Time and Mortality

A pervasive anxiety about the passage of time, aging, and death runs through the collection, from Prufrock measuring his life 'with coffee spoons' to the skeletal imagery and the refrain 'Hurry up please it's time' in The Waste Land.

The repeated refrain 'there will be time' contrasts with Prufrock's awareness of aging ('I grow old') and the pressure of mortality, leading to paralysis rather than action.

The lady's awareness of her approaching death and the speaker's imagined scene of her dying afternoon underscore the theme of mortality.

The woman speaks of being 'about to reach her journey’s end,' and the April sunsets evoke the passage of time.

The 'burnt-out ends of smoky days' and the setting of six o'clock mark the passage of time and the decay of the day, hinting at mortality.