The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Critique • Quotes
Prufrock and Other Observations first edition, 1917First publication
1915
Literature form
Poem
Writing language
English
Author's country
England
Length
132 lines, approx. 1,000 words
Notable lines
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table....
— First lines
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.
I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed and brown
Till human voices wake us and we drown.
— Last lines
Critique • Quotes
