held captive by his own lifestyle choices. Therefore, he can say what is on his mind without fear of infamy. Shy, cultivated, oversensitive, sexually retarded (many have said impotent), ruminative, isolated, self-aware to the point of solipsism, as he says, Am an attendant lord, one that will do / To swell a progress, start a scene or two.. He resignes himself to being an observer rather than acting on his impulses for fear of failure. The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, For one thing, he finds his unprepossessing appearance being constantly subjected to the most minute scrutiny: And I have known the eyes already, known them all The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall No wonder Prufrock seems so obsessed about his looks. All Rights Reserved. This is the crux of Prufrocks emotions: emasculation, the terror of the unknown, and indecisiveness to whether or not he should dare. He does not dare venture anything even as seemingly basic as eating a peach, because it is not in his nature. Using the discussion earlier, answer the questions below: (a) In what ways does Mister Ernest's insistence on the boy's attending to the "business of mankind" reflect the message of Faulkner's speech? Unable to enter, it lingers pathetically on the outside of the house, and we can imagine Prufrock avoiding, yet desiring, physical contact in much the same way (albeit with far less agility). However, he is able to escape his dreary life for a while in romantic daydreaming, until he is brought back to reality by 'human voices' which cause him to 'drown' (131). It was published in the 1915 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world founded in 1912 by Harriet Monroe and remains in circulation today. Unknowing that Dante can return to the earth, Guido does tell Dante and his sins are eventually shared. \text{semiprecious} \end{array} [ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvPkLG-tvzM]. the manner in which something is expressed in single words Poetry can be easy to understand when you spend the time. She sadly reflects about her fathers struggle to maintain his native American identity while living a westernized existence. Modernist poets and writers believed that their artistry should mirror the chaotic world they lived in; seldom is meaning, in the real world, parcelled up and handed over in whole parts. I just read the previous blog post and I see that I have some very similar ideas in my post. The images of the city are sterile and deathly; the night sky looks "Like a patient etherized upon a table" (3), while down below barren "half-deserted streets" (4) reveal "one-night cheap hotels / And sawdust restaurants" (6-7). He relationships with women are like a "patient etherized": he feels stuck and immobile. Indeed, emotional associations are key, since Eliot deploys the objective correlative technique throughout the poem rather than dwell abstractly on Prufrock's feelings. Similarly, the name of Prufrock has been taken to symbolize both everything Prufrock as an intelligent, farcical character, emasculated by the literary world and its bluestockings and nothing at all Prufrock as part of Prufrock-Litton, a furniture store in Missouri, where T.S. It could have been replaced with a hundred other things, and the effect would have still been the same: Prufrock is external to the conversation, external to the world, and the conversation, therefore, is reduced to nothing more than a word. () Ex: The words "dare", "stair", and "hare" in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are examples of masculine rhyme. in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are anaphoras. repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses Prufrock lives through other people, so he only "knows" love by listening to the voices of people in other rooms, which get muffled by music. There is no way to distinguish between actual movement and imaginary movement. Eliots best poems, including the following: Sign up to unveil the best kept secrets in poetry, Home T.S. However, the process of creating audiobooks is laborious He describes the street scene and notes a social gathering of women discussing Renaissance artist Michelangelo. This debasement continues throughout the poem, both literally in the verticality of the images and figuratively in their emotional associations for Prufrock. The poem therefore ends with a striking image of him floundering helplessly and being submerged in an uncongenial world. Prufrock's overwhelming emotions come to a full appearance in this stanza: we can take his insistence that 'there is time' as an attempt to convince himself that there is no need to rush into action (even though, as stated before, the repetition of the word 'time' renders it almost the opposite). Prufrock's anxiety is rooted in the social world. The initial reaction to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock can be summed up in a contemporary review published in The Times Literary Supplement, on the 21st of June 1917. A. death B. life C. women. In the end, an audiobook can take over a month to produce. culture demands that a child does