Modern Poetry and T.S. Eliot's Prufrock

• Poetry uses figurative language, rhythm, and imagery to evoke emotions and ideas.
• Common literary devices include metaphor, simile, and alliteration.
• Characteristics of poetry include concise language, figurative language, sound patterns, and imagery.
• Modern poetry focuses on alienation, fragmentation, and modern life themes.
• Modern poetry was influenced by Imagism and Symbolism.

The Emergence of Modern Poetry

• The Imagist Movement (1909-1917) emphasized clarity, precision, and economy of language.
• World War I reflected horrors and disillusionment in poetry.
• T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' (1922) reshaped poetry as a landmark modernist poem.
• Modern poetry influenced contemporary poets and paved the way for free verse and experimental styles.

T. S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

• T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) was a major figure in modernist poetry.
• It contains themes of alienation, modernity, and psychological paralysis.
• The poem presents an inner monologue of J. Alfred Prufrock.
• The setting is a bleak, foggy city, symbolizing Prufrock’s indecision.
• Themes include social anxiety, paralysis, and modern disillusionment.
• The poem ends with a dreamlike vision of mermaids who do not sing for him.

Key Symbols and Literary Devices

• Fog as a cat: Represents hesitation and passivity.
• Measuring life in “coffee spoons” represents a mundane, calculated existence.
• “Do I dare disturb the universe?” shows Prufrock’s fear of action.
• Allusions reference Dante, Hamlet, and Michelangelo.
• Stream-of-consciousness captures Prufrock’s fragmented thoughts.

Conclusion

• Prufrock embodies the modern individual's struggle with self-doubt and alienation.
• The work is modernist due to Eliot’s use of symbolism and psychological depth.

Charles Baudelaire’s Correspondences

• Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) connects Romanticism and Modernism.
• Baudelaire's key work, Les Fleurs du Mal (1857), explores urban life, beauty, and decay.
• Baudelaire was influenced by the urban transformation of Paris and political shifts.

Modernist Innovations in Baudelaire’s Poetry

• Urban Consciousness focuses on city life and alienation.
• Aesthetic of Shock deals with dark, taboo subjects.
• Synaesthetic Perception merges sensory experiences.
• Symbolism uses images to suggest deeper meanings.
• Self-Reflexivity reflects on the nature of poetry and art.

Analysis of Correspondences

• Correspondences is a Petrarchan sonnet that explores the connection between the senses and metaphysical reality.
• Key Literary Devices include:
  • Metaphor: "Nature’s a temple" (nature as a sacred space).
  • Synesthesia: Merging of sound, scent, and sight (e.g., "perfumes cool as children’s flesh").
  • Symbolism: The natural world as coded language.
  • Personification: Scents that “sing” and columns that "give forth vague words."
• Baudelaire’s work set the foundation for Symbolism and influenced modern poetry.
• Baudelaire's use of sensory blending and urban themes shaped the modernist poetic tradition.