memorize The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock

Is it true that Elliot wrote this when he was only 11 years old? I had it memorized at one time, but have forgotten it over the years. Damn good poem. I also memorized Gunga Din, Charge of the Light Brigade, Casey at the Bat, and Jabberwocky (my favorite).

with a man afraid?
Be-sides;
it has mermaids!

(I’ll bother with the Dante quote in Italian last)

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 the 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 which rubs its back upon the windowpanes
The yellow smoke which rubs its muzzle on the windowpanes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains
Let fall onto its back the soot that falls from chimneys
Slipped by the terrace, took a sudden leap
and seeing that it was a soft October night
curled once about the house and fell asleep

And indeed there will be time
for the yellow smoke which slides along the street
Rubbing its back upon the windowpanes
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet
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
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 toast and tea

In the room the women come and go,
talking of Michelangelo. (5/6/08)

And indeed there will be time to wonder,
“Do I dare?” and “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair
(They will say “How his hair is growing thin”)
My morning coat, my collar mounted firmly to the chin
my necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin
(They will say “But how his arms and legs are thin”)
Do I dare disturb the universe?
In a minute, there is time
for decisions and revisions
which a minute will reverse.

And I have known them all already, known them all,
have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room
So how should I presume?

And I have known the eyes already, known them all,
eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase
and when I am formulated and sprawling on a pin
when I am pinned and wriggling on the wall
then how should I begin
to spit out all the butt ends of my days and ways
and how should I presume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all,
Arms that are braceleted, white and bare
(but in the lamplight downed with light brown hair)
Is it perfume from a dress that makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table or wrap about a shawl
And should I then presume?
And how should I begin?

Shall I say that I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
and seen the smoke that rises from the pipes
of lonely men in shirt sleeves,
leaning out of windows

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas

And the afternoon, the evening sleeps so peacefully
smoothed by long fingers
asleep…tired…or it malingers
Stretched out here beside you and me
Should I, after teas and cakes and ices,
have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
And though I’ve wept and fasted, wept and prayed
though I’ve seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter
I am no prophet, and here’s no great matter:
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker
and have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker
And, in short, I was afraid

And would it be worth it, after all
After all the cups, the marmalade, the tea
Among some porcelain, among some talk of you and me
To have bitten off the matter with a smile
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it towards an overwhelming question
To say, “I am Lazarus, come from the dead
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”
If one, settling a pillow by her head
should say, “That’s not it at all
That is not what I meant, at all.” (5/9/08)

And would it have been worth it, after all
Would it have been worth while?
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor
And this, and so much more—
It’s impossible to say just what I mean.
But, as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen
Would it have been worth while
if one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl
and turning toward the window
should say, “That’s not what I meant at all
That’s not it, at all”

No, I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
to swell a progress, start a scene or two,
advise the prince; no doubt, an easy fool
Deferential, glad to be of use
Politic, cautious, meticulous,
At times, almost ridiculous
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old…I grow old
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled

Should I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers and walk upon the beach
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each

I do not think that they will sing to me

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the waves white and black

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
Of sea-girls, wreathed in seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown. (5/21/08)

Helped me appreciate the beauty of the poem.

The Hippopotomus is better …..

My advice: read it many times, then memorize a stanza or two at a time, and rehearse cumulatively. I use acrostic memory cues: for instance, licked/lingered/let and slipped/sudden/soft in the third stanza. I had trouble remembering the order of the short phrases in “At times, indeed, almost ridiculous,” so I told myself A-I-A and reminded myself to switch the order of the two A’s in the next line (“Almost, at times…”).

What does this poem mean to you? Why do you want to memorize it?

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table.
Let us go along a certain half-deserted street,
The muttering retreats,
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster shells:
Streets that follow like a tediious argument
Of insiduous 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 women come and go,
Talking of Michelangelo.

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

I think that’s close. I’ll have to go get my copy and check.

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 around the house and fell asleep.

I am having problems remembering the line ‘of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels’.

I haven’t got very far with this yet.

Theres nothing like quoting a line from this masterpiece and having someone else finish it