The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The phrase " There will be time," is repeated many times throughout the poem. In the context of the poem we can assume that time allows put things off. "There will be time, to say, "Do I Dare, Do I dare." Prufrock just keeps telling himself he will do it someday, and that way he can hold on to his ideals that he loves. Obviously Prufrock has some serious Performative Utterance gong on. And like in Hamlet he puts things off, and precedes to beat himself up over it. But when he says that, he's not Hamlet he means that he has never taken action at all. " to swell a progress, to start a scene or two." He's articulating the diference between himself and Hamlet. Although Hamlet took a while to kill Claudius, he did take some steps to put himself in the position too. So Prufrock is putting himself below that, saying I havent done any of that. " I grow old, I grow old." Prufrock is reminded that he is growing old, however, which contradicts his, "There will be time," statement. There are a few clues that support this." They will say: How his hair is growing thin." Gives us the connotation that Prufrock is grwoing old and balding. All of this gives the sense that Prufrock will live his life as a man of dreams, but never a man of action. "Till human voices wake us and we drown." What is he waking up from? His "etherization" of inaction? and when he drowns, is that when he realizes it was too late and wallows in guilt and regret? I think so.