T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J.

Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

J. Alfred Prufrock: The name of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot's man of divided conscience, was probably suggested by the Prufrock-Littau Company, furniture dealers located at Fourth and St. Charles Streets in St. Louis, Eliot's birthplace, at the time of the composition and publication of 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' in 1915. . . . A letter of enquiry in regard to J. Alfred Prufrock's origin was sent to Mr. Eliot and elicited the following reply: 'Several correspondents have recently called my attention to the PrufrockLittau company, furniture dealers of St. Louis. I did not have, at the time of writing the poem, and have not yet recovered, any recollection of having acquired the name in this way, but I think that it must be assumed that I did, and that the memory has been obliterated.' (From Stephen Stepanchev, "The Origin of J. Alfred Prufrock" in Modern Language Notes, June 1951 p. 400, quoted in Anthony Hands, Sources for the Poetry of T. S. Eliot. Oxford: Hadrian Books. 1993 p. 2) Sio credesse che mia riposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al monda, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma pericocche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, siodo il vero, Senza tema dinfamia ti rispondo: From Dante's The Inferno, Canto XXVII, 61-66 (trans. Robert Scholes) If I believed that my answer were to a person who should ever return to the world, this flame would stand without further movement; but since never one returns alive from this deep, if I hear true, I answer you without fear of infamy. Let us go: "The poem is an argument : let us go. What Prufrock considers therefore is the question of action. Everything that follows in his 'Song' is an expression of consciousness contemplating the possibility of bodily movement" (From Piers Gray, T. S. Eliot's Intellectual and Poetic Development, p. 58). When the evening is spread out against the sky: This simile subverts the Romantic tradition of "evening" symbolizing tranquillity and beauty, a tradition evident in William Wordsworth's 1804 poem "It Is a Beauteous Evening." Instead, Eliot's evenings are often characterized by "nocturnal depression and near insanity" (From Piers Gray, T. S. Eliot's Intellectual and Poetic Development, p. 56). Also, compare with Eliot's "Prelude IV": "His soul stretched tight across the skies / That fade behind a city block."

T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

The yellow fog . . . / The yellow smoke . . .: Compare with Eliots Portrait of a Lady: Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon / You have the scene arrange itself--as it will seem to do-- / With "I have saved this afternoon for you"; / And four wax candles in the darkened room, / Four rings of light upon the ceiling overhead, / An atmosphere of Juliet's tomb / Prepared for all the things to be said, or left unsaid. October night: Once again, compare with Eliots Portrait of a Lady: The October night comes down: returning as before / Except for a slight sensation of being ill at ease / I mount the stairs and turn the handle of the door / And feel as if I had mounted on my hands and knees. / "And so you are going abroad; and when do you return? / But that's a useless question. there will be time: From Ecclesiastes 3.1-8: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. works and days: Hesiod, a Greek poet who lived between 750 and 650 BC, wrote an 800-verse poem called Works and Days, in which he describes the five Ages of Man: the Golden (under the rule of the Titans), the Silver (in which humans lived irresponsibly, like children), the Bronze (a warlike age under the aegis of Zeus and the gods), the Heroic (in which humans were demigods), and the Iron Age (the present ageone of toil and hardship). Hesiod condemns the corrupt judges who have allowed his brother Perses to inherit money instead of a share in their fathers agricultural business/ farm; he thinks Perses will squander the money. He exalts the virtues of labour and warns against idleness, comparing human beings to drones in a hivework is their function and purpose. In a minute: From William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night 1.1.1-15: Duke Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.
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T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

That strain again, it had a dying fall; O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing an giving odor. Enough, no more, 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before. O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou, That notwithstanding thy capacity Receiveth as the sea nought enters there, Of what validity and pitch soe'er, But falls into abatement and low price Even in a minute. So full of shapes is fancy That it alone is high fantastical. I have measured out my life with coffee spoons: Coffee and tea are a running motif in T.S. Eliots poetry. For instance, see Portrait of a Lady, Mr Apollinax, and Hysteria. a dying fall: See the note on In a minute above; the extract from Shakespeares Twelfth Night also refers to a dying fall. Also compare with Eliots Portrait of a Lady: Well! and what if she should die some afternoon, Afternoon grey and smoky, evening yellow and rose; Should die and leave me sitting pen in hand With the smoke coming down above the housetops; Doubtful, for a while Not knowing what to feel or if I understand Or whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon . . . Would she not have the advantage, after all? This music is successful with a 'dying fall' Now that we talk of dying-And should I have the right to smile? the butt-ends of a my days and ways: See Eliots Preludes: The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o'clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days. And now a gusty shower wraps The grimy scraps Of withered leaves about your feet And newspapers from vacant lots; The showers beat
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T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

