The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
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In T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prudfrock" use of imagery helps us to create a visual picture of the described atmosphere in our minds. Since the poem has 20 stanzas and about 200 lines, I will only analyze the first stanza, which I believe has many details of imagery. The title suggests us it is a poem of love, so the poem is expected to have a bright and joyful mood. But it doesn't. Poem starts with the narrator, Prudfrock, inviting his lover to a place. He says they will be going at night, and then compares "night" to an "anesthetized patient who is about to get an operation". This negative image of night makes the readers feel bad about what will happen at that night. He then describes the place they will go as "half-deserted streets", with "one-night cheap hotels" and "sawdust restaurants" on. The adjectives "half-deserted", "muttering", "restless" are all imagery that create a dark atmosphere about the street. And also there is a contradiction with having oysters, in this low quality restaurant with sawdust on the floor. Then he compares the "streets" to a "tedious argument of insidious intent". This is an interesting way to look at the streets. It can be thought as how endless and confusing those streets are. And finally the narrator tells his lover to not ask any questions and he is trying to make her trust him. But the situation he just told makes it hard for her to trust him. He just keeps saying "Let us go."
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