Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock And Prelude By T. S. Eliot

T.S Eliot, an influential poet who had shaped the preconceived notion conveyed through the arts of his poetry. Eliot’s poem conveys the complexity of human desire, simultaneously exploiting the tension of human suffering. Moreover, Eliot explores the the concept of identity to create a deep connection to create an insight with the poet’s mind and overall, his character. This is conveyed through the poems, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Prelude, ultimately expressing the confronting experiences that Eliot had suffered as this is explored through the contextual ideologies. The modernist era revolved around the rise of new technologies and post world war which creates a driving force for his intentional ideas. Furthermore, the BBC documentary

However in ‘Preludes’, Eliot struggles with identity as this is apparent through the introduction of the industrialism, ‘You had such a vision of the street as the street hardly understands’ contrasted with ‘clasped the yellow soles of feet In the palms of both soiled hands.’ The symbolism of streets represents the individuals and the urban world as it reveals the notion of rejection which made the persona feel insignificant about herself. Furthermore, the concept of lack of identity and the ramification of human suffering is prevalent through past tense of ‘had’ conveys that the persona felt significant but was quickly dampened by the lack identity due to the rejection. The corruption is apparent in ‘soiled’, being a metonym for “impure, tarnished, dirty, corrupt” from her work as a prostitute which reflects the nature of human sufferings and the corruption of the urban world. Moreover, Eliot is constantly being consumed by the struggles of everyday life, ‘the morning comes to consciousness', the personification utilised signifying the sterility of life being consumed by routines and orderliness which conflicts Eliot’s life. The quote is contrasted to the setting of the poem, ‘faint stale smells of beer / from the sawdust-trampled street / with all its muddy feet that press’, the enjambment is used to contradict Eliot’s ideal lifestyle with the modernist era. It reference to the urban grime ‘muddy’ as the streets are ‘trampled’ evokes the notion of drudgery. This metaphorically symbolises the detrimental effect upon Eliot’s life and the notion of filth represents the negative ramification of the industrialised and urban world. The olfactory imagery of ‘faint stale smell of beer’, conveys the grimace of the urban world which underpins the persona’s negative life which is paralleled to Eliot’s life within the urban world.