The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
T.S. Eliot's Imagery and Use of Description in His Poetry
Jun 18, 2009
T. S. Eliot’s Use of Imagery
Almost immediately T. S. Eliot begins throwing imagery at the reader. “Let us go then, you and I/When the evening is spread out against the sky/Like a patient etherized upon a table” (lines 1-3). The image of a person anesthetized; basically passed out on a table is obvious but equating it to the way the evening is showing in the sky. This bit of imagery gives the reader a bit of an endless feeling.
Eliot continues on in his writing stating starting in line fifteen, “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,/The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window panes,/Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening” (lines 15-17). The yellow fog could symbolize the fear of this man that cannot confront a woman that he is attracted to. After going back and reading the poem a few times and thinking about the symbolism of the fog, readers can see the imagery of the fear filling the room, getting into this man’s house and even on a more figurative level, his own mind. This fear gets into every crevice and with Eliot’s use of imagery the symbolism shines through and not only is a mental picture of the scene painted, but also the idea of the type of man that the poem is about.
T.S. Eliot’s Descriptions
The descriptions of the women he idolized are so very complete and lifelike. It seems as if Eliot did some study of women for this piece. “And I have known the arms already, known them all-/Arms that are braceleted and white and bare/ (But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)/Is it perfume from a dress/That makes me so digress? /Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl” (lines 62-66). These lines are so real and picturesque. One may wonder if this man was simply putting this woman on a pedestal or if she really was that way. Either way, readers get an understanding of the feelings and the longing the man had for this woman.
The imagery that is placed throughout the entire poem helps to give readers a mental picture and it also helps to set the tone of the poem. Through the images readers can almost feel the longing. Eliot executed the art of imagery masterfully. Imagery shouldn’t simply be about painting a picture for the readers. It should add something that would otherwise be missing. T.S. Eliot does just that in this poem.
