncertain of what to do. The famous quote from the play is: “To be, or not to be, that is the question”. Prufrock continuously asks numerous questions throughout the poem, and some even sounds rhetorical like the question of Hamlet’s. Another character in Hamlet that resembles Prufrock is Polonius, the lord chamberlain of Claudius, Hamlet’s Uncle. Because Polonius coaxes and flatters by his nature, he talks a lot. He tries to do his advisor job using big words and long lines often when it is not necessary. Just like Polonius, Prufrock gives a long speech for one question: should I go talk to her? The poem makes an excellent allusion of Hamlet.

I agree with previous comments that the poem is hard to understand because of the many references and allusions Eliot uses I do not recognize. Therefore, it was very hard for me to decipher the central theme and meaning to this poem. I am very interested to hear the class’ perception on Monday. However, I was able to interpret a few allusions throughout the poem.

I think that the reference of women discussing Michelangelo represents people debating over religion and God. This led me to believe that the poem was about Prufrock’s conflict over religion. The title, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Pruford” then gained significance. The poem is not simply a description of Pruforck’s romantic love, but exploring or struggling to find God’s love.

A couple other biblical allusions find themselves intertwined into the poem. Line 83 talks of a head on a platter like the head of John the Baptist in the books of Mark and Matthew. This may represent the conflict between various denominations/perceptions of religion. Another reference is Lazarus coming from the dead in line 94. This is the allusion we also saw in Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” which represents resurrection.

At the begninning of the poem I was thinking it is about a man that goes to the same coffee shop every morning and is too afraid of talking to the women there becuase he is afraid of what they will say. Towards the end of the poem he is older and is wondering if it would of been worth it to risk talking to a girl and decideds that it would not be worth it becuase he is not that kind of person. The only girls for him are the ones in his dream.

From reading other posts I have begun to understand a little bit more about this poem. The first thing I have noticed is the contrast between the title of this poem and its actual content. The title leads the reader to expect a romantic sappy poem. What is actually given sounds to me more like a middle aged man’s lamentings. He is definately far more of an intellectual than he is a romantic. I feel that this last line is best validated by his frequent references to “To His Coy Mistress”. This poem which is frequently referenced is in no way romantic, it is far more sexual in nature. What J, Alfred Prufrock feels, which is described as his love sonf is almost certainly not. In one of the few lines that are repeated it states, “In the room the women come and go- Talking of Michelangelo”. This line most likely means that he uses his cultural and intellectual knowledge to try and impress or attract women but it also important to note that his feelings are never discussed. HE doesn’t really fell anything at all.

Like many other students have pointed out, “The Love Song” centers around a man who is incapable of making simple but important decisions. Towards the end of the poem, Eliot makes an allusion to the story of Lazarus in the Bible. He wishes that he could go back and change his decision, similar to how Lazarus came back from death. Additionally, he makes allusions to Shakespear’s “Hamlet”. The main character of the poem, much like Hamlet, is reluctant to make decisions and eventually dies without making one. He questions too many factors instead of just taking the risk and approaching the women. For example, he ponders whether or not to part his hair. The speaker realizes that this is ridiculous, but his fear of being rejected causes him to be reluctant and eventually he dies alone.

This poem is full of allusions, and while I might not understand all the details of the poem, there are some key references that I noticed. The first few lines of the poem are a direct quotation from “Inferno.” I think that this reference has to do with the fact that Prufrock can never go back and talk to the women (which is what Eliot is trying to say based on reading other cadets’ comments) just like no one has “ever returned alive” from hell. A second allusion that related to Prufrock’s character was the reference to Hamlet. Prufrock directly states, “I am not Prince Hamlet.” In the play, Hamlet undergoes constant internal struggle when making decisions. Should he kill the king? This indecisiveness is reflected in Prufrock. He wants to go and talk to the women, but he can’t make up his mind. However, Prufrock makes his decision, saying he was not “meant to be,” which could be another allusion to the famous line from Hamlet: “To be or not to be: that is the question.” Prufrock struggles with his decision, but ultimately decides not “to be” and later looks back with regret.

