The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot
             This poem successfully utilizes many literary techniques such as rhyme scheme, imagery, perspective, theme, sound, voice, repetition, and personification. The poem has a first person perspective and uses imagery, sound, and voice to help the reader understand who the man is that is speaking and how his perspective shapes the images and themes within the poem.
             The voice and tone of the poem suggest that the man is an older gentleman of upper class standing that is also well, educated and religious. It also suggests that he is a very self-conscious person. This is made obvious in the poem as the man describes himself. He describes his attire as rich, modest, and simple in line 43. He describes himself as balding and growing old in lines 40 and 122. These descriptions are obvious in the text, but there are also less obvious signs in the text that he is indeed self-conscious, religious, and well educated. He makes signals to his religious affiliation as he continually makes biblical references. The most obvious reference is in stanza four where he parallels his experience preparing for the party with the Ecclesiastes chapter. In addition to the bible it is obvious that he is well read because he makes references to other famous works such as To his Coy Mistress and Dante's Inferno. The use of sound in this poem also tells us that he is not a narrator, but a man who is in the act of speaking to a woman, as though the reader were her. He asks questions to her such as "How should I begin (line 69)? and "Do I dare disturb the universe (lines 45-46)?" In addition he opens the poem by saying "...you and I." It is obvious that this is not a story being told after the event, but instead an account of the speaker's thoughts as he engages the woman.
             Eliot manages to create such a strong speaker by reinforcing his monologue with strong adje...