At the beginning of the lyric Mr. Eliot quotes a part of  Dante’s Inferno (Canto XXVII, 61-66), where Dante meets Guido da Montefeltro, who asks the great poet to keep his words secret. Just reading the  title the intelligent reader understand that is the  two main issues of the lyric: it’s a love poem and regards a man named Prufrock. The first part of the title seems to indicate a traditional theme (love) and a traditional structure (a song), but in the second part there are the difference between tradition.  The second part of the title (of J. Alfred Prufock) do a very strong indication of the main character. “Prufrock” sounds as a name compound by “proof” and “rock”, reminding the idea of a “touchstone”: the stone used to prove the quality and purity of gold. Mr. Prufrock can be the “touchstone” of the contemporary society of Mr. Eliot. Indeed the lyric speaks about the condition of a men who is not be able to life, incapable to act. In a word Prufrock is an anti-hero and the  symbol of the paralysis. He seems to address a potential lover, but Prufrock knows too much of life to “dare” an approach to the woman: in his mind he hears the comments of others people about his inadequacies. 

Prufrock, as Guido, speaks freely as if he would speak just for himself, just to his conscience.

The poem is divided into eighteen stanzas with a different number of lines; the rhyme scheme is irregular. Another important formal feature is the use of fragments of sonnet form, particularly at the poem’s conclusion.

The time is evening and "you" is an invite from the narrator to walk with him through empty and squalid streets during the evening that is compared to an etherized patient. Indeed the first position of “you” makes the reader understand Prufrock’s passion and in addition the final position of word “I” is functional to create a rhyme with the following verse.

In the second stanza the description of the evening goes on. It is a foggy evening and the haze moves like a cat. The language used refers to senses and creates a motionless and immaterial atmosphere.

The following stanza seems to present Prufrock's justification for his non-acting. And then he  connect his paralysis to his past experiences: he has known the anguishes of  life yet so taking risks  would be vain.

In the sixth stanza Mr Prufrock says that he has walked observing other men like him. He wants  to be different, he wants to act "I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas."

In the seventh stanza he asks his consciousness again if he must reveal his love or not, if change is worth or not. He continues to postpone the moment with some rituals, he doesn't feel brave enough to change because some past negative experiences have maid him afraid even if he's old.

In the eighth stanza he reveals the fear of being disappointed after the change. He thinks change is a miracle so he knows that expressing his love in  hell isn't enough. He wants to tell it to the lady, but it's late. He is alive but thinks his life is like the one of a dead p0erson, he is dead because he doesn't choose.

In the ninth stanza Eliot makes a parallel between Mr Prufrock and Shakespeare's Hamlet: they're opposite. Exactly as Hamlet he does not acts and they both do not disturb the universe, Mr Prufrock doesn't do anything, he is almost useless. In his description Mr Prufrock uses generally positive words but here they have a negative connotation .In the last stanza Mr Prufrock understands that he hasn't time and he is not better than any other, he makes a list of habits common to all ordinary human beings and understands that he is alone. In the end he understands he has spent too much time thinking about love without living  it and now even hope has disappeared.