What's His Problem?

“And indeed there will be time/ To wonder, “Do I dare?” and “Do I dare?”” This is one of my favorite lines in the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. This line also summarizes the basic ideas of the poem. J. Alfred Prufrock, the narrator of the poem, seemed to be thinking of something throughout the whole poem. He has something he want to do, but is hesitant about. He never tells the reader what exactly he is so worried about. He mentions the problem here and there in the poem, but whenever it seems as though he is going to tell, he changes the subject, as though he is too embarrassed to admit what he thinks. His problems might have something to do about the women in the room that “come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo”, because he seems to be very self-conscious, always wondering what the women think of him. “(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!)” This can be pretty understandable, as Prufrock is being described as a relatively old man, probably without much experience with women. He keeps asking himself  “How should I presume?” He does not know how to act  get his goal.

Poetry's Social Function

I have always appreciated poetry, but thought of it as more of an entertainment than a necessity. To me, poetry is an art in the form of language, a byproduct of literature, a beautiful decoration. It was something that was knowledgeable and appealing, but not essential. However, on seeing T.S. Elliot’s assertion, the realization hit me. I had never thought deep enough to realize the importance of the poetry. Poetry, with its rhythms and rhymes, plays a crucial role in the preservation of language and culture. Poetry can be seen as the more sophisticated level of literature. It is also a representation of the culture. Therefore, without advancements in poetry, literature would slowly be drowned out. Without innovative poets, literature from a certain culture can eventually be lost in the midst of more dominant societies.

Poetry also has an impact on history. Poetry transforms and advances with time. From Shakespeare’s fourteen-line sonnet to Whalt Whitman’s free verse and to Ezra Pound’s Imagism, rules and subject matters of poetry has changed greatly. These changes in poetry reflect the ideas of the period. Poetry is more than literature. It is a mix of styles, ideas, history and culture presented in the form of art.

War and Economics

The start of the 20^th century was marked by the first of the greatest wars in human history, World War I. Then it was promptly followed by the Great Depression that left many Americans and others around the world without a home. Now, at the turn of a new century, the 21^st century, we are again faced with economic downfalls, and the revolts and revolutions of many African nations for Democracy. Although the economic and political crisis in current years is of a much smaller magnitude, it cannot be denied that we are facing similar problems as what we did one hundred years ago. Do these things happen in a cycle? The answer to this problem is fairly evident. It is not possible to have positive progress all the time. After a period of growth, there will always be a time of downfall. Humans get lazy when life becomes too easy for them. New views towards the world emerge, so there will be conflicts between the old and the new, and this causes disagreements. Disputes, or even wars, are not necessarily a bad thing. After the controversy ends, and it always does, there will be new solutions. New solutions signifies progress.

No Ideas but in Things

 There should not be any limitations on the subjects of poetry. Poetry is an expression of thought and feelings. We think about all kinds of things and have varied feelings; consequently poetry should not be confined to any type of topics. I do not believe that there is any topic that is more “poetic” than the other. A good writer can create a fabulous poem out of something that seems ordinary, just like a good painter can draw a painting of a dilapidated house and make it look incredible.

The imagists were a group of poets that presented poems in a clear, sharp and concise fashion. Poets of this movement, which first emerged in the beginning of the 20^th century strive towards clarity by using simple, but exact words. Every word they choose to use is functional in creating the image the poets’ desired to showcase. These imagists avoid flowery and decorative words, because they are deemed as “useless”. Another characteristic of Imagism is the choice of subject matters. They focus on simple things that did not seem “poem-worthy” to the other poets at the time. However, by describing these subjects through lucid imagery, Imagists believes they have pinpointed on the essence of poetry.

Historical Influences

I am familiar with most of the major events in this timeline. One event that was new to me was the Spanish Civil War. This is probably because I have never learned much about Spanish history.  Other than that, I knew briefly about the other political events. The most influential event during the time period was undoubtedly World War One and World War Two because it affected the whole world. Country borders were changed as a result of the wars and countries took sides and had allied countries and enemy countries. One other important event was the Great Depression. During this time, the stock market crashed and banks closed down, leaving a large population of Americans jobless and homeless.

Several of the literary events were new to me. I have heard of Ezra Pound before, but did not know what he did. After looking at the timeline, and did a bit of research, I learned that he developed a writing style called imagism, that I see pretty often in writings today. One of the books that I am interested in reading is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is said to be a representational book about the Jazz age.

Social Influences – Entertainment

Entertainments from the past and entertainments now have changed. This is largely due to the advancements in technology.  Back before radios were invented, entertainment might consist of reading a book or playing card games. Then, in the 1920 when the radios were invented, crowds rushed to buy this new machine that could broadcast sound. Families would gather around a radio and listen to shows, news or songs. Then came the movies. The very first movies were black and white motion pictures without any sound. Music was performed while the movie played.  As technology improved, color and sound was added to the movie to get the movies we watch nowadays. Then there was the television and the video games. With the television, news and shows were sent right to each family. Another groundbreaking advancement is the computer and the Internet. Now, with everyone in the world connected to the Internet, there is an explosion of entertainment created ranging from video games to video sharing to social networking websites. Some people today can just by a computer for hours. With so much entertainment available to us, people seem to lack focus. They sometimes put too much time entertainment and forget about work.