Prufrock and Other Observations. T. S. Eliot. Faber and Faber.
Reviewed by Michael Byrne
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on the 26th of September 1888 and died on the 4th of January 1965. Eliot moved from his native United States to England in 1914 at the age of 25 settling, writing and marrying there. He became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39, renouncing his American citizenship. Eliot was a British essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic and one of the twentieth century’s major poets. An early major poem by Eliot was ‘Preludes’. According to ISC English Literature, ‘Preludes’ presents his view of society as a wasteland at the time. He does this by using concrete objects and images to metaphorically explore the nature of life and society. In ‘Preludes’, Eliot describes the drudgery of life:
His soul stretched tight across the skies
That fade behind a city block,
Or trampled by insistent feet
At four and five and six o’clock;
And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
And evening newspapers, and eyes
Assured of certain certainties.
‘Assured of certain certainties’ is interesting, it has a cleverness to it. ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ is also clever. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ has become one of the most recognised voices in modern literature:
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous –
Almost, at times, the Fool.
Eliot uses rhyme to good effect, here. It is a free verse poem but Eliot uses rhyme to give it a technical verve. ‘Portrait of a Lady’ also uses rhyme to good effect. ‘Portrait of a Lady’ offers an insight into the thoughts of Eliot. In ‘Portrait of a Lady’, Eliot’s relationship with a woman breaks down leaving him emotionally stranded:
And I must borrow every changing shape
to find expression . . . dance, dance
Like a dancing bear,
Cry like a parrot, chatter like an ape.
Here, Eliot thinks in poetry, combining this with speech and imagery. Imagery is also important in ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’. At the end of this poem, Eliot comes back from a lengthy walk:
The lamp said,
‘Four o’clock.
Here is the number on the door.
Memory!
You have the key,
The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair.
Mount.
The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall,
Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life.’
The last twist of the knife.
This last line is technically outstanding. The last line uses consonance within it (‘last twist’) to give it the incongruity it needs. The last line also has a clarity to it. Eliot’s poems also have a pessimism to them but behind the melancholy they are wonderfully written.
Michael Byrne 