ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The quote ‘’I have measured out my life in coffee spoons” is about growing old and realizing that you have spent the majority of your life performing mundane tasks. Prufrock is trying to determine what meaning his life had, now that it is nearing the end.

Detailed explanation-2: -It was first published in Poetry magazine in June 1915, and later collected in Eliot’s first book, Prufrock and other Observations (1917). The poem, written in 1911, is framed as a dramatic monologue.

Detailed explanation-3: -The words, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons, ” is indicative of Prufrock thinking that he has already lived out the root meaning of measure from the Online Etymological Dictionary, which describes the term as the “limited extent” (51).

Detailed explanation-4: -One of the poem’s central themes is social anxiety and how it affects Prufrock’s ability to interact with those around him. This line, like the others in the tea scene, is indicative of the discomfort Prufrock feels in social situations and his belief that he needs to put on a “face” or mask in order to fit in.