I’ll start this post off by saying just how much I enjoyed “The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” It is a work of art in which I was able to
find meaning in every line. Or if I wasn't then I just enjoyed every word. In
any case there were more than enough phrases that captured my attention. One of
these is
I think that these are probably some of my favorite lines in
the entire poem because they are just so true! Throughout one’s life there is
really so much time for so much to happen. For all of those “indecisions” and “visions
and revisions.” But you also have to make sure that you realize that, though
there is a lot of it, time will pass by. Which is why the overall vibe that I
got from this poem was regret. I pictured a rich man with many benefits who was
bored out of his mind with his higher position in society. Maybe he had an okay
youth, spent on romance and adventures. But eventually he had to grow up and
live up to his title. He had to invite guests over every night, attend
extravagant dinners, and have coffee for breakfast day after day after day. He had
no work. I mean, a life like that doesn’t sound all bad. But actually, if you think
about it, it is. Alfred felt that he had
no purpose. He just watched time pass by and people enjoy life without him,
while he stood by on the side and asked himself “Do I dare?” Such themes in
this poem as regret, mortality, and an underlying note of “memento mori” (which
means “remember that we all die” in Latin), made me think of a couple of things
that I could connect to the poem.
The first one is called “Into the Ocean” by Blue October. You
can listen to the whole song here:
There are only a few lines that interest me though. First of all, when the singer says
"Without a life vest I'd be stuck again
Wish I was much more masculine
Maybe then I could learn to swim
Like 'fourteen miles away'"
This reminded me of how Alfred has basically lost touch of his masculinity and doesn't know if he can live up to his own expectations of himself as a man or pick up girls anymore.
Then there’s this stanza:
"I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion... yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now...come down
Let the rain come down."
In other words, the singer would like to escape his current life because he feels as though he’s drowning in it.
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion... yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now...come down
Let the rain come down."
In other words, the singer would like to escape his current life because he feels as though he’s drowning in it.
Maybe this is exactly how Alfred feels: the life he’s living is constraining him and he doesn't know how to escape. Then we see him imagine (or go to) the beach and the ocean, which of course brings me to the title of the song: “Into the Ocean.”
The second comparison that I will make is between the poem and a wonderful movie called Roman Holiday. Roman Holiday was made in the 1950s and stars Audrey Hepburn. She plays the role of a princess who spends all her time traveling from place to place and carrying out the duties that she has. But she is young and would like, for once in her life, to do something that regular people get to do; to not just watch time pass by doing everything that bores her. Here is the trailer ^
Anyways, this princess, like Alfred, has basically no say in her life. She watches it go by (while sitting on a throne, nonetheless) and wonders if she would dare to try something new, like romance or some other exhilarating experience that she has never had before.
Also, you need to watch this movie if you haven’t already. Like, now.
I will wrap this up with the following quote for Victor Hugo (the brilliant man who wrote Les Miserables):
“It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.”
And it is, isn't it? I think Alfred’s main problem is that he realized this just a bit too late. So make sure to realize this now! Because you don’t want to be just a clock on the wall like Alfred too, do you?
And it is, isn't it? I think Alfred’s main problem is that he realized this just a bit too late. So make sure to realize this now! Because you don’t want to be just a clock on the wall like Alfred too, do you?
Lol you enjoyed every word. That seems pretty hard to do, I mean every word, c’mon., but I get what you mean. I love the picture you describe of the picture that formed in you head while reading the poem. I can see that picture too. If there is one true thing one can know about a poem, it is how the poem makes one feel. I love that the name is Alfred because that is the name of Bruce Wayne’s butler, who I guess is sort of like the guy in the poem, so the type of the Alfred in the poem seems more realistic to me than if he had some other name. It sounds like Alfred ise a baby who had everything given to him, meaning he in fact has nothing because he did not create anything himself and has nothing to be proud of and the pride he might have would pretty much be based on false, jelly pretenses. My teeth feel like I just ate a green apple when you say he had coffee day after day—yuck! I could also connect with the “we all fall down” theme of the poem because I am actually a living being also, which reminds me of the Fight Club motto that we are all just decaying pieces of flesh. I loved that music video you showed because it bombarded me with imagery, leaving me to interpret what I would, instead of merely force-feeding a certain concept. I think the video could have been better if it was constantly raining throughout yet still sunny because I kept wanting to think of rain but couldn’t because there was no rain in the scene until the end when they got smart and I was like uggg now it is almost over. Regarding the masculine line, I thought at first that he was a trannie, although I admit that I didn’t think anything after that and he is still a trannie in my book until I read his wiki and discover he is a man and has always biologically speaking been a man maybe. What I don’t understand is the 14 miles thing; explain if you can because I want to know a little bit! I interpret the second stanza in the same way you do, which is surprising because normally people are all very different despite the fact that most people think most other people behave/think in the same way as themselves. There is a reason why all our blog entries are so very different in style and focus. How did you upload movies??? Hilarious how the music in the second vid did not match the ideas portrayed but I guess that’s the best music they had back then. I like the movie trailer because it is crazy, old, funny and in English, which is difficult to randomly encounter. You kind of make it confusing to readers by saying Alfred is a person then saying he is a clock.
ReplyDeleteI greatly enjoyed your analysis of the poem. I am in total agreement with you that Alfred is a wealthy older man who regrets not doing more in life. Throughout the poem we get images of how old Alfred is, for example, the poem states he has a bald spot in his hair, that others think his arms and legs are getting thin, etc. But even though he has lived a lot, as in the biological process, not as in living it up, he still holds regrets. He wants to do more with his life, but is upset because now he realizes that he mermaids will not sing back to him, he realizes that he is now too old to do what he wants to do now. I think you are right in that he is has come to the realization too late. I also think your comparison of the poem to the Roman Holiday is spot on. Personally, I love classic movies, but I have yet to see that one yet, but I will definitely check it out. From the trailer it does seem like Ann (Hepburn) and Alfred do share a lot of the same characteristics. Both are wealthy and both, despite their wealth, opportunities, social states, etc, still feel unimportant and regretful.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your analysis and enthusiasm for this poem. I also think that its a pretty awesome poem. I agree with you in the overall tone and meaning behind this poem. The language is so beautiful in this poem that at first its easy to get so absorbed in the poem and completely overlook the regret that the narrator is expressing.I wish I further understood the purpose of the part of the poem about the women and michaelangelo.
ReplyDeleteI love your comparisons, they are very thought through.
with you analysis of who this man is it reminds me of Downton Abbey the Second Season which is set right before the Roman Holiday was shot. But I think at the end of your life if you do not live it there will be regret and disappointment and many people fear having that happen to them, which is why we see so many stories dealing with that issue. But I also think the poem can be related to an average person. We all put on faces to impress, hide, or blend in. We do it in the morning when we put on makeup (girls), when we go to an interview, a job, boyfriend/girlfriend's parents home, etc. And how much of a "face" we put on is up to us. And living a life we don't like or want, changing that too is up to us. And like Alfred we find that the first step is hard and we don't really know most of the time, which one is the right first step. But sometimes its best to take that risk or else we may end up like Alfred, lonely, sad, disappointed with ourselves, and afraid of change.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the way in which you envisioned this poem, and through your analysis of it, I was able to connect it to Roman Holiday as well (I adore this movie!). And to me this poem was pretty much a wake-up call. As much as we don't want to acknowledge it, we humans, will someday grow old and die. So why waste away your time asking yourself "what if?" Time eventually builds up, and it soon becomes your whole life. And at the end of the day, I don't want to sum up my whole life in a whole bunch of "What if's?"
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