Read the excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! Smoothed by long fingers, Asleep . . . tired . . . or it malingers, Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me. Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet— and here’s no great matter; Which words best indicate that Prufrock feels anxious?
B
peacefully, smoothed, strengthThe words “wept,” “fasted,” and “prayed” show Prufrock describing intense emotional and spiritual distress, which suggests anxiety. “Tea, cakes, and ices” instead evoke a calm social setting, while “peacefully” describes the afternoon and evening as restful.
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