The Poetical Work by Elliot - Annotated Bibliography Example

The Poetical Work by Elliot Introduction In the better part of 20th century and to date, the poetical work by Elliot continued to attract a lot of attention from both scholars and students interested in literature. One of his famous poetry works is The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. This poem showcases a narrator living an isolated love-life and incapable of expressing his inner-feelings. As a poet, Elliot makes Prufrock the main character in his poem to shed light on real-life experiences that a majority of people go through in the modern world. The physical setting made by the poem makes it the artwork unique since Eliot applies monologue within the reader’s mind. This style is highly unusual in real life and yet, it addresses real-life experiences. On the other hand, this poem is unique in that it was written between 1910 and 1915 when Elliot was still a relatively young man, and still held American nationality. It was written at a time when war raged in Europe, but seems to look forward, or sometimes, backwards, to a time when young men, Prufrock in particular, merely floated through life without much purpose. At that time in history, it seemed to a lot of people that the world had already been discovered and conquered, and it is only little which was left to do. There was no longer a need perhaps for strong, decisive men of action. The time setting of this piece of poetry is in the modern era, the period between the end of 9th century and the early years of the 20th century, when most people were trying to discover the impact of massive transformations taking place (such as improved communication, urban development etc.). Besides, it was during the same period that literature (poetry, music etc.) was exclusively totally used to communicate ideas. This poem, On the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, demonstrates how poetry is capable of incorporating linguistic devices such as monologue, epigraph, and intransitive verbs among others to communicate to the reader in particular. The following bibliography is a collection of sources that cover on the aforementioned literature aspects addressed by the Elliot’s poem. Annotated Bibliography Ames, William. On the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The Poet’s Forum, 2009. Web. 22 March 2012. < http://www.poetsforum.com/papers/222_2.html>. In this forum, Ames makes an exploratory study on ways in which Prufrock’s personality is indirectly described by Elliot in his poem. The author demonstrates his critique skills of Elliot’s poetry by quoting various passages. These passages depict a reader’s perception of the story being narrated in in unfamiliar environments. In this forum, comparison to other rich poetry work particularly Shakespeare and Marvell has also been focused in respect to the use of styles and stylistic devices such as monologue and epigraph so as to examine the inner thoughts of Prufrock. This article is useful in assisting readers to examine how Elliot has used unusual techniques that are both effective and subtle. Blasing, Mutlu K. American Poetry: The Rhetoric of Its Forms. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. Print. In his work, Blasing critically analyses the ways in which Elliot presents Prufrock’s body as a text which is supposed to be read long before its time. He achieves this through description of the poem’s physical setting that Elliot creates in the reader’s mind by using monologue. In addition, this work takes a closer look at the dialogue used in the Elliot’s poem, the illusion of Prufrock’s character to historical figures such as Lazarus, Hamlet and the demise of John the Baptist. The author also describes the improbable solutions that Prufrock initiates particularly earthly responsibilities and that the poet is more of a medium rather than a personality. The significance of this book to the readers is to reveal the immense literature and artwork that Elliot used. It also gives a lot more detailed explanation of how dramatic monologue and medium has been used by Elliot. Johnston, Ian. Lecture on T. S. Eliot's ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ and ‘The Waste Land’. Vancouver Island University, 16 Jan. 1997. Web. 22 March 2012. < http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/introser/eliot.htm>. In his work, Johnston explains the reasons on why he believes that The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is one of the greatest poetry works in the 2oth century. This is in respect to experimental poetic style used by Elliot. Even though it was new in the 20th century, Elliot argues out that, it is of the same caliber to that used by earlier writers such as Lake Poets and commands a lot of influence to date. The study demonstrates Elliot’s work that was characterized with complex styles of writing. This is accomplished by comparing it with how modern when contrasted with past realistic art such as Picasso. In addition, Johnston depicts the poem as a rich literary work by tracing it back to 1900. This period has been affiliated with a group of poets known as imaginists, who began brainstorming in literature. As result, Johnston explains that Elliot was influenced to write The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock through Pound’s mentorship and describes earlier poetry as ‘Wordsworthian Decadence’ by regarding it to be decorative and emotionally dishonest. Therefore, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a paradigm shift from ancient poetry and represents a more modern literary work that is more realistic in application of words, phraseology and realistic emotions. Therefore, this article is relevant since explains modern poetry language used by Elliot’s work as a presentation. Hamilton, Ian. