A gentleman and a scholar. Sometimes I think Prufrock is the only poem I know. I hate that it become more and more applicable over the years. Do I dare to eat a peach?
Giving holidays a bad name, or not?
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If you can make one heap of all your peach pits,
And risk it on one turn of peach and toss,
And lose, and start again with your peach-eating,
And say "that's peachy" about your loss ...
Well, I blame it on my lazy eye when I do that.
Or I suppose it could be my over achieving eye?
Well-played my learned friend! You do know more than one poem!
“If you can make one heap of all your winnings, and risk it in one turn of pitch-and-toss and lose and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss.” Kipling
TS Eliot is actually making an allusion to another poem as I recall in that do I dare to eat a peach line!
James and the Giant?
I am beyond my ken. I could not find an earlier poetic reference to eating a peach.
It is an interesting line. What did TS Elliot mean exactly? Some suggest Mr. Prufrock had dentures and was afraid of being embarrassed if his dentures malfunctioned as he bit into a peach. Apple would seem like the better fruit if that were the intended meaning. In the specific context he does seem to be talking about matters of appearance that make him seem old. Parting the hair behind. Wearing white flannel trousers and walking on the beach. Wearing the bottoms of his trousers rolled.
A ribald interpretation would seem an obvious one in the context of the overall poem, but it would be a pretty big jump to go to that for a guy who seems to be having trouble talking to women at all. Who earlier says:
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it towards some overwhelming question
Isn't the awkwardness just palpable? Yikes!
If I recall, that squeezing the universe into a ball is a near genius allusion to Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," managing, I think, to mock Marvell and himself in the one phrase:
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball
Of course, Marvell was 1681. That he sounds a bit corny and overblown now and when Eliot wrote Prufrock, is not unexpected!
TS Eliot was a literary genius. I, alas, am not!
The internet tells me that James and the Giant was first published in 1961, so not something earlier for Eliot to reference. Someone else will have to answer whether Roald Dahl appears to intentionally reference "Prufrock."
The internet tells me that James and the Giant has been rather frequently banned from school libraries. I am guessing not because anyone thought the peach itself provided some objectionable symbolism, as the net tells me the peach is symbolic of a safe place for James to grow and develop, to find new friends, etc. I am guessing "Prufrock" would not have been a hit with these censors either!
The internet tells me that James and the Giant has been rather frequently banned from school libraries. I am guessing not because anyone thought the peach itself provided some objectionable symbolism, as the net tells me the peach is symbolic of a safe place for James to grow and develop, to find new friends, etc. I am guessing "Prufrock" would not have been a hit with these censors either!
My view is I don’t care what day it is…I’m just happy to be alive<- 
… each day I wake up is a blessing… I didn’t always feel that way and I won’t go into specifics but I was in a very dark place for a couple years ….thankfully I got out of it and now I can be grateful I’m alive…all you could hope for is one more day…and one more…and maybe one more after that…etc do the best you can with what little life you have…think on the happy stuff like your family! Friends (if you have any I don’t) ! Your pet (if you have one lol) that lovely meal your wife cooked last night ( I myself dont have one) bah you get the drift and got it ten yrs ago 
… each day I wake up is a blessing… I didn’t always feel that way and I won’t go into specifics but I was in a very dark place for a couple years ….thankfully I got out of it and now I can be grateful I’m alive…all you could hope for is one more day…and one more…and maybe one more after that…etc do the best you can with what little life you have…think on the happy stuff like your family! Friends (if you have any I don’t) ! Your pet (if you have one lol) that lovely meal your wife cooked last night ( I myself dont have one) bah you get the drift and got it ten yrs ago 
My view is I don’t care what day it is…I’m just happy to be alive<-
I appreciate your comments. And without going into details, I can somewhat relate to your insights. Every day is a gift and we could all well to remember that life is too short.
Every Day is a Blessing!
Ya’ll are nuts. You’re supposed to blame your mistakes on your wives.
He meant to say that, but he was interrupted by his wife.
You have NO idea how close to the truth this is..... "Are you on B&B AGAIN?" *hand*on*hip*
I prefer to be able to close my eyes at night. Grin.
Do what I learned from my Dad: sleep with one eye open!
Thank you for thinking that all my natterings are actually deep, insightful, and meant to be taken seriously. Occasionally I aim for that ... and sometimes I'm just being silly.
I believe the most common reason for banning J&GP from schools is the casual references to drugs and alcohol.
I lovingly disagree my friend. If he wasn’t assassinated and full filled his life and purpose?
MLK Day, would most likely be MLK Week?
True. He was not allowed the time he should have had, and he packed a LOT of work into the few years he had.I lovingly disagree my friend. If he wasn’t assassinated and full filled his life and purpose?
MLK Day, would most likely be MLK Week?
Same thing with the Kennedy brothers.
It is NOT healthy to mess with the "status quo" my friend. You might wind up on the wrong end of a bullet.
Schools are still teaching the significance of these people, the difference is they are not being totally whitewashed. They are not deity, and made mistakes. Not confronting the mistakes of our past is why we are still committing them.
Agreed, but...... Actually, a "but" is a perfect place to end a sentence about a subject like this.
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