On broken blinds and chimney-pots, And at the corner of the street A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps. And then the lighting of the lamps. Arms that are braceleted and white and bare: See "The Relic" by John Donne (1572-1631) When my grave is broken up again Some second guest to entertain [. . .] And he that digs it, spies A bracelet of bright hair about the bone, Will he not let'us alone, And think that there a loving couple lies, Who thought that this device might be some way To make their souls, at the last busy day, Meet at this grave, and make a little stay? Further, see Eliots essay on The Metaphysical Poets: some of Donne's most successful and characteristic effects are secured by brief words and sudden contrasts: A bracelet of bright hair about the bone, where the most powerful effect is produced by the sudden contrast of associations of 'bright hair' and of 'bone'. This telescoping of images and multiplied associations is characteristic of the phrase of some of the dramatists of the period which Donne knew: [for example Shakespeare]. [Ben Johnson, 1572-1637] remarks of them that 'the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together'. The force of this impeachment lies in the failure of the conjunction, the fact that often the ideas are yoked but not united [. . .]. But a degree of heterogeneity of material compelled into unity by the operation of the poet's mind is omnipresent in poetry. That makes me so digress: See "Conversation Galante" by T. S. Eliot: I observe: "Our sentimental friend the moon! Or possibly (fantastic, I confess) It may be Prester John's balloon Or an old battered lantern hung aloft To light poor travellers to their distress." Since then: "How you digress!"

T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

I should have been a pair of ragged claws: From William Shakespeares Hamlet 2.2: Hamlet. Slanders, sir; for the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, they eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams; all of which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down, for yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward. Polonius. [Aside] Though this be madness, yet there is method in't--Will you walk out of the air, my lord? I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed: In The Second Book of Samuel, David defeats the enemies of Israel, including the unworthy king of Israel, Saul. In 1:1-12, a man comes out of Sauls defeated camp and tells David that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead. David asks him how he knows. The man answers that he saw Saul after the defeat, and that Saul asked the man to kill him because hes been defeated: He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his dead, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter: John the Baptists head is presented to Salome on a plate in Matthew 14:1-11, both because John prophesies the coming of a messiah greater than him, and because he condemns Herods marriage to Herodias, his brother Phillips wife. Salome is Herodiass daughter. some talk of you and me: From The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam of Naishapur by Edward Fitzgerald: XXXII There was the Door to which I found no Key; There was the Veil through which I might not see: Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee There was--and then no more of Thee and Me.

T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

the universe into a ball: From Andrew Marvells To his Coy Mistress (1681): Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning glow, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Thorough the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run. magic lantern: From Eliots Preludes: You tossed a blanket from the bed, You lay upon your back, and waited; You dozed, and watched the night revealing The thousand sordid images Of which your soul was constituted; They flickered against the ceiling. Prince Hamlet [. . .] attendant lord: William Shakespeares longest play, Hamlet (1623), is perhaps the most famous, widely-performed and adapted work of drama in English literature. It depicts the tragic downfall and eventual death of Prince Hamlet, prince of Denmark, whose uncle has killed the king and married the queen. For the first two acts, its uncertain what Hamlet is going to do, and what his fate will be. Prince Hamlet discourses deeply about the value and purpose of life, the allure of death as an escape, the morality of vengeance, the psychology of action and human identity. One of the main supporting characters is Polonius, a pompous, silly, tedious and long-winded adviser at the court who pretends to be more important than he is. In Act III, after Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, his own fate is sealed; his downfall and death become inevitable. Poloniuss death sets the actual tragedy in motion. Full of high sentence: In "The General Prologue" of Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century magnum opus, The Canterbury Tales, a clerk of Oxenford is described as being ful of hy sentence. He is in many ways the opposite of Polonius: a thin, bookish man who doesnt speak much. But hes also perhaps what Polonius would like to be: courteous, virtuous, eager to learn and to teach, and a learned, insightful philosopher:

T.S. Eliots use of ALLUSION in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) THE MODERNS @ The Brilliant Club Tutorial 3 The Prufrock Papers <http://www.usask.ca/english/prufrock/>

Noght o word spak he moore than was neede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence And short and quyk and ful of hy sentence; Sownynge in a moral vertu was his speche, And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche. Almost, at times, the Fool: The Fool is an established, recurring character-type in literature with a long-standing tradition. S/he is usually a comic character that functions like a clownthe butt of misfortune and jokes but is also, often, more honest, aware, perceptive and insightful than the ostensibly more intelligent and important characters, either inadvertently (as a narrative device) or because the fools low status is unfairly &/or externally imposed by the society in which s/he lives. Shakespeare's fools are subtle teachers, reality instructors one might say, who often come close to playing the part that Socrates, himself an inspired clown, played on the streets of Athens. They tickle, coax and cajole their supposed betters into truth, or something akin to it. (From Mark Edmundson, Playing the Fool, The New York Times, 2 April 2000) I grow old . . . I grow old . . .: In Shakespeare's Henry IV Part II (Act II, Scene IV), an old, very clever but also at times pathetic, comic character named Falstaff has a crisis of confidence when he thinks a young woman no longer finds him attractive. He says, I am old, I am old. I have heard the mermaids singing: See "Song" by John Donne (1572-1631) Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the Devil's foot, Teach me to hear the mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy's stinging, And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind. seaweed red and brown: John Masefields 1902 book of poems Salt Water Ballads includes a poem called Cardigan Bay in which he uses very similar imageryand indeed syntax: Delicate, cool, sea-weeds, green and amber-brown, / In beds where shaken sunlight slowly filters down / On many a drowned seventyfour, many a sunken town, / And the whitening of the dead men's skulls.
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