Take a close look at how some poetic elements work in the poem, such as figurative language, sound and rhyme, rhythm and meter, symbols, diction...

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” has earned its position in the canon of literature largely through T.S. Eliot’s sheer mastery of poetic language. Out of Eliot’s oeuvre, the poem is arguably the piece that is most representative of his piquant use of language, and showcases his considerable talent with sketching compelling images that reinforce the messages he conveys through the nebbish antihero Prufrock. The first lines set the pace for what follows:

“Let us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherised upon a table” (71).

The first two lines are romantic and evocative, and Eliot brilliantly uses the third line to undercut that idealized tone. Eliot sets up a heroic, active opening, using a familiar AA rhyme scheme, and then subverts readers’ expectations by using the grim image of a “patient etherised upon a table.” Additionally, this image reinforces Prufrock’s inability to act, to speak, to properly express his innermost thoughts and desires to the outside world. He is the patient stretched out on the table; he is passive and inactive, being acted upon instead.

Another excellent example of Eliot’s language servicing the deeper meaning of his poetry occurs midway through the poem, with the following famous lines:

“I should have been a pair of ragged claws

Scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (73).

Here, Eliot’s use of synecdoche—a part being used to represent a whole entity— perfectly encapsulates the character of Prufrock. Prufrock relates himself to a pair of claws as opposed to a whole creature. Indeed, he sees himself as incomplete, as subterranean and unseen compared to others. Moreover, Eliot’s careful diction is wholly on display in these brief lines. He uses words like “ragged” and “scuttling” to convey Prufrock’s low self-esteem and isolation from society, and emphasizes the alliterative “s” sounds in the second line in order to mimic a scuttling sound.

Overall, Eliot was a master of manipulating poetic language to service the deeper meaning of his poems. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Eliot uses alliteration, synecdoche, and striking images of impotence in order to add further depth to the poem.

I pulled my textual evidence from The Bloodaxe Book of 20th Century Poetry.