T.S. Eliot uses allusions in his poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, to describe the character of Prufrock. Alfred Prufrock lacks confidence and is very subconscious about his appearance, for example, his bolding hair or thin body. He appears to be very analytical and full of emotions, yet he is incapable to express himself. The allusion that I found was the reference to Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet. Even though Prufrock may not have the appearance of a prince, he surely shares various aspects with Hamlet. Both are thoughtful men, who are indecisive and hesitant. Prufrock and Hamlet are overwhelmed with questions and seem to be consistently discontent. They both have distrust towards women and a weird relationship with females. Lastly, the characters bring up thoughts of death.

Allusions are all throughout “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” as T.S. Eliot often brings up old literary and historical writings and figures such as Dante’s “Inferno,” Andrew Marvell, Hesiod (a Greek poet), Michelangelo, Shakespeare, and several Biblical accounts such as John the Babtist, Lazarus (from the Gospels of John and Luke). The overall meaning of the poem however, I think is that no matter how rich or popular you may become, without true love your life becomes meaningless and empty. That even if you have everything that this world can give you materially, it is still almost nothing if you do not have true love in your life.

TS Eliot speaks through the voice of J Alfred Prufrock in this poem. Eliot is talking about life before death. In short he explains that Prufrock is afraid of dying because he wonders if his life has really been worth it. Prufrock mentions that he doesn’t know whether if the things in his life were worth it. He then mentions that his life was not worth it. The rich elegant life style he lived was never enough for him. He wants to walk along the beach, and wear his trousers rolled up. He does not want to die knowing that he spent his entire life in parlors with elegant people smoking cigars. He wants his live his life before he dies.

Watch it.

There are quite a few allusions that I noticed in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Eliot’s use of these allusions helps me to understand and relate to this poem a lot more than some of the other poems read this year. I noticed more allusions closer towards the end of the poem although there were allusions to the BIble and Dante’s Inferno in the beginning. The allusion that helped me the most was probably the allusion in line 111 when he alludes to Hamlet. He basically says he is not smart enough to lead anyone away when he’s in love and that his love had turned him into a fool. This allusion to Hamlet helped me to understand what actually was happening in this stanza. Another allusion he gives is to the Odyessey. In the last stanza he says, “We have lingered in the chambers of the sea by the sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown till human voices wake us and we drown.” This alludes to the sirens and in my understanding the author is trying to say he was drowned by his love and could not realize that it changed him from what he used to be and, in a sense, “drowned” his old personality.

On lines 94-95 the speaker states “I am Lazarus, come from the dead, / Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”. This is clearly an allusion to the bible because Lazarus was resurrected from the dead. Another allusion, this time on lines 35-36 the speaker mentions Michelangelo and how the women are talking about him. In all I thought this poem was some what difficult to understand but these to references stuck out the most more than any.

T.S. Elliot creates a very confusing and itelectually deep poem in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock”. It is interesting to me why he would start off with a reference to Dante’s Inferno especially because it is in a foreign language. It is alsmost as if he is intentionally hiding what he is trying to portray. The begining of the poem struck me as an optomistic and pleasant poem however Elliot begins to ramble which makes the read much harder. I think he is alluding to an inner strggle between a man and all the decision he has to make in life. He alludes to having regret in the poem multiple times and creates a pessimistic tone. To me it almost seems as if he is worrying the entire time and second guessing himself. He alludes to Prince Hamlet in line 111 probably because he is saying how far from a prince he is. The speaker has a loss of confidence throught the poem and negatively compares himself to others. Elliot alludes often to nature and water which makes me think of life.

T S Elliot uses very ambiguous terms to describe love. In almost a confusing way he points out the beauties of which every human seeks. Reading the poem is like a roller coaster pointint out very many aspects in quite different terms going from yellow fog to biblical examples of death and resurrection. Kind of like a melodic 1 Corinthians 13 (the most commonly read passage at weddings) T.S. Elliot I think is trying to convey the complexity and beauty in this pretty long poem.

