The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917)

I re-read this one today, it reminded me of 9th grade. Our teacher desperate to bring across the intensity of poetry to a class of... 15 year olds. Re-reading it bought a smile to my face. I like it.

LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats 5
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

(a link to the rest of the poem)