Time in the lovesong of j alfred prufrock

Passage of Time in Prufrock is both specific and non-specific. In the poem there are discreet measurements of time are mentioned. If it is indeed all in Prufrock'smind, then the whole thing could be a thought process that lasts no longer than it takes to read over the poem, but if Prufrock is physically moving from place to place then it could span large gaps of time as he wanders the city, for instance. A significant line that repeats several times is, "In a minute there is time", lending support to the idea that the majority of the poem is in Prufrock's mind. All of his mental wanderings (though far and wide) are really only the thoughts of a few minutes. However, "In a minute there is time" comes directly after "Do I dare/ disturb the universe?", pronouncing that even a minute can have a great impact. Sixty seconds may be just long enough to "disturb the universe". If Prufrock ever decides to actually speak to the non-specified female "you", one minute might change the course of his life, which is exactly what he is hung up on.

                                                                                                                                                                     Prufrock also makes references to the whole of his life, with lines like "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons" and "Then how should I begin/ To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?" Prufrock's tendency to over-analyze everything causes him to consider each potential decision within the frame of his whole life, something that is certainly not conducive to rapid action. There also seems to be a sense of unlimited time, as Prufrock (who has a definite tendency of repeating himself, which is either a poetic device or a character habit) mentions several times, "There will be time". This unlimited sense of time near the beginning of the poem contrasts with references to death in later portions, especially the last line of the poem, "we have lingered...Til human voices wake us, and we drown". The work as a whole seems characterized by a sense of unlimited time in which to quibble over various possibilities, until death intervenes at the very end, a statement about the course of Prufrock's life as a whole.

The number of times that the word "time" is repeated in the poem obviously stresses its importance, as Prufrock feels that he is losing hold of time and he is growing old before he has really lived. He is a character who reflects constant indecision, because his own examination of his physical deterioriation such as his balding compels him with urgency, and yet then he hesitates because he feels that he still does have time before he is forced to act and do something decisive in his life:

There will be time to murder and create,

And time for all the works and days of hands

That lift and drop a question on your plate;

Time for you and time for me,

And tme yet for a hundred indecisions,

And for a hundred visions and revisions,

Before the taking of a toast and tea.

Having "time" means that Prufrock is able to hold back from commitment and making any life-changing decisions that will impact his life and prevent a "hundred visions and revisions." Prufrock is well aware that there is only so much "time" before Death comes for him, but in the poem he is balancing the need to act with the fear of what he will be committing himself to if he does make this momentous decision, which will lead him into an existence defined by "sunsets and teacups and sprinkled streets." The opportunities for indecision, as much as he likes it, are limited at the end of the day, and if he waits too long, the vision he has of himself growing "old" and wearing "the bottom of my trousers rolled" will become a reality as he will age and die alone.