In Sylvia Plath’s “The Arrival of the Bee Box” and T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” both talkers are burdened by great mental torment caused by their feeling of insignificance and impotence in the universe. They both fear and accept the chance of decease. while admiting life as its antonym. These are the two sides of the human experience. Through an internal soliloquy. Prufrock explores his feeling of uselessness and supplanting in society. while in “The Arrival of the Bee Box” . the talker is concerned with their impotence over their head. and at hand effects.
Throughout “The Arrival of the Bee Box” . the talker is concerned with their impotence to the noises in their head. The talker tends to belie or reason with themselves as shown by contrasting tone and sentiment. While the talker knows that “ ( the box ) is dangerous” they still “can’t maintain off from it” . The talker wishes to “be sweet God” . yet denies wanting power by proclaiming that “I am non a Caesar” . This bi-polar behavior is besides shown by inconsistent riming throughout the verse form. In the first stanza “lift” is rhymed with “midget” and “it” . yet in other stanzas no rhyming is found at all. Inconsistently throughout the verse form. internal rimes are found – “square as a chair” . “din in it” . “It is dark. dark” – which add to the staccato feel of the verse form.
The “din” of the ‘bees’ is emphasised abundantly by utilizing consonant rhyme and onomatopoeia – “It is the noise that appals me most of all. The unintelligible syllables” – that highlight the true noise and confusion in the speaker’s head. The noise of their head is highlighted by many metaphors that compare the sound to “furious Latin” . a “Roman mob” . “angrily clambering” . “a box of maniacs” and “unintelligible syllables” . The tone of the terminal of the piece seems to inquire for aid as the talker asks many inquiries such as “how hungry they are? ” . “if they would bury me? ” . “how can I allow them out? ” . and “why should they turn on me? ” . The talker expresses a desire to be in control. but accepts that they are undistinguished to the power of the noise in their head.
In T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” . Prufrock is concerned with his sense of his insignificance and supplanting in society. Eliot makes usage of metaphors – “measured out my life with java spoons” . “When I am pinned and writhing on the wall” – to demo that Prufrock compares life to java and feels like an insect on a wall. Contrastingly. Plath uses metaphors to underscore an exact sound. the noise of the bees in the speaker’s head. Eliot besides uses much more initial rhyme than Plath in his verse form – “Before the pickings of a toast and tea” . “fix you in a formulated phrase” . “When I am pinned and writhing on the wall” – whereas Plath about did non utilize any initial rhyme at all apart from “black on black” possibly since her piece sounds more like a narrative utilizing conventional words when compared to Eliot.
Both Eliot and Plath personify many objects in their pieces. Plath describes the bees as a “Roman mob” and Eliot compares the xanthous fog and fume to a cat as it “licks its tongue” . “leap ( s ) ” . “rubs its muzzle” and “curled… and fell asleep” . A alone literary device that Eliot uses is anaphora – “To have… To have… To roll… To say…” – which in this case describes all the things that Prufrock could hold done. but ne’er did.
The cardinal connecting load that both talkers are plagued with is a impotence to their Sword of Damocles ; the bees governing the speaker’s powerless head and Prufrock’s feeling of disaffection and inutility in the existent universe.
