Oh boy another work by T.S. Eliot. These things are deep! I know we talked about the importance of the epigraph in class, but I just don’t get it. Maybe my translation is wrong?
“If I thought my answer were given
to anyone who would ever return to the world
this flame would stand still without moving any further.
But since never from this abyss has anyone ever returned alive; if what I hear is true
without fear of infamy I answer you.”
So, in short, what I think The Love Song is about is an insecure middle-aged man trying to work up the courage to talk to a woman or women and the myriad and jumble of thoughts that go on while he is thinking of how to approach them, what he is going to say, etc. The man continuously second-guesses himself. For instance, in lines 40-44, the man thinks to himself about his bald spot and dress and speculates that the women will make fun of his thinning hair and thin arms and legs. Again the man’s lack of confidence is shown in the paragraph that starts at line 55. The man speaks of “the eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase…” He obviously thinks the women have already judged him before he’s even spoken to them. The man admires the women’s beauty and smell in the paragraph that starts at line 63, and continues to go back and forth debating when and if he should talk with the women. Should he just be aggressive? Should he wait until after tea? Will it be worth it? All the man can think about is what can go wrong and not about any sort of positive outcome. At one point (paragraph beginning at line 111), the man begins to list some of his good qualities, but ultimately second-guesses himself again, saying he is “…ridiculous…” and “…the Fool.”
I think the paragraph that starts at line 122 really highlights the fact Eliot is playing on the sporadic nature of the human thought process. The man thinks, “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?” His mind jumps from one thing to another in a random manner.
I think the first couple of paragraphs simply set up the mood and setting. I’m not entirely sure about the first paragraph, but I think it presents a question to which Eliot is seemingly going to answer in the poem. What is the significance of the recurring lines, “In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo?” The next paragraph aids in the setting. In my mind, it painted a foggy town during twilight in October.
One of my favorite lines in the poem is line 27. “To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet…” I think Eliot is speaking about how we always put up this initial front or guard to people when we meet them instead of just being ourselves.
I found myself a bit lost at the end. I couldn’t quite comprehend what Eliot was trying to say when he was finishing the poem. My best guess is that thoughts/imagination cease to exist when we are interrupted and snapped back to reality. Any ideas?
I think that at the end he did kind of come back to reality, but he also maybe realizes that he is never going to be with the woman that he loves. In many instances he seems to point out his faults and makes it clear that he doesn't feel worthy of the woman that he loves. Maybe my interpretation can help clear some things out!
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