Which Lines From The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Are An Allusion To These Verses?

Which Lines From The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Are An Allusion To These Verses
One of the many allusions found in Prufrock is an epigraph from Dante’s Inferno. Dante Alighieri, who wrote The Divine Comedy and also stars as a key figure in the story, goes on a voyage that takes him to Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. When he gets to the eighth circle of hell, he discovers remorseful sinners who are so embarrassed by their transgressions that they do not want to be remembered at all.

These people do not want to be remembered at all.
Dante has a conversation with a person named Guido da Montefeltro, who takes the form of a tongue of flame that flickers.
Guido believes that no one has ever returned from that low level of hell; hence, he does not fear any disgrace and chooses to tell Dante his story about his experience there.

The first few lines in Italian that make up “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” were written by Guido, and they may be translated as follows: (Canto XXVII, ln.61-66) This tongue of flame would stop flickering if I only considered the possibility that my response was given to someone who was perhaps returning to the world.

If what I have been told is accurate, then I will respond without worrying about being embarrassed because no one has ever made it back alive from these depths.
The Princeton Dante Project is the name of this endeavor.
The significance of this reference in Prufrock is as follows: Eliot brings together the poem’s protagonist, Guido, and the poem’s narrator, J.

Alfred Prufrock, in this epigraph. Both of the guys feel embarrassed to recount their past, and they do it in a tone that suggests they are confessing something. This contemporary world is a daily misery for Prufrock, and he is continuously ashamed by the simple fact that he exists in it.

Which is an example of allusion from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

Allusions are oblique references or passages that are made. In order to convey the range of feelings and struggles that are present inside Prufrock, Eliot makes extensive use of references. These allusions helped to establish the despondent and gloomy mood that pervaded throughout the poem as well.

There is a reference to Dante Alighieri’s Inferno in the very first line of the poem. Through the utilization of this epigraph, it is possible to establish a connection between Count Guido, who is in the Eighth Circle of Hell, and Prufrock, who is also living a horrible life on Earth. It was also said in these lines that Count Guido has no shame in what he has to say.

In this poem, Prufrock exposes his true self by speaking from the heart. “S’io credesse que mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma percioche giammai di questo fondo Non torno viva alcun, s’i’odo il vero, Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.” Eliot adapted a great number of phrases from other authors and made them his own.

There is a reference to James Cooper’s novel The Pioneers embedded in the term “huge inquiry.” Another term that was not originally said by the speaker is “dying fall.” There is a reference made to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night here. You may find this in the first act, scene one two (“That strain again, it had a dying fall”).

The words “In the chamber the women come and depart / Talking of Michelangelo” are another set of lines that have been taken from another source. There is a reference made to the works of Jules Laforgue. The lines were written in French at first, and a loose translation of them would read as follows: “In the chamber the women come and depart, chatting about the Siennese Masters.” He translated and stole most of the lines, and then fashioned them into his own style by inserting them into new settings.

He did this to make them seem like his own. Prufrock is crippled by his anxiety of being rejected. Because he is always plagued with self-doubt, he does not make an effort to pursue romantic relationships with women. This dread was conveyed through the lyrics “In the chamber the ladies come and depart / Talking about Michelangelo,” which were taken from the poem “In the Room.” This Michelangelo reference demonstrates that the women in the poem have a sophisticated cultural background.

This causes Prufrock to experience anxiety because he believes that he cannot measure up to the caliber of Michelangelo, a well-known artist. The allusions in the poem also contributed to the creation of a clear contrast between Prufrock and the other characters in the novel.

These words contain a reference to Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress,” which may be seen below. There is, there is, there will be time for it. To put on a front for the people you’re about to meet; the speaker of this poem is attempting to convince his lover that she should make the most of each day.

The fact that the first line of this poem is “Had we but globe enough, and time” gives the impression that there is not sufficient time. On the other hand, Prufrock never even makes an effort to go closer to his objective, and instead he offers excuses like there’s always time for everything.

To defend his passivity, he keeps saying, “There will be time,” over and over again.
Prufrock is unable to act on his true desires because he cannot make up his mind and consistently puts things off.
There is a possibility that the phrase “There will be time” is a reference to Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, which states that “there is a time for everything.” The book Works and Days by Hesiod is referred to in the phrase “works and days,” which is an allusion.

