Question

Which lines from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" provide an example of stream of consciousness?
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question . . .
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”

Answer 1

Stream of consciousness shows a speaker’s interior, associative flow of thoughts, often fragmented and switching images or questions without formal transitions. In your excerpt the clearest examples are:

- "Time for you and time for me, / And time yet for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions," — the repetition and piling up of possibilities mimics an internal, wandering thought process.
- "I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, / And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, / And in short, I was afraid." — quick images and a sudden, candid admission of feeling show inner reflection breaking into plain statement.
- "Streets that follow like a tedious argument / Of insidious intent / To lead you to an overwhelming question . . . / Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?'" — rhetorical questioning, trailing off (ellipses), and the abrupt plea capture the speaker’s shifting, intrusive thoughts.

Any of these passages (especially taken together) function as stream-of-consciousness moments in the poem.