Statue of Tachibana Hidehisa 2025.12.13 (Sat) - 21 (Sun)

In the room, women come and go, talking about Michelangelo

These women appear in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." It was a scene that T.S. Eliot showed Prufrock without any warning. Prufrock stumbled upon those two lines, but never approached the women Eliot had prepared for him. Prufrock never even looked directly at the women. It was Eliot who saw them. The moment Eliot wrote, the room surrounded Eliot, and perhaps Prufrock, passing by, merely heard their voices, glancing askew. Michelangelo? Michelangelo, Michelangelo! But Prufrock hurried on, still keeping his head tilted. He was simply a coward. Prufrock had no future, and Eliot, who wrote it, couldn't see that far either. It was Eliot who "went back and forth."
"(Women will say, 'His arms and legs are so skinny!')"
"The Love Song of Prufrock" is composed of his monologue. Although it is a love song, there is no significant other mentioned.
Whenever I read this poem, I am always drawn to the "women" who suddenly appear and disappear without any context.
Prufrock particularly disliked snobbish company, but the truth was he was afraid of people, afraid of being swallowed up.
"Women" is a question.
No matter how hard the man pursues the uncertain question, the poem ends in 131 lines. Prufrock doesn't know this. He remains unaware and at a loss. The women have long since forgotten about Michelangelo. Michelangelo is not the problem.
You think you are chasing a question, but before you know it, the question is chasing you and cornering you.
I put the poetry collection back.
I am sitting in the room.