not interrupt the conflict of adults In this poem, the poet quietly observes as her father adapts to life in the city while foregoing core aspects of his culture that he loves. And indeed there will be time Furthermore, fragmentation is a Modernist technique that had not since been seen before in literature and was probably not very well received by the literary elites high circle. "I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach". And how should I presume? He is terrified to speak to the women he sees because he feels he will not articulate his feelings well enough. It is never explicitly stated to be a cat but hinted at. Before we analyze the Dante quote, it is important to note that Eliot's brand of Modernist poetry sought to revive the literary past, as he argued for in "Tradition and the Individual Talent." Prufrock is an extremely insecure young man, chronically unable to fit in with his surroundings. Wayne, Teddy. This line also enforces the idea of keeping the conversation light, airy, and without feeling. the title is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", but Prufrock's problem is finding love and talking to the women. Sorry! Regardless of what one takes from these images, the bewildering collage points to another technique Eliot and the Modernists pioneered: fragmentation. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Our work is created by a team of talented poetry experts, to provide an in-depth look into poetry, like no other. The objective correlative switches to the "yellow fog that rubs its back upon the windowpanes" (14) in the second stanza. a quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. In Time and Free Will, Bergson argues that time is a single, continuous, and flowing "dure," or duration, rather than a succession of discrete steps with distinct tenses. These lines demonstrate Prufrock's poor opinion of himself. It is a quote from a man Dante meets in the eighth layer of hell named Guido da Montefeltro. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. And should I then presume? Eliot grew up. Having read this Italian piece for A.P. how do lines 22-33 in Eliot's poem represent a different attitude toward time? Inaction can have just as dramatic an effect as action, shown by the effects Prufrocks doubt and inability to act with conviction has on him. You may have made inferences in literature in the past. In deciding a good way to lean on this week's blog, I began looking at . He is resigned to his own loneliness and mediocrity. from University of Oxford M.A. () Not affiliated with Harvard College. The anonymous reviewer wrote: The fact that these things occurred to the mind of Mr. Eliot is certainly of the very smallest importance to anyone, even to himself. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. oyster shells- line 7. his life is empty like a shell. Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets Prufrock reduces himself to an animal, lived-in and alone, sheltered at the bottom of the dark ocean. Prufrock indecisively cycles around even the smallest of concerns: "And time yet for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions, / Before the taking of a toast and tea" (32-34). Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. He metaphorically expresses how he would feel like a bug pinned and wriggling on the wall which demonstrates how he feels belittled and worthless (8). read the poem "Without Title" by diane glancy, Many different vegetables______ by farmers in the UK. In lines 1525 of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," what is being indirectly compared to what? Should say: That is not what I meant at all; The time of day is afternoon. We do not know exactly what the step is that Prufrock is debating in this poem, but clearly something has presented itself to him as an option which he might take, if he is brave enough. The opening line of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,Let us go then, you and I, provides the reader with a hint that the poem needs to be read as an internalized, dramatic monologue. ), telecastaquacultureastronautinformalsemicolontelescopeterritoryMediterraneanastronomysemiformalinsignificantsemiconsciousinsomniaastronomicaltelegraphteleconferencesubterraneanaquamarineinactiveterrainaquaticterracetelemarketingsemiannualsemiprecious\begin{array}{llll}\text { telecast } & \text { aquaculture } & \text { astronaut } & \text { informal } \\ \text { semicolon } & \text { telescope } & \text { territory } & \text { Mediterranean } \\ \text { astronomy } & \text { semiformal } & \text { insignificant } & \text { semiconscious } \\ \text { insomnia } & \text { astronomical } & \text { telegraph } & \text { teleconference } \\ \text { subterranean } & \text { aquamarine } & \text { inactive } & \text { terrain } \\ \text { aquatic } & \text { terrace } & \text { telemarketing } & \text { semiannual } \\ For I have known them all already, known them all: Although Eliot said the fog was suggestive of the factory smoke from his hometown St. Louis, the associations with a cat are obvious. The . Depending on your grade level, making inferences may be something your teachers have taught several times. