Ykailah Núñez

Prof. María Quintero

INGL3211-087

October 11, 2016

Response #4

The Love Song by J. Alfred Prufrock

The first thing that came to my attention from this poem is that its title contains the name

from the speaker, because, at first, I thought J. Alfred Prufrock was the author. This is

interesting because it gives the poem some sort of familiarity. It feels like the story behind the

poem is being told by a John Doe, someone common, and not some crazy, philosophic author

who nobody understands.

The second thing is the insecurity that the speaker has. At one time he mentions: “With a

bald spot in the middle of my hair — (They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)”. He is

trying to get the attention of a woman, but he is so nervous and self-conscious about his body

and clothes he is panicking almost.

The third thing is the choice of words and the references the author makes in the poem; J.

Alfred mentions the women talking about Michelangelo and he mentions he is not Prince

Hamlet. With the Shakespeare reference and the artist reference one can infer T.S. Eliot is an

educated man.

Finally, at the end of the poem, he talks about mermaids. The mermaids are singing each

to each, but he doesn’t think they will sing to him. He is comparing the mermaids to the women

talking about Michelangelo at the beginning of the poem. And then he says, “Till human voices

wake us, and we drown”, because he is sort of day dreaming while he tells the poem. His
internal conflict is reflected here and his character on his real world is just standing there,

without reflecting his true thoughts but, he is still with his friend. Thus, when that “human

voices” (his friend) talks to him he wakes up from the thoughts and continues walking and

talking with his friend, and that is why he expressed that he and the mermaids drown.