The poem as a whole is definitely confusing. Just from the footnotes in the text itself there are many allusions, some to shakespeare, some to the bible, and in the very first stanza to Dante’s Inferno. As someone who isn’t too familiar with those, the allusions are somewhat lost on me only making the poem that much harder to understand.

I feel this poem was rather interesting, but I still do not understand what he is trying to say. After reading T.S. Elliot’s poem, I feel like the speaker is J. Alfred Purfrock. Additionally, I think the poem is written in the sense of the speakers past. He is using various forms of allusion throughout the poem to describe his past experiences or memories. Basically, it seems as if he is reminising the past few years of his life–probably during his early twenties. In a sense, it feels as if he is deciding whether to relive those days or just let time wind by. But, as I said earlier I am not 100% sure of the hidden meaning behind this piece of poetry.

Much like every poem i have read, i really do not understand this poem. I tried to make connections using allusions, but i did not know enough about the time period to do it. The poem tied into Dantes Inferno and Shakespeare. He makes a connection to the Bible with his allusion connecting to Lazarus. The footnotes helped out a great deal in what little interpretation i got out of the poem.

So after reading this Poem, and receiving help from Wikipedia, I found some of the allusions T.S. Elliot had used in the poem. The first Alusion I had found was in the lines, “In the room the women come and go- Talking of Michelangelo.” This allusion to the Renaissance artist Michelangelo is used as example of an character that is the opposite of Prufrock, the main character of the poem. For Michelangelo was an artist of epic masterpieces . In addition, the poem used alot of titles and lines/characters from other famous poetic works. For example, there are many allusions to Shakespearean plays in which the characters/ situations from those other plays all act as foils to the main character of this poem. Also they are parallel situations that compliment the things Prufrock goes through. I also remember how through the lines, “head grown slightly bald brought in upon a platter.” Prufrock is related to John the Babtist. Prufrock is not a passionate prophet like John but instead he is just an object of derision and scorn who is laughed at by death because of his pitiful accomplishments. Well there are some allusions I had found in this poem and I believe all of them help bring new meaning to the reader.

This poem absolutely makes no sense. everything is disjointed, fragmented, and there is no discernable structure besides a lack of structure. I dont know how Dante’s Inferno, Hamlet and Lazarus can have any common themes within this poem, as well as all the other myriad references in it. It seems the poem was purposefully meant to be vague and confusing.

The thing that struck me most about Eliot’s poem was the hesitance with which the speaker seems to present his feelings. Repeatedly, he stops, contradicts himself, and expreses feelings of uncertainty. First appearing in line 23, the speaker seems to procrastinate. He tells himself that “there will be time” to do what he intends some other time. Though he elaborates on his plan of action for the first three stanzas, it is to no avail, as he clearly has no intent to follow through with it. Later, the speaker asks several rhetorical questions of the audience such as “how should I begin?” Again, however, he shows that he has no intention of taking action, but instead wishes he was “a pair of ragged claws” in the middle of the ocean, seemingly isolated from the world. Eliot’s speaker goes on to contradict his own intentions several more times in the course of the poem, ultimately characterizing the speaker as wholly impotent.

I interpreted 2 obvious lines as allusions. The first was the line “To say:”I am Lazarus, come from the dead, Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”. This was obviously an allusion to Lazarus of the Bible, who is brought back to life by Jesus. The significance of this is lost on me. The second obvious quote that popped out to me was the line “No! I am not Prince Hamlet” obviously refering to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The significance of this is lost on me again. I feel like it may be a declaration that the narrator won’t suffer tragically like Hamlet does. I did find one allusion that was not as obvious. It starts “And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat”. I believe this was a subtle allusion to Charon, the ferryman of the dead. He was, traditionally, the first to “welcome” the newly dead to the afterlife. He has a role of almost an “eternal footman”. This poem was difficult to find strong allusions and also very tough to interpret well.

Mr. Prufrock is a troubled man. Based on his actions in the poem, he would prefer quarrelling with himself over actually approaching a group of females. Once it becomes clear that he won’t be approaching the females, he seemingly spirals on introspective and unrelated introspective tangents.