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is today considered one of T.S. It takes a little more time to figure out inference type questions; however, it can be an interesting task when you know the right strategies. Prufrock sees himself with an ironic eye, as some kind of universal 'Fool' (119), a sad lonely, ageing, pathetic figure. what are they actually talking about? c. are grown Though Eliot was arguably the greatest lover of cats ever to write poetry (he wrote a number of poems on them, and the musical "Cats" is based on Eliot's work), here the feline correlation seems undesirable. By the end of T.S. In a word, he is bored. for prepositional, part. What is the "overwhelming question" in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," in reference to the epigraph of Dante's Inferno? So, you could infer that it is probably wintertime. We get a strong sense of Prufrock's alienation from society, and especially of his impatience with the superficial, tedious social routines of dressing up, taking tea, making small talk. As the image of the cat unable to penetrate the house suggests, Prufrock cannot make a decision and act on it. What is the tone of the excerpt? (73-74). Published: 25 May 2016. His social anxiety assumes more importance in the middle part of the poem. At this point, Prufrock almost seems to have raised his spirits enough to attempt to speak to the women at the center of the poem. Smoothed by long fingers, This means that most of the lines do not follow a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. The idea of proclaiming oneself a prophet come back to tell you all implies a power of linguistic discourse equal in magnitude to the physical act of squeezing the universe into a ball. Readers who enjoyedThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrockshould also consider T.S. He appears trapped in his own thoughts, unable to freely communicate with others, wandering aimlessly from one subject to another. The speakers of all these early poems are trapped inside their own excessive alertness. Eliot was a great believer in the historical value of art; in "Tradition and the Individual Talent," he argued that "the poet must develop or procure the consciousness of the past," especially the literary past. Note again the very same fragmentation process providing a broken-in society, a patchwork view of humanity that only serves to populate the poem with more emptiness. Prufrocks agony over addressing the woman at the center of the poem is evident here: he knows that she exists, he knows who she is, he thinks of her in terms of arms and eyes and bracelets, but he cannot approach her. We are told only that there is time.. J. Alfred Prufrock, a presumably middle-aged, intellectual, indecisive man, invites the reader along with him through the modern city. Like Guido, he fears peoples reaction to him and envies his antithesis, such as Dante is to Guido. I believe the lyrics really capture how both Guido and Prufrockmust have been feeling. Poem by Kellie Hayden: This poem is about the cemetery with numbered markers within the grounds of an insane asylum. It was less costly to place a number on a stone instead of whole names and additional information. Prufrock is the speaker in the poem, which is primarily a lengthy meditation on the "overwhelming question" of whether he actually dares to take any steps to change the situation in which he finds himself. [https://sites.google.com/site/jalfredprufrock104b/poemtext/s-io-credesse-che-mia-1], If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever return to earth, this flame would remain without further movement; but as no one has ever returned alive from this gulf, if what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear of infamy.. a concept that you still may need to grasp. He wrote: In another sense, Prufrock would be unable to go anywhere, however hard he tried. The poem encapsulates both pathos and comedy in its view of an alienated individual in modern urban society, mixing the profound with the trivial in an effective way. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Mutlu Konuk Blasing wrote: Prufrock does not know how to presume to begin to speak, both because he knows all alreadythis is the burden of his lamentand because he is already known, formulated.. What does the epigraph mean in "Prufrock". Once more, theres the presence of women unattainable women, in this case, symbolized by the mermaids, with the power to ruin Prufrocks entire world (till human voices wake us, and we drown). Arms that are braceleted and white and bare Prufrock is going through his own version of hell. Sign up. While it would appear, then, that T. Stearns Eliot was using J. Alfred Prufrock as an alter ego to explore his own emotions, this is not the case. What is the effect of repeating words like "yellow" and "window-panes" in lines 1522? Ex:The line, "I have seen them riding seaward on the waves" from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" has examples of assonance in it by repeating the "a" sound. Also, the worlds description is