The poem was written in 1917, a significant year because war was at its worst stage.

It opens with an epigraph taken from Dante's Inferno. Just from the beginning you can easily recognize T. S. Eliot's use of tradition. It is meaningful that in the epigraph there is the reference to the "flame", which is used in order to refer to the protagonist's inner Inferno, that is his incapacity to have social relations.

He is going to an art exhibition where there some women and there he wants to make a declaration of love.

In order to express the idea of sadness, loneliness and lack of self-confidence, the poet uses some adjectives and words. In particular he refers to cheap hotels and half deserted streets.

In addition to this Eliot uses the passive form in order to suggest the passivity of Alfred himself.

In the following lines the poet uses the device of the objective correlative. He refers to the fog which is represented by the cat: the yellow fog that rubs against the window panes is acting like a cat. The fog and the cat with their movement represent a sense of passivity. Here the poet is using the device of the objective correlative in the sense that he is projecting human feelings (Alfred's passivity) into extra objects.

It is also relevant to underline that the poet uses the future from "There will be time...". It clearly makes the reader realize that Alfred is postponing action because he is not self-confident enough in order to act. According to Alfred there will be time to assume different behaviors according to the situations.

In the following lines the poet also uses the past form; he wants to reflect on the protagonist's past life which is defined a boring life, similar to the butt-ends of cigarettes; in this way he wants to communicate that his life was repetitive where nothing special happens. The poet also refers to some animals such as the claws to suggest his animal state. Alfred also refers to prince Hamlet and says he isn't like Prince Hamlet. In reality he is quite different from him because although Hamlet was troubled by fears and doubts, he does something to revenge his father's death; on the contrary, Alfred is passive.

In the end Alfred becomes aware of the passing of time and of his growing old and he tries to find out some possible ways in order to face ageing such as wearing white flannel trousers and walking on beach.