Another instance of employing allusions to differentiate between different entities is demonstrated here. The documentary Works and Days highlights the significance of putting in long hours of labor in order to achieve one’s goals. On the other side, Prufrock is paralyzed by his fear and cannot make up his mind about anything.

Because he is unwilling to take a stand, he will remain mired in the predicament he faces.
In the line “And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,” the eternal Footman is a reference to death.
This is because the eternal Footman is described as being “eternal,” and because the Footman can be interpreted as a servant who waits and assists people as they travel through the afterlife.

The sentences that follow highlight Prufrock’s suspicion of what other people are thinking about him. Even yet, he has the impression that Death would laugh at his life. Andrew Marvell and James Cooper were two authors who had an impact on T.S. Eliot. The following phrases are a combination of “Let us roll all of our power and all.

The phrases “our sweetness into one ball” and “overpowering query” are from the poems “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Pioneers,” respectively.
The process of stealing and then replicating something has resulted in the creation of another work that is distinct from the first.
These sentences also demonstrate how Prufrock wants to motivate himself to achieve something by putting pressure on himself.

On the other hand, he is of the opinion that it is pointless to try since he is destined to fail. Would it have been worth it to have chewed off the matter with a grin, to have squished the universe into a ball, and to have smiled while doing it? In order to move it toward some really weighty question, When you use allusions, it is also simple to re-create the feelings and context that were meant in the original composition.

As an illustration, Prufrock was contrasted with figures such as John the Baptist, Lazarus, and Hamlet. These allusions show the profound level of self-deprecation that Prufrock possesses. There is a biblical allusion in the following lines: “Though I have seen my head (become little bald) delivered in upon a plate, / I am no prophet — and here’s no momentous issue;” John the Baptist was a prophet, and his head was severed and offered as a reward when he was executed.

However, in contrast to John the Baptist, even after his head is severed from his body, he believes that it cannot even be regarded a reward since he considers himself to be of little significance. There is a biblical allusion in the words that go as follows: “To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the grave, / Come back to tell you everything, I shall tell you all— ” The biblical character Lazarus is known for his miraculous resurrection from the grave.

This is significant to Prufrock because he has the sensation of being dead. The sensation of being lifeless causes him to wonder whether or not it is worthwhile to be energetic and vigorous. The following words make reference to Prince Hamlet. Both Hamlet and Prufrock are individuals who struggle with self-awareness and indecision, making them relatable to one another.

Prufrock, on the other hand, does not stand out in comparison to Hamlet. He is the first to say that he is more of a supporting character. To me, he reminds me more of Polonius, which is another another reference to Hamlet. Polonius is an attendant lord, and he employs pompous language to give the impression that he is more intelligent than he actually is.

They are comparable in that what others think of them is the most important factor in determining how they behave. In addition to this, Prufrock believes that he is nothing more than a court jester known as The Fool. This makes a reference to Yorick, a character from Hamlet who died foolishly. No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was it ever intended for me to be; rather, I am an attendant lord, one who will suffice.

To inflate a progress, create a scene or two, and advise the prince; without a doubt, an easy tool; deferential, pleased to be of assistance; politically careful and meticulous; to be exact; Full of high speech, but somewhat obscure; At times, though, nearly absurd – Almost, at times, the Fool.

Full of high sentence, but somewhat obscure.
There is no requirement for explanation when using allusions to build context.
There is a reference to Homer’s Odyssey’s mermaids in the lines “I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
/ I do not suppose that they will sing to me.” Mermaids use their seductive vocals to lure unsuspecting humans into the water, where they may then kill them.

Hallucinations were a common way for sailors to deal with their dread of death at sea, so it seems sense that they would create a myth about mermaids. Prufrock desperately wants to go away from his life, yet he keeps getting lured back. This highlights how Prufrock continues to be powerless and never moves, as well as how little he thinks of himself, since he does not merit even the story’s sympathy.

Additionally, this demonstrates how little he thinks of himself.
In “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock,” J.
Alfred Prufrock is shown to be self-conscious about his impotence.
Through the use of references and images, he conveys the sense that the outcome of his life has been unsatisfying and insufficient.

