Prufrock's comments and questions regarding death are as
follows:
"'Do
I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?'
Time to turn back and descend the
stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin!']
My morning
coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but
asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are
thin!']
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute
there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will
reverse."
The above quote
(and questions) reflect the speaker's aging, his movement toward death, where he asks
if, at this late time of his life, he dares to change things, "disturb the
universe"—even while asserting that it only takes one minute to change everything,
hoping that it does not matter that it is so
"late."
"Though I have seen my head (grown
slightly bald) brought in upon a platter" is an allusion to the death of John
the Baptist.
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"And I have seen the eternal Footman
hold my coat, and snicker:" the "eternal Footman" is the personification of
death.
And
again...
"To
roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: 'I am Lazarus, come from
the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you
all'"
This portion refers to
the Biblical account of Lazarus' return from the dead, one of Christ's
miracles.
"I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to
be" refers to Shakespeare's tragic hero, Hamlet, who dies due to his failure
to act.
"I grow old . . . I grow old . . . / I shall wear the
bottoms of my trousers rolled" talks about the passage of time, moving ever
closer to death, especially "heard" in the repetition of "I grow
old."
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