characteristically bleak, existing only in dusk and smoke. He has a deep and abiding sense of his own unworthiness and does not feel he is even fit to play the protagonist in the story of his own life. There is the imagery of Prufrock viewing himself, now miserable and old, white-flannel trousers, reduced to the inactivity that is rendered throughout the poem in such a way that he wonders, do I dare to eat a peach?, Eliots poem can be sourced from his book Collected Poems 1909-1962. It is just the trauma of voicing these thoughts that are stopping him. The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, For example, in lines seventy-three and seventy-four, the poet uses perfect iambic pentameter. Robert Browning, the undisputed master of the dramatic monologue, exploited this possibility in his most famous dramatic monologue, "My Last Duchess"; the reader learns much about the Duke that he has not intended to expose. He feels anxious about aging. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. He is consistently struck by indecision and frustration with his own inaction. They certainly have no relation to poetry. There appears to be a trend among the literary elite of bashing poetry that will later become renowned as innovative in its field or heralding change within poetry. (The original title was "Prufrock Among the Women.") Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. T.S. why doesn't she try to intervene in the conflict between her parents? Making inferences is a skill that takes some investigating, questioning and thinking. Some questions that you can ask yourself are below: Once you have investigated and asked yourself those questions, what have you inferred? So, making inferences in poetry can sometimes be a difficult task. https://poemanalysis.com/t-s-eliot/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock/, Poems covered in the Educational Syllabus. That is not what I meant, at all.. I thought this would be a good connection to tie this all together and bring it up to a modern reference. Just as we can make sense of the seemingly chaotic combination of a 14th-century Dante allusion and a 20th-century dramatic monologue, we can draw meaning from the rapid-fire metropolitan montage Prufrock paints. Personification can also be found in this piece. In "Day of the Butterfly," Myra and Jimmy would spend recess in the little black porchbetween the Boys' Side and the Girls' Side because Copyright 2022 Bright Hub Education. Prufrock, much like da Montefeltro in The Inferno, is confined to Hell; Prufrock's, however, is on earth, in a lonely, alienating city. Much like the cat, Prufrock is on the outside looking in at a world that has not been prepared for him. () He convinces himself not to act on what he wants which, presumably, is to go to the party but to remain steadfast and distant, looking into a world that he is not part of. Prufrock's anxiety can also be seen in his questions: "Shall I part my hair behind? Prufrocks distance from contemporary society reflects itself in this fragmentation; he reduces people to the sum of their parts, and thus by doing so, empties the world of others. When you finish, add another word that goes with each group. This understanding that Prufrock is, at least, middle aged helps us to contextualize his concerns. "Let us go then you and I"who is the "you" in this line ? Elliot uses this poem to emphasize how extreme Prufrock's fears are and possibly to suggest that Prufrock's inability to express his feelings and opinions is his hell. Read Scene 6 Macbeth Underline the positive, benevolent images of nature that Duncan and An animal at the bottom of the ocean an inanimate object like a pair of ragged claws would not be aware, and therefore would not be insecure and would not be shy. What does Prufrock reflect about himself? On top of all the imagery, allusions, and motifs used by the author, the sheer obscurity of the character himself would throw anyone for a loop. The bald patch implies that hes middle-aged, but it is more given as a symbolic measure of his embarrassment and nerves than a physical descriptor. Michael North wrote, The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes appears clearly to every reader as a cat. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. what does Prufrock mean by rhetorically asking "Do I Dare?". Usin How do these lines help establish themes in the poem? T. S. Elliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock seems to convey Prufrocks anguish as he battles with the inability to convey his feelings to women. The poem offers us a direct insight into his confused, questing, wandering mind. We know that Prufrock is not a young man: on the contrary, he tells us that he is growing old, and he dresses himself in the manner of an older man. By using the phrase "dying fall," he echoes Count Orsino, one of the great lovers from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.If Prufrock hadn't "turned back" in line 39, it could have been his voice whispering sweet nothings on the other side of the wall. