wondered and he desired other people. We are able to understand why Eliot chooses such imagery. Eliot was born in the big city of St. Louis. This became Eliots source for urban imagery. His social observations of the citys smog, grubbiness, and cheapness has been one of his main attractions. This urban atmosphere has been the main imagery in Eliots work, Prufrock. These images have been staggered through out the poem to give the reader an impression of the filthy city that Prufrock wonders through. Eliot writes in lines two and three of the poem describing the scenery. When he writes, When the evening is spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table(lines 2-3). Here he describes an evening scene, which symbolizes the end of life. Eliot uses the term etherized, which comes from the anesthetic ether. These words create a negative image of the evening, being dead. Eliot gives this negative introduction to give the mood of the poem. These words go beyond that. Eliot has gone through a very negative life, therefore, he projects his feelings about the city through his poetry; this is why we see so much negative imagery within his work.Eliot also describes the scenery of Prufrock as having certain half-deserted streets(line 4), and describes scenes Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels/ And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells(lines 6-7). These descriptions show us the scenery that Prufrock wonders through, but it also ties in with Eliots attraction to negative city imagery.The social world of Prufrock is perceived as images which inhabit his mind(47). What Scofield is saying, is that Eliot builds scenery from observations that collect in his mind. But Eliot does not just give scenery; he also gives an atmosphere. In lines fifteen and sixteen of Prufrock, Eliot describes the air that Prufrock breathes in the poem as being contaminated with gases and smoke. It says:The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-p...
