The Most Influential Poem of the 20th Century

In Woody Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris,” writer Gil Pender (played by Owen Wilson) desperately wants to live in Paris of the 1920s, the city and time of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Cole Porter and Josephine Baker. And he gets his wish, if only for a few hours each night at midnight. In one scene, he climbs into a taxi and finds T.S. Eliot, and he says that “Prufrock” is like his mantra, but where he comes from in Hollywood, people measure out their lives in coke spoons, not coffee spoons. 

If you don’t know the poem, you miss the reference. In the poem, Eliot wrote, “I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.” 

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” was published in Poetry Magazine in 1915, when Eliot was all of 27, and it is still considered by many critics and scholars to be the most influential poem of the 20^th century. It’s difficult to imagine any poem today having the kind of impact that “Prufrock” did. Published by Poetry with the urging of Ezra Pound, the poem played a major role in shaping and defining Modernism in poetry and literature generally. 

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table… 

The poem is longish, unfolding a series of scenes that seem unrelated. Scholars still argue about the subject and meaning of the poem, but it is clearly a poem about the disconnectedness of modern society and man’s disconnected place within that society. In that sense, it is as contemporary today as it was in 1915. 

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… 

Eliot uses a combination of rhyme, free verse and repetition. The reader happens upon the rhyme but is soon swept away from it, only to return suddenly to it. There’s nothing predictable here, no planet in its orbit or star in its galaxy. But there are delightful lines, including some of the most famous in 20^th century poetry: 

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

When I was in high school, Eliot’s poetry always posed a problem – should it be taught in American literature (junior year) or English literature (senior year)? My school solved the problem by teaching Eliot in both years. In American literature, we learned “The Hollow Men” – This is the way the world ends, / Not with a bang but a whimper. In senior year, it was “Prufrock” and the poems published as Four Quartets. (I still have the paperback edition of Four Quartets published for 95 cents in 1968; underlined in many places with margin notes in my own handwriting.) 

“Prufrock” was written more than two decades before Eliot embraced the Christian faith. And yet the sense of a broken world and broken people permeate it. In an odd way, to read it now is to see the poem anticipating the intellectual and spiritual frame of mind of the poet that would eventually lead the poet to faith. 

Eliot might smile at that. Despite all of the scholarly hubbub about the themes and meanings of his poems, all he himself said was that he simply wanted people to read his poetry. 

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

   Shall 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...

There are various recordings of Eliot reading the poem, and you can find these at YouTube, but one of the best I’ve come across is the reading by Spoken Verse, which allows you to follow the words as they are read.

  

Related Resources: 

Eliot’s biography at The Poetry Foundation. 

The text of the poem at Poets.org. 

Background on the poem from Wikipedia.

Comments

[Megan Willome]

Thanks so much for reminding me of this poem that I have not read since college. Seeing "Midnight in Paris" is getting me to read all sorts of things I've missed or forgotten, most recently, Gertrude Stein's "The Autobiography of Alice Toklas."

[Maureen E. Doallas]

Excellent post, Glynn.

It's a mark of genius that such a poem was written at so young an age.

I saw "Midnight in Paris" several weeks ago. It's one of the most charming and delightful of Allen's movies, and the actors selected just made those roles. My husband and I later talked quite a bit about it. Part of why it's so engaging is the recognition of all the literary, art, and other references. One of the scenes with the character Dali yammering on and Gil Pender's response makes me laugh every time I think of it.

[Jeanne Damoff]

"I still have the paperback edition of Four Quartets published for 95 cents in 1968; underlined in many places with margin notes in my own handwriting."

You and our son Luke are kindred. He has memorized most of the Four Quartets and used to carry his well-marked copy everywhere, until somewhere along life's path, he lost it and has never been able to track it down. For him, the loss was almost like the death of a friend. Not that he can't easily get another copy, but all the notes -- the versions of himself he met in those pages -- are now gone.

Thanks for an excellent post, Glynn. I always appreciate your thorough research and insights. And now I need to see "Midnight in Paris" and no doubt add to my long list of must-reads.

[Cheryl Smith]

Thanks for the lesson, the words and the video. I'm learning much from you!

[Heather]

I have yet to see this movie, but it sounds enjoyable.

Eliot is one tough cookie, and I have begun to read him only in the past couple of years, so I appreciate this post.

[nance]

it is a wonder how one is suddenly connected to everything when connected with God.
to see with one's heart that there is given the gift of ultimate connection, anywhere, anytime, anything. though we don't always feel it or see it, look for it, or step out toward it.

not all may be connected with me, but, in Christ, in God, i am connected with all.

good poetry.
good post.

[Marilyn Yocum]

Enjoyed this post, the historical background and even the reminder about the character in Woody Allen's movie! Thank you for the brain food today. I'm sure I will be digging out some Eliot and rewatching the movie.

[Mike Dodaro]

Nice post, Glynn. Like you, I studied this poem more than forty years ago. It never goes away, and it always moves me when it comes back around.

[Mama Zen]

Marvelous post. Eliot was the first poet that I loved.