When the evening is spread out against the sky/ like a patient etherized upon a table: the lines appeared in Eliot's
AThe West Land
BThe Hollow Men
CAsh Wednessday
DThe Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Answer:
D. The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Read Explanation:
- The lines 'When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table' are the opening lines of T.S. Eliot's seminal modernist poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
- This poem was first published in June 1915 in the literary magazine Poetry.
- It is considered one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a cornerstone of modernist literature.
- The poem explores themes of alienation, paralysis, and the fragmentation of modern consciousness through the internal monologue of its titular character, Prufrock.
- Prufrock is depicted as an indecisive and insecure man, overwhelmed by the complexities and anxieties of modern urban life.
- The striking simile in the opening lines sets a tone of unease, paralysis, and detachment, immediately establishing the poem's atmosphere.
- T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) was an American-born British poet, essayist, publisher, and literary critic. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is often studied in competitive exams for its linguistic innovation, psychological depth, and its representation of the modernist sensibility.
- The poem's structure, which mimics the associative and fragmented nature of thought, is a key element of its modernist style.