Artistic Expression: Poems Speak to Emtions and Capture Feelings

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With time poems may have lost their voice, but not their importance. Up to this day, poetry is still one of the greatest forms of artistic expression; Poems speak to emotions and capture feelings. There is no right format of a poem, but yet a world of possibilities. Instead being unchangeable poems are innately open to interpretation; they should be spoken out loud in order to be “heard”, convey truth and cause impact. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is an extremely meaningful poem; it is one of Elliot’s best-known works and without a doubt a masterpiece (Hillis). T.S. Eliot introduces the poem with a quote from Dante's Inferno (XXVII.61-66), and with that sparks our curiosity. He then makes statements and questions that perhaps everyone has done, or will do at some point in life (Li-Cheng, pp. 10-17). The poem is a legitimate work of the modernist movement, the language used is contemporary; the verses are free and the rhythm flows naturally.
All of the elements in the poem are in harmony and work together in order to set the tone making up a unique poetic style. “Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky”. From its first lines, the poem is able to catch the reader’s attention by using very strong imagery. Eliot’s following verse says, “ Like patient etherized upon a table”. The reader is both amazed but also “shocked” by the author with the veracity of the words. We are able to visualize clearly many of the literal and symbolic interpretations and references that are made. T.S. Eliot (1888–1965), was an American poet, naturalized English, and is considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was written in 1910 and first published...

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... is poetry for “everyone”, even though authors want to make meaning and tell a story; our interpretation of a poem is what counts. The true beauty of a poem is the fact that it is subject to various interpretations (Videnov, pp. 126-30).

In conclusion,the cycle of this poem is wonderfully expressed in line 51, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." This signifies that he has broken down his entire life into small episodes. Prufrock's failure to act leaves him in fantasy world dominated by insecurity. Prufrock is afraid of himself and others; therefore, he is unsure of what to do and afraid to commit to any particular choice of action (Hart, pp. 174-80). He reveals his innermost thoughts to the reader, but ultimately accepts his own indecision and cowardice. McNamara's article articulates that the world of the poem is limited to a single consciousness.

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