Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock as an Anti-Carpe Diem Poem - Research Paper Example

T. S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” as an Anti-Carpe Diem Poem There is a time to seize the day, and there is a time for retreat. Despite the theme of carpe diem demonstrated by the poems of Andrew Marvell, Robert Herrick and the Roman poet Horace – that life should be lived now and that every opportunity should be grabbed, T. S. Elliot wants to teach the reader the opposite. As an anti-carpe diem poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” exemplifies abundance of time, hesitation, self-doubt, regret, and an overall passiveness in tone. In order to better understand what an anti-carpe diem poem, it is imperative that one tries to understand first the opposite. A carpe diem poem, from the word carpe diem itself, is one that emphasizes the fear of a temporary life and happiness and the desire to live and savor the present moment. In Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” the author reveals an urgent and pressing need for his female lover in order to sustain his existence and gratify his sexual desires. The greater part of the poem revolves around the fear that the narrator has towards the fleetingness of his coy mistress’ love. In fact, he is afraid that someday or soon, death will seize from his this great love: “But at my back I always hear/ Time’s winged chariot hurrying near” (Marvell 21-22). Thus, the narrator is fearful that someday, time will eventually catch up with him and take away his lover and her love for him. Moreover, he imagines that if he does not seize the day and experience the moment of love now, “…then worms shall try/ That long preserv’d virginity/ And your quaint honour turn to dust/ And into ashes all my lust” (Marvell 27-30). Thus, if the narrator does not do anything now – if he does not decide to love his lover now, then eventually death will definitely catch up with them. Therefore, for a carpe diem poem, one has to grab the opportunity of the moment in order to experience rewards such as physical gratification and love’s sustaining power. Another example of a carpe diem poem is Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.” In this particular poem, the poet summons the women in haste, while at the same time emphasizing to them two very important facts – time is of the essence, and that nothing lasts forever. The idea that time is gold is evident in the lines, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may/ Od Time is still a-flying” (Herrick 1-2). This simply means that while there is still time, one should try to achieve one’s dreams as soon as possible. In the same way, it is a reminder that if one does not do some things now, he may not be able to do it in the future anymore. Moreover, the ephemeral nature of time is best exemplified by the lines “That age is best which is the first/ When youth and blood are warmer” (Herrick 9-10). This means that the time when one is young is the best time to accomplish one’s dreams for it is the time of great passion. Indirectly the poet is also telling the reader that this time is not going to last long, for if “…this same flower that smiles today/ Tomorrow will be dying” (Herrick 3-4). Thus, a carpe diem poem teaches the reader that what is good today may not be as good tomorrow. The advice of every carpe diem poem is but the same: “Then be not coy, but use your time” (Herrick 13). Youth is not going to stay forever, and so one should achieve one’s goals while he is still strong and passionate enough to do it, for it won’t be long before one should turn and wonder where life has gone. In the same way, one of the great Roman poet Horace’s odes subtitled “Carpe Diem,” says “The envious moment is flying now, now, while we’re speaking:/ Seize the day, place in the hours that come as little faith as you can” (Horace 7-8). This means that one should not even waste time talking for one must act at the moment. Moreover, Horace says, “…we never know, what fate the gods grant us/ whether your fate or mine, don’t waste your time…” (Horace 1-2). This is also full of insight as this particular line shows the reader that every carpe diem poem teaches one not to trust fate for there is only one certain thing in life – time lost is time gone. As an anti-carpe diem poem, T. S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is the exact antithesis of the previously mentioned poems of Marvell, Herrick and Horace. First of all, T. S. Elliot’s poem emphasizes the abundance of time: “Time for you and time for me/ And time yet for a hundred indecisions/ And for a hundred visions and revisions/ Before the taking of a toast and tea” (Elliot 31-34). This means that there is indeed plenty of time for each person in this world to make mistakes and to commit acts of indecision, or to delay things. This is somehow a reminder for everyone to slow down and accept the fact that human beings make mistakes all the time, and so nature must understand this aspect of humanity by giving him much time. The aforementioned lines, especially “There is time for you and time for me” (Elliot 31), also somehow remind the reader of the Biblical proverb that “There is a time for everything.” Human life is something that cannot just be pushed with force, just like the blooming of a flower that needs both time and patience. Abundance of time is also synonymous to the synchronization of life. In the poem, the lines “There will be time to murder and create/ And time for all the works and days of hands/ That lift and drop a question on your plate” (Elliot 28-30), the poet is simply telling the reader that there is indeed time for everything – for both construction and destruction of things. Moreover, there is enough time to understand one’s place in time and one’s existence, as well as what drives one’s life here on earth. The reason is that there is abundance in time in this world and so God will wait for man to understand the meaning of his existence on earth as well as his purpose in life. Moreover, as an anti-carpe diem poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” also shows so much self-doubt and hesitation. In the carpe diem poems, there must not be self-doubt and hesitation, for these poems encourage the reader to act now or forever lose the chance to do it. In Elliot’s poem, there is so much hesitation on the part of the narrator as to whether he will do something or not. This is exemplified by the lines, “And indeed there will be time/ To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?