T.S. Eliot - American or Britian?

Ever the literary infant, I was surprised to learn that even though Elliot is included in our review of British Literature, he was born and raised in America. True to form for me, I am quiet unsure what to make of his "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The poem starts "Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherised upon a table;" (1-3). This implies to me that we are going to take some type of journey in somewhat of an anesthetized state. As we go along this journey we encounter the usual experiences of a trip such as the "cheap hotels" (6) and "sawdust restaurants" (7). I suppose I see this portion of the poem as the journey that we take through life, and how sometimes the insignificant moments can gain significance in our memories.

I am no prophet - - and here's no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.

Surely, Eliot refers here to having lived the better days of life. The snicker of the eternal foot man indicates how he thinks God views his accomplishments as worthy only of a snicker. This causes him to fear death....or maybe causes him to fear living out the remainder of life, having little left to contribute.

A direct statement of how he views growing old, he says "I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled" (121). I can envision both of my grandfathers in their later years sitting with their pant legs rolled up....I never really thought about why they did this...did they actually shrink in height in their old age that their pants were too long? I don't know, but it is interesting to see the use of the phrase.

This poem left me feeling sad, and caused me to remind myself yet again of the necessity of enjoying each day, to only do the things that add meaning to life, and to set aside the trivial.