The idea of doing an introspective investigation of one’s own character appears frequently in modernist writing. Modernism, in contrast to romanticism, does not extol the plight of the individual in any way. The Modernist Struggle: Allusions, Images, and Emotions in T.S.

Eliot’s Prufrock is a referenced article. www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLesson/Preview/35787 is where you may find Cpalms. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: A Guide to Studying the Text. Cummings Study Guide may be found at the following URL: cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Prufrock.html. “The Love Song of J.

Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Website: genius.com; annotations may be found at genius.com/annotations/43890/standalone embed?dark=1, “Ecclesiastes 3:1–8.” BibleGateway, “Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,” searchable at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%3A1-8&version=NIV The phrase “Works and Days” Retrieved from “Encyclopedia Britannica,” “Works and Days,” at www.britannica.com.

Which lines from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock provided an example of stream of consciousness?

Answer and Explanation: – An great example of stream of consciousness may be found in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” specifically in the fourth stanza. Prufrock imagines that other people would comment on how his thinning hair and bald spot will draw attention to the paradox of time.

“They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!'” (41). He then continues to explain his attire while inserting the notion that “They will say: ‘But how his arms and legs are slender!'” at various points in the narrative (44). These ideas are separated from the main body of the poem by the use of brackets.

The use of brackets helps to highlight that these are additional thoughts that Prufrock is interjecting into his main stream of thinking. In this stanza, Prufrock begins by considering time and then transitions into imagining what other people have to say about him.

Which best describes the meaning of these lines The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

Which of the following statements best explains what these lines mean? The speaker is pleased with both his previous achievements and his current standing in the world. The speaker is concerned that if he vanishes, no one around him would even notice his absence. The person who is speaking has faith that he can bring about favorable changes in the surrounding environment.

What is the poetic form of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

Form: “Prufrock” is a variant on the dramatic monologue, which was a style of poem that many of Eliot’s predecessors were fond of writing. Soliloquies are a type of dramatic monologue that are analogous to those seen in plays. According to M.H. Abrams, the dramatic monologue is defined by three distinct characteristics.

To begin, they are the words said by a particular person (someone other than the poet) at a particular instant in time. Second, the monologue is addressed to a particular listener or listeners, the existence of whom is not expressly mentioned but is only inferred from the speaker’s remarks. Third, the most important thing is how the character of the speaker evolves and is shown to the audience.

Eliot gives the form a more contemporary feel by doing away with the supposed listeners and putting the emphasis on Prufrock’s interiority and loneliness. The epigraph of this poem, which is taken from Dante’s Inferno, provides a description of Prufrock’s ideal listener.

This listener is someone who is just as lost as the speaker, and who will never reveal to the rest of the world the substance of Prufrock’s current confessions. However, in the society that Prufrock paints, such a sympathetic character does not exist, and as a result, he is forced to make do with nothing more than silent meditation.

“Prufrock” is a precursor to some of Eliot’s later, more dramatic works because of its emphasis on character and its theatrical sensibility. This poem has an inconsistent rhyme system, yet it is not completely random. Even while there are parts of the poem that seem to be written in free verse, “Prufrock” is actually a meticulously planned combination of many types of poetic forms.

When the poem is read out loud, the rhyming couplets and phrases become much more obvious. The use of refrains is one of the most noticeable and significant formal aspects of this piece. Both Prufrock’s repeated questionings (“how should I presume?”) and pessimistic appraisals (“That is not it, at all.”) both reference an earlier poetic tradition and help Eliot describe the consciousness of a modern, neurotic individual.

Prufrock’s constant return to the line “women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo” is also a reference to an earlier poetic tradition. The fixation that Prufrock has on his work is beautiful, but it also indicates that he is a compulsive and an introvert.

Which is an example of an allusion from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock quizlet?

An allusion to John the Baptist may be found in the song “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” specifically in the verse that says “Though I have seen my head carried in upon a platter/ I am no prophet.” Prufrock is under the impression that he, like John, will be killed if he is found to be telling the truth.

Why does Prufrock allude to Lazarus?