/ Time to turn back and descend the stair” (Elliot 37-39). There is so much hesitation here and so much indecision as well, and this is because there is so much time to do all these things. If there were not enough time to do it, there would be no way to experience one’s humanness – one’s indecision, hesitation and fear. These are the very things that make someone human. At the same time, these are the things that every human being goes through in life. T. S. Elliot is just human enough to acknowledge the beauty of these things in his poetry. The poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” also emphasizes regret and morbidity. For one, Elliot dedicated the poem to his brother-in-law Verdenal who died after suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by his experiences in the First World War in Europe. This created a somewhat “overwhelming negative force on Elliot’s psyche [and] shaped his cynical and morbid sense of humor” (Bedeccare 18). Unlike a carpe diem poem where there is so much energy, spirit and encouragement, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” borders on regret and gloom as shown in the lines “I grow old…I grow old…/ I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled” (Elliot 120-121). These lines indicate a pessimistic mood. There is nothing more negative and sadder than the coming of old age as depicted by Elliot in his poem. It is true that there is wisdom in old age, but the repetition in the poem suggests a slow, gradual physical and mental decay in old age. This is truly morbid. Moreover, the poet concludes the poem with death. He says, “We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/ By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/ Till human voices wake us, and we drown” (Elliot 129-131). There seems to be nothing wrong with line 129 as the poet describes a sea with many chambers and where the poet himself takes refuge. However, when the narrator awakes to the reality of the sea, he drowns. Thus, he is either literally killed by the boredom of his life or alienated by its lack of seriousness and passion. The anti-carpe diem poem is therefore personified by a life full of regret for not having any moment of passion in it. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the narrator says “I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker” (Elliot 84). Moreover, he says, “And in short, I was afraid” (Elliot 86). The narrator therefore implies that he has had his days of greatness, but he has seen them flicker, perhaps because of the fact that he was afraid, as he himself admits it. The narrator has experienced moments of greatness in his life, but it seems he did not seize the day and grabbed the opportunity. Moreover, he says with regret, “I should have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the floor of silent seas” (Elliot 73-74). In short, he does not regret this greatness that much for he even regrets his whole human existence, and that he wishes he were a crustacean without any opportunity for greatness. The lack of passion, the passiveness and the absence of ambition that the narrator exemplifies is the core philosophy of the anti-carpe diem poem. The lines that clearly illustrate this passiveness include “Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets/ And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes/ Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?...” (Elliot 70-72). The narrow streets, the rising smoke and the lonely men all create a picture of just another sad morning in the urban area where the narrator belongs. There is nothing exciting nor is there anything to look forward to. This is not only dullness at its worst but passiveness. The narrator does not feel anything as he tells this nor does he say that there is something that he feels he should do about the situation. In fact, there is none in his life that the narrator feels is urgent enough for him to do something about. He is therefore passive, and he shows the reader what an anti-carpe diem poem is all about. True to its anti-carpe diem nature, T. S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” emphasizes not the fleeting nature of time but its abundance and its destined occurrence. There is indeed time for murder and for creation. Moreover, the poem shows self-doubt and hesitation in the various questions that the narrator poses to the reader. Instead of determination as exemplified in carpe diem poems, the narrator of Elliot’s poem tends towards indecision. There is also regret and there is morbidity as well, especially in the lines that signify death and fear. Lastly, the poem speaks of passiveness in the dry, boring and tasteless routine that the narrator experiences but somehow chooses not to do anything about. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited Bedecarre, John. “T. S. Elliot’s Anti-Modernism: Poetry and Tradition in the European Waste Land.” CMC Senior Theses, 2012. Print. 8 Mar 2014. Eliot, T. S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Bartleby.com, 2014. Web. 7 Mar 2014. Herrick, Robert. “To The Virgins, to Make Much of Time.” Luminarium.org, 2014. Web. 7 Mar 2014. Horace. “Odes (Book I).” Poetry in Translation, 2014. Trans. A. S. Kline. Web. 7 Mar 2014. Marvell, Andrew. “To His Coy Mistress.” Luminarium.org, 2014. Web. 7 Mar 2014. Weil, Joe. “The Four Functions and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” The Poetry, 2011. Web. 7 Mar 2014. Read More