The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

In this poem it seems kind of weird that some of the lines ryme and others don't. There is not any constant form and the language and thoughts seem very varied. The lines that I like are the couplet "In the room women come and go Talking of Michelangelo". This couplet is actually repeated two times through out the poem. I think they are good lines that help the reader unsterstand more of what the poem is about. Knowing this, one would think that he was at some fancy party. First, I know it is a party because it talks about all of the women and how the come and go. Then, I know it is fancy or upscale becuase the speaker talks about Michelangelo. (Only an educated person would know that he was a Renaissance man. A Renaissance man is a very well rounded gentleman who cared about everything from the arts and huimanities to philosophy.) The speaker is trying to say that women don't care about him, they only want that perfect guy. This couplet expesses the low self esteem of the speaker and how he doesn't think he is good enough. Maybe he wanted this part of the poem to stand out and that is why he made it rhyme and repeated twice.

Prufrock is on the outside as he talks about the women who are on the inside. He is 'locked' out on the streets with the gross restaurants and one night hotels and could only dream of being with those women. This is the life that Prufrock lives and he is just a witness to all of these women that he sees. The women are at some exclusive place that Prufrock feels he isn't worthy enough to be there too. He is past his time and therefore has been locked out from most things. Getting older is hard for him to deal with and he describes everything he does as pitiful in comparison to others. Maybe at one point he did know the women that came and went, but know he is down and out becuase he has passed his prime.