TJ says this line speaks for itself, but ummm … it totally doesn’t. Can anyone explain the meaning behind this quote? I assume it’s about much more than just eating fruit.

Amy, you might want to check out these links:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080804110504AAlBKLi (yahoo questions, I know, but there are a couple of good responses here)

http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/eliot/section1.html

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/6/messages/170.html

I love Prufrock, but that’s not the line I would choose for a tattoo. Even in irony, or as a reminder to yourself, the narrator is so sad and pathetic at that point that I wouldn’t be able to look at it without feeling down myself.

I understand what you mean, Robot. But as with most of Eliot’s poetry, there is much to be derived from his musings. I found that BECAUSE there was that certain hopelessness in the narrotor’s voice, I felt more intensely aware about my own decisions. I appreciate your comment, though. I love the ambiguity!

I tattoo stuff like that into my phone, not on my arm. You should see the one i’ve got in there at the moment, definitely not one for the arm.

[...] his M83 inspired back tattoo). My girlfriend TJ has had her wrist tattoo put up; it’s ‘Do I dare to eat a peach?‘ from Prufrock and Other Observations, by T.S. Eliot. And it looks awesome. Hmm. Now that all [...]

If I were to get an excerpt from Prufrock tattooed on me, it would probably be “Do I dare, Disturb the universe?”

I love this, it is the perfect ambiguous question.

I always thought I might use “Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread against the sky.” It would remind me of the possibility that every night presents.

a quote about being old and having bad teeth, and you inscribe this indelibly on your body?

“eat a peach” is of course also an euphemism. perhaps you are hoping to advertise not being afraid of a little herpes? quite the conversation starter.

Gorgeous! I love it, I have the line “Do I dare disturb the universe?” Tattooed around my ankle

The literal meaning of this line is simply that, as he imagines himself growing old, he becomes afraid his digestive system will no longer handle a peach. You know, because of diarrhea. I love Eliot with these little jokes.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Do+I+dare+to+eat+a+peach

“Urban or Freudian allusion to a vulva. The juiciness, soft hair, and shape of the fruit obviously resemble the female vulva. Biting into a peach, with the consequent explosion of juices, is often invoked as a Freudian exposition of male (or female) libido.”

I looked at the cards and at the first glimpse my impression was: a reflecting pool, or mirror perhaps. ,

While poems are subject to personal interpretation, there is also a responsibility to try and glean the meaning the poet meant to get across.
So, two things MAUD:
1.The literal meaning of the line, by the very dint of your use of the word literal, is does he dare to eat a peach.
2.You are not and never will be a poet.

If I saw a boy on the street with this tattoo I would kiss him