Time and Place
In a moment of utter bewilderment and confusion, T.S. Eliot writes:
The experience of a poem is the experience both of a moment and of a lifetime. It is very much like our intenser experiences of other human beings. There is a first, or an early moment which is unique, of shock and surprise, even of terror…a moment which can never be forgotten, but which is never repeated integrally and yet which would become destitute of significance if it did not survive in a larger whole of experience; which survives inside a deeper and calmer feeling… (Eliot xii)
For Eliot, poetry was cosmic. Eliot immersed himself in literature, art, and reading for the express purpose of creating the perfect poem. Facing a metaphorical Mount Everest, without the proper tools necessary to complete such an arduous journey, Eliot did what people often do; he looked to a spiritual text for guidance: for some inkling that he was not completely overwhelmed. He sought out supposedly the wisest person who ever lived – King Solomon; and in doing so, Eliot took what is today now a trite cliché, “time and place”, and created beauty - The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
One is immediately struck by the ingeniousness of this approach. Just as there is a time and place for everything, Solomon also recognizes the importance of duality: he writes, “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight. (Proverbs 11:1) Although we cannot exactly be sure what specifically compelled Eliot to write The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, one would think we can infer Eliot was distraught and overcome with emotions at the very least. He writes, “There will be time, there will be time/ To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;/ There will be time to murder and create”. Let us compare this to Solomon who writes: “A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up. (Ecclesiastes 3:3)
Those two passages appear to be two sides of the same coin. As Eliot contemplates love, which in its purest form is an act of creation – when people make love and create life through the birth of a child, Eliot is simultaneously vexed by thoughts of despair, even murderous thoughts. One wonders if this is the false abomination Solomon was referring to. Can life be separated from death? Should love and hate equally coexist? What really is the difference between murder and creation when they seem to be so inextricably linked? For instance, in Eliot’s time, it was very common for women to die in childbirth. So the birth of a child literally meant the death of the mother. Nothing in life is free. Everything has a price – a life for a life. That cost is paid in blood: the blood of the mother for her blood, her seed, her child.
It seems fitting that Eliot chose to appropriate the writings of Solomon for his purposes. Solomon was the greatest mind of his time. Kings and queens traveled great distances to learn from him, to hear his wisdom, to simply spend time with his greatness. Conversely, Eliot is one of American’s greatest minds. Professors and students travel great distances and spend much time in order to read the work of Eliot. Just as there is a time to run, a time to work, a time to sleep, there is also a time simply for thinking and reflection. Fortunately, the work of Eliot, and specifically The Love Song of J. Alfred provides us with this opportunity.
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