Poem III
The October night comes down; returning as beforeExcept for a slight sensation of being ill at easeI mount the stairs and turn the handle of the doorAnd feel as if I had mounted on my hands and knees.
“And so you are going abroad; and when do you return?But that’s a useless question.You hardly know when you are coming back,You will find so much to learn.”My smile falls heavily among the bric-à-brac.
“Perhaps you can write to me.”My self-possession flares up for a second;This is as I had reckoned.“I have been wondering frequently of late(But our beginnings never know our ends!)Why we have not developed into friends.”I feel like one who smiles, and turning shall remarkSuddenly, his expression in a glass.My self-possession gutters; we are really in the dark.
“For everybody said so, all our friends,They all were sure our feelings would relateSo closely! I myself can hardly understand.We must leave it now to fate.You will write, at any rate.Perhaps it is not too late,I shall sit here, serving tea to friends.”
And I must borrow every changingfind expression ... dance, danceLike a dancing bear,Cry like a parrot, chatter like an ape.Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance--
Well! and what if she should die some afternoon,Afternoon grey and smoky, evening yellow and rose;Should die and leave me sitting pen in handWith the smoke coming down above the housetops;Doubtful, for quite a whileNot knowing what to feel or if I understandOr whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon ...Would she not have the advantage, after all?This music is successful with a “dying fall”Now that we talk of dying--And should I have the right to smile?
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem III is in the public domain. This text is taken from Prufrock and Other Observations, Project Gutenberg ebook #1459; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: T. S. Eliot, Poem III, in Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1459, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/eliot-prufrock/poem-iii.html, id L04654.
Form and metre
Poem III is 41 lines in 6 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB beforeA · easeB · doorA · kneesB
- 2 AABAB returnA · questionA · backB · learnA · bracB
- 3 -AA-BBC-C me · secondA · reckonedA · late · endsB · friendsB · remarkC · glass · darkC
- 4 AB-BBBA friendsA · relateB · understand · fateB · rateB · lateB · friendsA
- 5 -A--A changing · danceA · bear · ape · tranceA
- 6 A-B-CBADD-C afternoonA · rose · handB · housetops · whileC · understandB · soonA · allD · fallD · dying · smileC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The October night comes down; returning as before | 13 | ·˘/˘···˘/˘··· |
| Except for a slight sensation of being ill at ease | 13 | ·····˘/˘·/··· |
| I mount the stairs and turn the handle of the door | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| And feel as if I had mounted on my hands and knees. | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| “And so you are going abroad; and when do you return? | 13 | ····/˘/····˘/ |
| But that’s a useless question. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| You hardly know when you are coming back, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| You will find so much to learn.” | 7 | ······· |
| My smile falls heavily among the bric-à-brac. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| “Perhaps you can write to me.” | 7 | ˘/····· |
| My self-possession flares up for a second; | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| This is as I had reckoned. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “I have been wondering frequently of late | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| (But our beginnings never know our ends!) | 10 | ·/˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Why we have not developed into friends.” | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| I feel like one who smiles, and turning shall remark | 12 | ·······/˘·˘/ |
| Suddenly, his expression in a glass. | 10 | /˘˘·˘/˘··· |
| My self-possession gutters; we are really in the dark. | 14 | ··˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| “For everybody said so, all our friends, | 10 | ·/˘·˘···/· |
| They all were sure our feelings would relate | 10 | ····//˘·˘/ |
| So closely! I myself can hardly understand. | 12 | ·/˘··/·/˘·˘/ |
| We must leave it now to fate. | 7 | ······· |
| You will write, at any rate. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Perhaps it is not too late, | 7 | ˘/····· |
| I shall sit here, serving tea to friends.” | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And I must borrow every changing | 10 | ···/·/˘˘/˘ |
| find expression ... dance, dance | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| Like a dancing bear, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Cry like a parrot, chatter like an ape. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance-- | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| Well! and what if she should die some afternoon, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Afternoon grey and smoky, evening yellow and rose; | 13 | ·˘/··/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Should die and leave me sitting pen in hand | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With the smoke coming down above the housetops; | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Doubtful, for quite a while | 6 | /˘···· |
| Not knowing what to feel or if I understand | 11 | ·/·······˘/ |
| Or whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon ... | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| Would she not have the advantage, after all? | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| This music is successful with a “dying fall” | 12 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘· |
| Now that we talk of dying-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And should I have the right to smile? | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.