Hamlet and Polonius are the subjects of the sixth allusion in Prufrock. The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare around the year 1600, centers on the title character, Prince Hamlet. He is the son of the former monarch of Denmark, King Hamlet, making him not only the Prince of Denmark but also the nephew of the usurping Claudius.

Hamlet vows to have his revenge on Claudius after the spirit of his dead father tells him that Claudius was the one who killed his father.
The entirety of the play focuses on Hamlet’s internal struggle as he spends time preparing himself, fighting with himself, and acting hesitantly before ultimately succeeding in killing Claudius at the expense of his own life.

Polonius is an advisor to King Claudius, and Hamlet ends up killing him when the latter is spying on Polonius. Relevance to Prufrock: Just like Hamlet, Prufrock is unable to make up his mind. Prufrock, on the other hand, asserts that he is not intended to be a monumental character like Hamlet.

What is the best explanation for prefacing the poem with this quotation?

What do you think the most plausible reason is for using this quotation at the beginning of the poem? The narrator of the poem will relate the narrative because he feels that his destiny has already been decided and he has nothing to lose by doing so.

Which statement best describes the effect of the free verse form in poetry?

Which of the following statements on the impact of poetry written in the free-verse style is the most accurate? It facilitates the reader’s participation in the cognitive process of the poet.

What are the lines in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

“I have seen the moment of my glory flicker, and I have seen the everlasting Footman grip my coat, and giggle, and in a nutshell, I was scared.” — “I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker.” I’m going to roll the bottoms of my pants, so be prepared for that. I should have become a pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of the quiet waters, as the song goes.

What does the epigraph of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock say about the poem?

Advertisement – Guide continues below Epigraph S’io credesse que mio risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mundo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo Non torno viva alcun, s’i’odo il vero, Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.

This poem’s epigraph is a paraphrase of six lines from Canto 27 of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet who lived during the Renaissance. And to answer your second question, no, Eliot does not translate it out of the Italian. This is the type of trick that leads people to believe that Eliot is an elitist.

We really aren’t in a position to defend him against this accusation, but we will say that he was completely and utterly fixated with Dante, and it’s possible that he believed that other people loved Dante just as much as he did – enough to translate the quote for themselves.

This one is more clear than the others since it is a straight citation from Dante’s work. The allusions to Dante may be found throughout all of Eliot’s poetry. The narrative told in “The Inferno” is about a person named Dante who has messed up his life so severely that he needs some assistance from the kind people who live in heaven.

Heaven sends another poet by the name of Virgil to accompany Dante on his journey through the torments of Hell. The purpose of this is to terrify Dante into staying away from sin and other negative things (known as “Inferno” in Italian). Along the journey, he comes into contact with a great number of nefarious and misguided individuals.

This epigraph’s phrase is spoken by one of the characters who resides in the eighth circle of Hell (out of a total of nine circles).
This is where some of Hell’s most heinous inhabitants are condemned to spend all of eternity.
This particular individual’s name is Guido da Montefeltro, and when Dante asks to hear his story, this is what Guido says to him: “If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever return to earth, this flame would remain without further movement; but as no one has ever returned alive from this gulf, if what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear of infamy.” (If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever What does the meaning of this quotation mean? Dante is very interested in learning the circumstances of Guido’s fall to such a low level in Hell.

But Guido just cares about himself. Because he cares about his reputation, he worries that others on earth will learn about the terrible things he done and would judge him negatively as a result. On the other side, Guido is well aware that no one has ever descended into Hell and emerged unscathed, so he reasons that it is perfectly safe for him to relate his tale given that Dante is unable to leave.

When Dante is the only human ever to be allowed to travel through Hell and “return to earth,” unfortunately for Guido, others do ultimately find out about Guido’s misdeeds because they read the Inferno. One more point that should be brought out is the fact that Guido does not even have a body in Hell because he is not deserving of such a thing.

As a result, his entire essence is only a “flame” that “moves” when he speaks. What he intends to convey when he says “this flame would remain without further movement” is “I would shut up and not talk to you any more.” One more question: What exactly did Guido do? In essence, Guido was responsible for horrendous crimes perpetrated throughout the conflict.

