Question

In “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T. S. Eliot deliberately uses ____________ language.
modern
Shakespearean
Petrarchan
classical

I'm leaning towards classical. I know Petrarchan is some sort of rhyming technique but not sure. Can someone help me?

Answer 1

For reference, here's a little bit of the poem.


Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question….
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

Answer 2

i guess it depend on what you understand as 'classical'
but i know for sure there are some allusions to shakespeare in the poem

Answer 3

@fenfen doesn't shakespeare language include more words like "thou, art, speaketh" ? And what do you mean by shakespeare allusions?

Answer 4

@e.mccormick do you think you could help me?

Answer 5

Petrarchian language:
http://teacherweb.com/FL/DrMichaelMKropSeniorHighSchool/JFishbein9thGradeHonorsEnglish/petrarch.DOC

Shakespearian:
http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/performance/lessonplan.html

Answer 6

Classical:
http://www.princeton.edu/~clip/

Answer 7

Hmmm... might need a better classical reference, since you need to know some languages for that one!

Answer 8

Based on the first two links, that means Shakespearean and Petrarchan is canceled out as an option, right?

Answer 9

Dunno... I am more looking for references than anything else at the moment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_language

Answer 10

Modern is basically living languages. So for it to be Classical it would need to be either in one of those or at least follow the grammar and form of them. For modern it needs to be something that someone in the world would get today without a huge load of study.

Answer 11

I went to the wiki page and went to classical English, then old English, and now I'm on the old English literature page. It seems to match.... I think... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_literature#Named_poets

Answer 12

I know it's not modern and I'm pretty sure its not Shakespearean.. The example poem in the Petrarchan link you sent me sounds similar to the classical example on wiki. I can't decide which is best.

Answer 13

I agree that those first two links eliminate Shakespearean and Petrarchan. It is not jumbled or odd enough for Shakespeare or exaggerated enough for Petrarch.

Answer 14

It's not exaggerated?

Answer 15

When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,

Pretty tame compared to what that paper on Petrarch showed:
and blessed be the first sweet suffering
that I felt in being conjoined with Love,
and the bow, and the shafts with which I was pierced,
and the wounds that run to the depths of my heart.

The second part, with the fog, does add some traits, but not really personification.

Answer 16

Nothing seemed idealized, which was another major trait listed for Petrarch.

Answer 17

Oh ok. I read somewhere that the author references Shakespeare sometimes, but that's not what the question is asking, right?

Answer 18

Right. It is asking about the type of language. And even a modern adaption of Shakespearean form would be pretty obvious. It would have a certain cadence and twist of phrase. He seemed to grabbe the oddest things and jam them together. Or, he would get very insulting and base:

[You] live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love ove the nasty sty!
Taken from: Hamlet

Peace, ye fat guts!
Taken from: Henry IV, part I

Answer 19

Oh that makes sense! Thanks! So classical is the best choice?

Answer 20

I would not pick classical, but that is for what I know about T. S. Eliot.

Answer 21

Which would you pick?

Answer 22

Take a look at what they talk about on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Love_Song_of_J._Alfred_Prufrock

While not always the greatest source, look for what type of poet Elliot was seen as. Now, I am not saying this makes it right. My knowing what he was seen as my be coloring my judgment.

Answer 23

He is an influential, American/British poet.

Answer 24

Yes, but seen as one of the first of a new breed of poets. Shaped partially by this man:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Pound

Answer 25

So he was a modern poet.

Answer 26

I always get confused by questions like these because the school doesn't explain anything.

Answer 27

Yes. Which makes me lean that way... but like I said, why I know might be making me see something that is not all there. It is down to classical and modern, and of the two I would choose modern, but because of what I know.

Answer 28

They need to give solid examples so that people can get this stuff... then again, the only people that need to know all this are literature majors. I can see why anyone else would struggle with it!

Answer 29

I can see what you mean, and you're probably right. But yeah, they never explain anything! They just kind of expect you to know. I never read anything about the type of poet he was.