The title and the quotation from Dante contain the essence of the whole poem. "Love Song" suggests conventional sentiment to the reader, but this is immediately troubled by the curious name, "J. Alfred Prufrock," not the sort we connect with love songs but with a formal calling card. The secrecy of the initial "j." And not only secrecy, but pretentiousness, especially when followed by the good old Anglo-Saxon Alfred, so open and honest. And is …showed first 75 words of 491 total…

…showed last 75 words of 491 total…he try to join the real world, yeld to the id and accept the usual life, make his overtures to the woman and take the chance of being accepted? In brief, dare he sing the love song? He has looked at the normal world an dpart of his has been attracted to it, but in the end both parts of his nature find it unattainalbe, "and we drown." He escapes into aloofness and into self-love.