However, it is not even the worst aspect of it.
The most heinous aspect of his behavior is that, before to doing these horrendous acts, he sought forgiveness for himself.
He had the misguided belief that he could outwit God and secure his place in paradise, despite the fact that he had engaged in behaviors that he was well aware were sinful.

It would be the same as if, before you smashed your mother’s beloved lamp, you questioned her about it “Would you still love me even if I shattered this lamp right this minute, Mom?, Yes? OK.” CRASH! (This is a note to Guido: You will never be able to outwit the one who created the universe.) Why does Eliot chose this passage to serve as the poem’s epigraph? In any case, it hints to a few different things.

First, the “Prufrock” poem could not be about nice people at all, but rather about horrible individuals who try to pass themselves off as good.
The place where the poem takes place is reminiscent of hell.
Second, it reveals that the individual known as Prufrock, who is performing his “love song,” may be anxious about his reputation in the same way that Guido is.

In other words, Prufrock is going to share information with us because he believes there is a good likelihood that we won’t be able to share it with anybody else. Additional Information Regarding J. Alfred Prufrock’s Love Song Navigation

What does the yellow fog symbolize?

John Hakac argues in an article that was published in The Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association that the yellow fog in the first section of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a symbol for love itself, and that as a result, it is an important driving force of the poem. Hakac’s article was published in the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association.

What does line 51 imply about the way Prufrock has lived?

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons is an indication that Prufrock believes that he has already lived out the root meaning of measure, which the Online Etymological Dictionary defines as the “limited extent.” The phrase “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” is an indication that Prufrock believes that he has already lived out the meaning of measure (51).

Why does Prufrock refer to Hamlet in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

Prufrock makes the comparison between himself and Hamlet, but then he downplays Hamlet’s significance by saying, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet.” He then goes back to his typical mode of self-deprecation by declaring that he is not an important person. According to him, he would not be the main character in a play but rather one of the supporting cast members.

However, there is more than a dash of irony in Prufrock’s comparison of himself to Hamlet, given that he does, in fact, resemble the Prince of Denmark. In a manner comparable to that of Prince Hamlet, Prufrock’s most fatal shortcoming is his inability to take action, which ultimately leads to his demise.

He spends the length of the poem dissecting and reanalyzing every option, but he doesn’t end up accomplishing very much of anything else. His self-conception of size, in which he frequently imagines himself to be either a less significant creature or merely an insignificant being in a vast world, is connected to his disrespect for the significance that he assigns to himself.

What portrait of Prufrock emerges from lines 37 48?

What kind of a picture does it paint of the speaker, Prufrock, from lines 37 through 48? “And would it have been worth it, all things considered?” This phrase serves as the first line of two different stanzas; the endings of both are in the form of a refrain.

Why does Prufrock refer to Hamlet in the love song?

However, there is more than a dash of irony in Prufrock’s comparison of himself to Hamlet, given that he does, in fact, resemble the Prince of Denmark. In a manner analogous to that of Prince Hamlet, Prufrock’s biggest shortcoming is his inability to act, which ultimately leads to his demise at the conclusion of the piece.

What is an allusion in poetry?

What exactly is an allusion, then? Transcript (English and Spanish Subtitles Available in Video, Click HERE for Spanish Transcript) – Written by Sam Schwartz, an instructor in the Department of Literature at Oregon State University The use of allusion is responsible for the literary currency of many of the passages that are considered to be among the most famous and memorable examples.

Take, for instance, paragraphs from the beginning of two American novels that were published one hundred years apart from one another.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville was first published in 1851, and its first words, “Call me Ishmael,” is often considered to be the single most famous line in all of American literature.

When Ralph Ellison’s narrator and primary character first introduces himself in the novel Invisible Man, which was first published in 1950, the novel also makes use of reference “I am a man who cannot be seen. No, I am not a ghost like the ones that troubled Edgar Allan Poe, nor am I one of the ectoplasms from your favorite Hollywood movies.” These writers’ usage of allusion serves as an excellent example of not just what an allusion is but also why it is employed.

