Journal, Diary, & Blogging / The Love Song
T.S. Eliot – The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock
When I first read this poem I was eighteen, at university, starting out on a degree in English literature. 20th century American poetry was a highlight for an eighteen year old, the lives and the poetry, the casting aside of tradition, of form and expression, of seeking a new way of saying something, of even endeavouring to say something new, to take literature on a new path.
I read this poem once and instantly knew that it was going to take sometime to get inside the words, the spirit of the poetry. And indeed it did. I sat at a bus stop waiting for a late bus one Friday night and read the poem over a dozen times (the bus must have been late), and just as the headlights of the bus turned the corner, I finally grasped what T.S. Eliot was on about.
Interestingly, to put the meaning of the poem into words does not explain the meaning of the poem. To discuss its themes doesn’t do it either. There are thousands of essays available for you to download on the web, none of which will bring the poem to life. The only way to truly grasp this poem, to get it into your head, is to be able to read it out loud and let each phrase intimately connect with your dreams, your hopes, your sorrow, your fear and your despair.
As the poet writes, Oh do not ask, “What is it?”/Let us go and make our visit.
At university I started my degree with papers in literature and psychology and philosophy. I quickly came to realise that for a brain such as mine the world of theory and fact was virtually meaningless. I loved to discover the truth through the brilliant ambiguity of literature and art, where meaning was to be sensed, absorbed, even only hinted at rather than fully stated and understood.
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?
Yes, you should, you should feel free to both read it and write it. Not all experience is joyful, happy, hopeful, some of it is dark and melancholic. You may be one of those lonely men, and that is your reality, it should be expressed, not rejected as wrong or lesser, it is your reality.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think they will sing to me.
Wheldon
Read my novel, Near A Canal for free at www.curzonhobson.com
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I appreciated your insight regarding your take on the poem. It is true that all expression is not meant to be pleasant and that experience is experience, regardless of circumstance. I’m always interested to see which poems are able to deeply impact folks emotionally.
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I feel inspired reading this piece as I see you connecting with your dreams but I, as the reader, feel unfulfilled. I am not even sure I read the whole poem.
I enjoyed this. There is certainly truth to it, and I like that you are writing about reading. Writing is an art, and you seem to understand that good writing will procure emotions and images, if read properly. Poetry is more subtle than other forms of writing, and you are right in that it must be fully absorbed.
Interesting thoughts all around. Given your insight into the “Love Song,” I now have a desire to read it. As for meaning being gleaned from that which can be sensed, I agree and also find myself pulled to literature for the same reason. And that our experiences merit sharing, no matter how dark or melancholic, this is something I also identify with. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
This was good. I would suggest adding more to it, give it more depth.
neat topic and blog. I am right with you.
your work and studying the poem has paid off, a person can learn a lot from
your writings.
the part were you read the poem and could not understand until you study it
broke it down in your mind.
shows you are determine person that is mastering literature.
I liked the emphasis here on finding the meaning by applying it yourself, rather than expecting somebody to explain it or reading pieces where college hopefuls have tried to explain it. Initially, I didn’t like the second sentence in this blog because it seemed overdone, but after reading it again I like it a bit better. Once I got the ‘feel’ for the way it’s presented, it seemed a bit more natural.
I would fix the ‘sometime’ in the next paragraph. Other than that, I can’t think of anything to change, as this blog relates your view very well and leaves the reader in the midst of their own thoughts. Nicely done.
A true journal entry. Interesting.
You’re incredibly right. The reader sometimes finds it hard to grasp what the writer is saying until they try to relate to it or read it aloud. Afterall, poets are like artists. Their works arn’t completely understandable unless you’re the artist.
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