J. Alfred Prufrock is a man standing at the threshold of a very important decision, whether or not to tell someone something. We never actually find out who he is talking to (it seems like himself most of the time or possibly the reader) and we never find out what he wants to say. This poem is much like a stream of consciousness within J. Alfred Prufrock’s head as he is debating what he should do. Most of the allusions that T.S. Eliot makes are allusions to the bible. He talks about a prophet having his head brought on a platter much like John the Baptists head was. He also makes reference to Lazarus who appears twice in the bible. Once as a beggar sent to warn the brother of a rich man of the terrors of hell that await him and a different Lazarus is raised from the dead by Jesus. Another obvious allusion was to Prince Hamlet of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
The reference to John the Baptist is made when J. Alfred Prufrock states that while he as seen his head on a platter he is not a prophet. By this he means that he does not know what will happen either way. He cannot see how things will play out if he tells the person or not. Following that illusion he discusses how he feels that his time has passed and he let it go because he was afraid. He was afraid to love, afraid to be loved and afraid to be rejected.
The allusion to Lazarus comes in a stanza where J. Alfred Prufrock is asking himself if it would have been worth it to take the leap of faith so to speak. He asks if it would have been worth it to try and fail and come back as a man warning other men of the dangers ahead. J. Alfred compares putting oneself out there and be rejected to coming back from the dead like Lazarus in the bible.

I believe that J. Alfred Prufrock is a lot like each of us. It isn’t easy to put ourselves out there to be close with another person. This poem starts out as a jumbled head full of thoughts. It is J. Alfred Prufrock delaying his decision as long as he can. It then settles on a theme of regrets, asking what if and lamenting at risks not taken. That was my interpretation anyway.

There are so many different allusions including Dante’s Inferno, the Bible on multiple occassions, Michelangelo, Hamlet, and many more. I think instead of going in depth about one of these allusions, it is more beneficial to look at them all as one group. I believe all of these allusions contribute to portraying how much J. Alfred Prufrock is fantacizing because he does not have a real chance in his real world to meet and talk with girls. He has to create his own reality by choosing his favorite characters from other resources and combining all their qualities in order to create his own world. It is quite sad that he grows old and still is not successful in love, but it seems as if he has lived a long eventful life simply because he created his own reality to live in.

I feel that the initial reference to the Inferno reveals how Prufrock feels about the simple task of romanticizing with women. It states that no man returns alive from the abyss, and in Prufrock’s case he feels that making a move is the rough equivalent of tossing himself into that abyss. The reference to Work and Days serves to characterize Prufrock as more of an idealist rather than a man of action. He looks so far past the initial stages of romance all the way to the ideal family. The references to To His Coy Mistress I feel highlight his sexual insecurity to some regard. The references in general portray him as an intellectual who is far more comfortable living in fiction as apposed to actually human encounters.

I thought that “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” had too much going on in it and it was very difficult to maintain focus. However, through the footnotes, online references, and the previous comments, I was able to pick up on a couple of things. The speaker is a frustrated man who is unable to express himself emotionally to women. In two instances he writes, “In the room the women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo,” which he derived from the French poet Jules LaForgue. His use of this phrase may reflect how inadequate he thinks he is in comparison to greats such as Michelangelo. Throughout the rest of the poem he alludes to several historical and biblical, all reflecting his frustration.

I think TS Eliot’s “the love song of J Alfred Prufrock” is concerned with Eliots marriage with his wife. On Wikipedia it states that he hastily married and turned out not loving his wife. The character Prufrock is the opposite. He is slow and contemplative about each action he does and indecisive. He believes that he will have time to decide and pick a suitable wife. He observes numerous women and is aware of their mannerisms but makes little attempt to settle on one. Eventually he bides his time too much and all the women have left him behind “riding seaward on the waves” away from him. He is old and remained on the “chambed of the sea”. Eventually time caught up to him and from his dreamworlds he was woken up by reality and alone. In a way Eliot is defending his hastiness because he was afraid I become like Prufrock.

