Portrait of a Lady

“Conversation Galante” by T. S. Eliot (1909)

This early poem is a dialogue between a man and a woman. The man keeps deflecting the woman with elaborate intellectual digressions that do not have much substance. When she grows frustrated, the man replies with distinct hostility. The poem is modeled on Jules LaForgue’s “Autre Complainte de Lord Pierrot,” which also influenced “Portrait of a Lady.” In all three poems, a man is unable or unwilling to communicate with a woman, although the methods they choose to thwart it are very different.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot (1915)

Eliot’s most famous poem is a dramatic monologue spoken by Prufrock, a middle-aged man who lives a superficial, meaningless existence that he is powerless to change, even though he would like to do so. His timidity and indecisiveness prevent him from making any progress. He knows how ineffectual he is and speaks in a self-deprecating way. As in “Portrait of a Lady,” the speaker is unable to fit smoothly into social situations, fully express his ideas, or attain any authenticity when presenting himself to the world.

“A Dedication to My Wife” by T.