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    Modern Elements

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    Bitan Howlader
    T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" exemplifies characteristics of modernist poetry through its use of objective correlative, free verse, irregular rhyme scheme and themes that directly contrasted with romantic poetry. The poem depicts the neurosis and frustration of the modern man Prufrock through fragmented imagery and symbolism within an urban setting. It explores questions of self-identity and alienation rather than a conventional love story, reflecting the disconnection of life in the early 20th century.

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    Modern Elements

    Uploaded by

    Bitan Howlader
    163 views1 page
    T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" exemplifies characteristics of modernist poetry through its use of objective correlative, free verse, irregular rhyme scheme and themes that directly contrasted with romantic poetry. The poem depicts the neurosis and frustration of the modern man Prufrock through fragmented imagery and symbolism within an urban setting. It explores questions of self-identity and alienation rather than a conventional love story, reflecting the disconnection of life in the early 20th century.

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    T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" exemplifies characteristics of modernist poetry through its use of objective correlative, free verse, irregular rhyme scheme and themes that directly contrasted with romantic poetry. The poem depicts the neurosis and frustration of the modern man Prufrock through fragmented imagery and symbolism within an urban setting. It explores questions of self-identity and alienation rather than a conventional love story, reflecting the disconnection of life in the early 20th century.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    163 views1 page

    Modern Elements

    Uploaded by

    Bitan Howlader
    T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" exemplifies characteristics of modernist poetry through its use of objective correlative, free verse, irregular rhyme scheme and themes that directly contrasted with romantic poetry. The poem depicts the neurosis and frustration of the modern man Prufrock through fragmented imagery and symbolism within an urban setting. It explores questions of self-identity and alienation rather than a conventional love story, reflecting the disconnection of life in the early 20th century.

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    POINT OUT THE FEATURES OF MODERN POETRY THAT YOU LOCATE IN

    “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”.


    T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” carries the characteristics of modernist
    poetry such as objective correlative, fragmentation, free verse and irregular rhyming. It
    suggests a direct break with English romantic poets such as Coleridge and Wordsworth.
    ANTI-ROMANTIC: While the Romantic poets sought an escape from the painful
    reality the modern poets deal with reality. Eliot’s poetry also faces the problems of
    modern life in modern city, in the streets, and slums.
    ANTI-LOVE: “The love Song” is actually no love poem. It is a recoil from love as
    the hero Prufrock is an antihero, nervous, timid and cowardly. The name of the hero is
    unconventional and so is the name of the poem.
    LANGUAGE: While the Romantic poetry had its own diction which was highly
    imaginative and evocative, Eliot uses the colloquial idioms and language. The words are
    readily taken from the everyday conversation:
    “Let us go, then you, and I”
    Prosaic words are abundantly found in the poem for example, “Half deserted streets,
    chimneys, coffee spoons, smoked cigarettes, and men in shirts sleeves” etc.
    VERSIFICATION: As a modern poet Eliot rejected the traditional verse form and
    rhythm. Eliot believed in the freedom the writer and did not consider it necessary to be a
    slave to metre and rhythm. The present has stanzas of different lengths and its rhyme
    scheme is also not regular. The lines correspond to the mood of Prufrock. Eliot’s verse
    became popular in modern age.
    IMAGERY: In the poem Eliot uses functional and compact imagery to clarify the
    neurosis and frustration of Prufrock. He borrows from Donne the metaphysical conceit.
    The very first line could have come from Donne. The spreading fog represents the state
    the mind of Prufrock. Prufrock is a kind of Lazarus, a sort of Prince Hamlet and also like
    John, the Bapitist.
    THEME: The theme of the poem is not the conventional story of love and
    devotion but the song of a being divided between passion and timidity. It is a song of
    frustration and emotional conflict in the heart of a modern man in the harsh reality.
    IDENTITY: One of the characteristics of modernism is that it struggled with
    questions of self and identity. In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the narrator
    struggles with questions of meaning within not only the society, but also existence itself.
    Urban Setting: Modernism was in many ways a rejection of Romanticism, which often
    used nature as a setting, or even a subject. Nature was often used to express the
    emotions of the author, or to stand in as a symbol or metaphor. Many modernist works
    used an urban or a realistic setting. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" uses both.
    Fragmentation and Symbolism: Modernist works often included "discontinuous
    fragments of poetry, fact, image or description, expressing a momentary illumination or
    beauty, the fragmentary chaos of modern life, a denial of historical or psychological
    continuity, and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is full of such fragments of
    symbolism.

    Sense of Alienation: Closely related to the questions of self in modernist works


    was a sense of alienation. Without that strong sense of meaning, many authors
    expressed a sense of being disconnected. This is one of the central themes of "The Love
    Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
    So, we may unhesitatingly say that Eliot’s poem “The Love song of J. Alfred” is a
    perfect example of a modern poem. (568 words)

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