After reading the poem it left me very confused. There are definitely references to Hamlet, but I think the overall to take away from the poem is that although he is not Hamlet, but wants to be something like Hamlet. I think what it is trying to say is that even in the present day we can still refer back to Hamlet and be like him. He also seems to have anger throughout the poem. He talks about seeing all these girls and how beautiful they look, but never follows up with talking to them, just them coming and going as they please. Its as if he is upset about Michelangelo because that seems to be the only thing that the women talk about in the poem.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is sad yet beautiful, I believe it speaks of a mans fear of losing the one that he loves dearly as he makes references to her beauty while she is young but also of her beauty “along a table”(67) as if it were possibly an autopsy table. He is also obsessing over the idea of growing old together, asking is it worth it and wondering will she love him when his head goes slightly bald. The poem seems to be from the viewpoint of one who is deciding whether or not to marry some one and describing all the good and bad things, convincing himself with each and pondering.

I agree with Darrin. After reading “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” the first time I found that I had difficulty comprehending the meaning of the poem. But I was also able to find through footnotes and previous comments that the speaker does not know how to express himself emotionally. There are also numerous allusions to many other different stories, such as Lazarus being raised from the dead, which give the poem a religious feel. At the end of the poem the speaker basically says that “voices wake us” which leads the reader to believe that the speaker has been dreaming the entire time.

This poem has much confusion and contradiction in it. One such example is when Elliot writes, “Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter,/I am no prophet–and here’s no great matter;” In the first line, he makes a prediction/prophesy and in the second line he says that he lacks the ability to do so.

One obvious allusion can be found in line 111, “I am no Prince Hamlet…(I) am an attendeant lord.”
This is a reference to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, and its main character Prince Hamlet. The speaker is basicly saying that he is in no way like Prince Hamlet who does some pretty crazy things, like kill his uncle. Instead, the speaker is more like an attendeant lord who doesn’t do much, but is just there.

“Prufrock” is a variation on the dramatic monologue, a type of poem popular with Eliot’s predecessors. Dramatic monologues are similar to soliloquies in plays. Three things characterize the dramatic monologue, according to M.H. Abrams. First, they are the utterances of a specific individual (not the poet) at a specific moment in time. Secondly, the monologue is specifically directed at a listener or listeners whose presence is not directly referenced but is merely suggested in the speaker’s words. Third, the primary focus is the development and revelation of the speaker’s character. Eliot modernizes the form by removing the implied listeners and focusing on Prufrock’s interiority and isolation. The epigraph to this poem, from Dante’s Inferno, describes Prufrock’s ideal listener: one who is as lost as the speaker and will never betray to the world the content of Prufrock’s present confessions. In the world Prufrock describes, though, no such sympathetic figure exists, and he must, therefore, be content with silent reflection. In its focus on character and its dramatic sensibility, “Prufrock” anticipates Eliot’s later, dramatic works.

Reading this poem was really confusing. When i finally realized what T.S. Elliot was talking about I was surprised. Yes, i was hinted by him talking about loneliness, women walking by, and him always weeping that he was having some confidence/people problems. However, i could never sum up what this poem was trying to get across. Just listening to the guy makes you get lost in his words because they seem to all blend together. In class when we began to put pieces together i finally realized what this guy was talking about. The poem, at first glance, sounds to jumbled and disorganized. But with time, the meaning of the poem eventually comes out and the way T.S. Elliot jumps around actually makes sense because everyone thinks in the exact same way.

J. Alfred Prufrock, a presumably middle-aged, intellectual, indecisive man, invites the reader along with him through the modern city. He describes the street scene and notes a social gathering of women discussing Renaissance artist Michelangelo. He describes yellow smoke and fog outside the house of the gathering, and keeps insisting that there will be time to do many things in the social world.

This poem was very confusing. After anaylzing this poem I am not sure if he is talking about having an affair or his search for meaning in life. He uses different literaly allusions to convey several meanings.