Within a piece of written literature, allusions are typically understood to be brief but intentional references to a specific person, place, or event; alternatively, allusions may allude to another piece of written literature. Allusion is distinguished from other types of reference, which are the many ways that works of literature might call out to other works of art, by its brevity and, frequently, by its indirect nature; although, the degree to which an allusion is indirect can vary greatly.

An allusion is not a profound reflection; rather, it is a fleeting signal that, if you are not paying close attention to what you are reading, you can miss entirely. Allusions, on the other hand, are a crucial tool for literary artists since they frequently serve the purpose of locating the author’s own works within the framework of wider culture and the history of literature.

So, how exactly does this process work? What are the goals of using allusions, and why do authors employ them? Let’s have a look at our previous instances.
When the narrator of Moby Dick first introduces himself to the reader, he calls himself Ishmael.
This may be done so that the narrator might remain more anonymous.

However, the reader is not required to necessarily halt and inquire, “What is the meaning of the narrator name himself ‘Ishmael?'” On the other hand, a reader who pays close attention will in fact be rewarded by her own sense of inquiry. Ishmael is the name of an Old Testament character who appears in the book of Genesis.

He is the eldest son of Abraham and the brother of Isaac, who is more famous. Ishmael is renowned for being an outcast from a great family; an angel who guards Ishmael’s mother Hagar predicted that he would be “a wild man” whose “hand would be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” For our purposes, Ishmael is recognized for being an outcast from a great family.

Therefore, the use of this reference to the biblical figure Ishmael accomplishes a pair of objectives. Ishmael is at odds with the world and with those around him; to keep from “methodically knocking people’s hats off,” he seeks the solitude that can only be provided by an ocean voyage.

Without having to put in much effort at all — we’re only three words into the novel itself — we already know a lot about Ishmael: that he is at odds with the world and with those around him.
But the allusion also accomplishes a broader goal: it establishes the solemn but also ambitious tone that this novel conjures.

While Ishmael shoves off with Captain Ahab on the Pequod from the shores of Nantucket, this is also the world of Noah and his ark, of Jonah and the whale, and the Biblical reference serves to expand the novel’s presence beyond the 19th century, onto a plane with the most consequential and ancient human stories In Ralph Ellison’s work, “Invisible Man,” the story’s narrator makes use of reference once more as an act of self-definition.

This time, the allusions are more clear, but they are utilized just as swiftly.
He is not a specter from Edgar Allan Poe, despite the fact that he is invisible.
Even though he is defining himself in the negative—by describing who he is by what he is not—his associations are telling: they predict the assumptions and associations of his readers, who likely know Poe’s work, thus creating an immediate relationship based on shared knowledge and reference.

Even though he is defining himself in the negative—by describing who he is not by what he is not—his associations are telling. It’s possible that this narrator doesn’t want to be identified with such sinister characters as Poe’s Roderick Usher or William Wilson, but his objections can only go so far.

When we discover him hunkered down in a basement, hauntingly lighted by hundreds of lightbulbs, where he lives “not just visible, but formless,” it is difficult not to link him with these figures from the American gothic tradition. Therefore, although this allusion to Poe in the first few lines of Invisible Man is only a few words long, it does a great deal of groundwork for the story.

Therefore, for a student of literature, the research that is sometimes required to fully understand allusions, particularly when they are identified in older texts, is analogous to exploring the subtle but potentially dense backdrops of an intricate painting.

What are the metaphors in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

The Ocean Prufrock speculates that he would be happier surviving in the harsh conditions of the ocean’s depths and solitary existence rather than in the company of other people. We believe that he may be onto something here. However, things don’t go so well for him until he finds himself in the middle of the ocean as a result of some bizarre and dream-like turn of events near the end of the poem.

In point of fact, he does drown. The word “claws” in lines 73 and 74 is a synecdoche for something else. They represent a crab, which is the animal that most people picture when they hear the phrase “scuttling” in reference to the ocean floor. Prufrock is referring to himself as “crab-like” in this passage.

Lines 123 to 131 provide some breathtaking depictions of the water, such as singing mermaids and sea girls dressed in seaweed. The poem comes to a close with this material. The white-capped waves are compared to “white hair” in the poem, which is one of the most imaginative metaphors used in the poem.