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print. In this work, Hamilton generally wrote about Elliot by taking a closer look at his poetical contribution. This approach was more effective than focusing at a specific character in the poem. This enables the reader to get a broader view of Elliot as a modern poet. For instance, through Hamilton, the reader learns that Elliot had close connections with various creative individuals in art especially sculptors and artists, in addition to fellow poets. Consequently, this book assists in explaining Elliot’s academic life dissatisfaction in both America and in Oxford. A recap of Elliot’s early years of writing poetry has also been focused. This recap has been accompanied with a student and inspiration gotten from reading Symons and Elman’s ‘The Symbolist Movement in Literature.’ The significance of this book to the reader is that it aids in his/her understanding of Elliot in terms of what style of writing he has borrowed from other poets. McCoy, Kathleen and Harlan, Judith. English Literature from 1785. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Print. The authors in this book take a close look a closer at the historical setting of the poem (i.e. 20th century) especially immediate years after World War I rather than emphasizing on the literary styles in the poem. They achieve this by referring to number of passages in the poem in which the point out the irony of the poem’s title; although the title has the words ‘love song’, the irony is that is a love song from someone both unloved and apparently incapable of expressing love, anesthetized and so incapable as he is. This is work does not only concentrate on the content, but also explains in detail to the reader how the Elliot has written the poem in order to showcase the inner self of characters he has used. For instance, Prufrock is argued as neither a hero nor a truly tragic figure. The authors have also described the physical setting of Prufrocks narration as written by Elliot. Simultaneously, the setting contrasts Prufrock to Hamlet by referring to him as a modern man who is educated. In that case, this book provides a lot more on both evaluation of Elliot and the style used in the poem. Miller, Hillis J. Poets of Reality: Six Twentieth Century Writers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965. Print. In this book, Miller’s concern revolves around the psychological confusion and frustration of Prufrock as depicted by his inability to communicate his vision. This book describes Prufrock as a person living in an impenetrable bubble. Women are not able to interact with him, making the bubble act protect him from all realities of life. Consequently, Miller portrays Prufrock as an ‘unhappy relation to time and space’ whose problems (indecisive, strange, surreal and sphere of existence) can only be addressed by a psychoanalyst. The author infers to this by quoting a passage where the poet writes ‘time yet for hundred indecisions, for a hundred visions and revisions.’ Locked in his bubble of dreamy self-created subjectivity, much is planned and anticipated. However, this situation runs out of time, meaning that the poet is incapable of affecting the world around him. This is inter-related to Miller’s title ‘Poets of Reality’. Therefore, this book effectively evaluates Prufrock by arguing that he may be living in a dream world. At the same time, the poet reflects the reality of mediocre life separated from the drama of World War One and hence useful to the reader. Spurr, David. Conflicts in Consciousness: T. S. Eliot's Poetry and Criticism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. Print. In this book, Spurr explains that Elliot’s poem emphasizes more on the inability of the narrator to express himself on various situations by quoting passages where Prufrock says ‘It is impossible to say what I mean’. On the other hand, the author sheds a lot more light on linguistic devices used by Elliot in his Love Song poem; for instance the way in which Elliot uses many varieties of infinitives and transitive verbs in order to express the narrator’s strong urge to fight against the disorder he sees all around. The title used by Spurr, ‘Conflicts in Consciousness’ can be regarded as referring to not only the young man’s indecision, but also to the way in which Elliot swings the narrative back and forth in time. This makes it difficult for the reader to resolve whether an event is expected to happen or not. Sequentially, the situation could have repeated itself on more than one occasion. By analyzing the poem deeply, Spurr illustrates a time when the relatively new study of psychoanalysis became widely known alongside people such as Sigmund Freud. In this regard, Prufrock’s problems are a true representation of deep analysis of conflicts within the subconscious. Hence, this work comes in handy in examining the linguistic devices, infinitives and transitive verbs, used by Elliot. Conclusion Considering the sources above, it is evident that Elliot’s poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, has attracted a lot of attention from scholars and the public. The critique on the poem is remarkably different, with each putting emphasis on various poetry aspects is depending upon the interests and understanding of the writers. Lessons learned for review of the poem may be applicable in evaluating the inner conflict of oneself and relating it to modern ideas and psychological models. On the hand, scholars would greatly benefit from using and understanding how language and linguistic styles can be used in poetry. Simultaneously, they can be used to communicate and/or reveal real-life experiences such as frustration and disillusionment. For instance, Spurr comments on how Elliot uses language to demonstrate the narrator’s inner turmoil. In addition, the poem reveals a lot of information on how ‘imaginism’ inspired poets such as Elliot to initiate the way in which poetry was being used and written. In this regard, this poem is a true representation of the modern poetry, and it is applicable in various contexts. Read More