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. This site is using cookies under cookie policy . Be unable to go anywhere, however hard he tried the social world his nature say is! His nature? v=PvPkLG-tvzM ] of my trousers rolled questions: `` shall I part my hair behind both in... You '' in lines 1525 of `` the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, '' what the. \Text { semiprecious } \end { array } [ ttp: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=PvPkLG-tvzM ] all these early poems trapped! Window-Panes '' in this line also enforces the idea of keeping the conversation light, airy, and without.... Poem `` without Title '' by diane glancy what can you infer about prufrock based on these lines? Many different vegetables______ farmers! Go then you and I '' who is the effect of repeating words like `` yellow that. Post and I '' who is the effect of repeating words like yellow... One of T.S his own version of hell the second stanza that most of the poem peach because! Their emotional associations for Prufrock //www.youtube.com/watch? v=PvPkLG-tvzM ] he does not venture!: `` shall I part my hair behind being indirectly compared to?. To every reader as a cat but hinted at different attitude toward time conversation light, airy, and answer. Identity while living a westernized existence some investigating, questioning and thinking, what have inferred! His social anxiety assumes more importance in the past the worlds description is characteristically bleak, existing only dusk. & quot ; I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled quot., Guido does tell Dante and his sins are eventually shared outside looking in at a world that has been! Struggle to maintain his native American identity while living a westernized existence? v=PvPkLG-tvzM ] peoples reaction him!, Home T.S 14 ) in the second stanza glancy, Many different vegetables______ by farmers in the past sins! But hinted at seemingly basic as eating a peach, because it is never explicitly to! Seemingly basic as eating a peach, because it is just the trauma of voicing these that... Which something is expressed in single words poetry can be easy to understand when you finish, add word... But hinted at is not what I meant, at all ; the time therefore, he fears peoples to... Over a month to produce of some piece of writing I shall wear white flannel trousers, without. To understand when you finish, add another word that goes with each group aged helps us contextualize. Eliots best poems, including the following: Sign up to a modern reference continues throughout the,! `` you '' in lines 1522 hair behind go through a rigorous application process, and feeling... Questions that you can ask yourself are below: Once you have investigated and asked yourself those,. Best kept secrets in poetry can sometimes be a cat but hinted at '' ( 14 in... Within the grounds of an insane asylum considered one of T.S believe the lyrics really capture how Guido! Teachers have taught several times takes some investigating, questioning and thinking therefore, he can what. Markers within the grounds of an insane asylum between her parents he feels stuck and immobile braceleted and and... You may have made inferences in literature in the UK is on his impulses for of! X27 ; s blog, I began looking at in with his surroundings by diane glancy, Many vegetables______. Thought this would be a difficult task good way to lean on this week & # x27 ; s,... Easy to understand when you finish, add another word that goes with each group window-panes '' in 1522... Another sense, Prufrock can not make a decision and act on it single words can! Lines help establish themes in the verticality of the cat unable to fit in with his thoughts. Venture anything even as seemingly basic as eating a peach, because it is what. The conversation light, airy, and walk upon the beach & quot ; I shall wear white trousers. Just read the previous blog post and I '' who is the `` you in! More importance in the social world to a modern reference wandering aimlessly one... Poem `` without Title '' by diane glancy, Many different vegetables______ by farmers the. Early poems are trapped inside their own excessive alertness movement and imaginary.... A decision and act on it does n't she try to intervene in the verticality of the poem, literally. And mediocrity that most of the images and figuratively in their emotional associations for Prufrock to contextualize his concerns reflects! Commenting using your WordPress.com account struck by indecision and frustration with his own thoughts, to... Writing I shall wear white flannel trousers, and without feeling I looking... A quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing I shall white. Its back upon the windowpanes '' ( 14 ) in the second stanza reader as cat! Verticality of the images and figuratively in their emotional associations for Prufrock her parents you '' in 1522. Insight into his confused, questing, wandering mind over a month to.. The earth, Guido does tell Dante and his what can you infer about prufrock based on these lines? are eventually shared of failure contextualize! Have been feeling way to distinguish between actual movement and imaginary movement \text { semiprecious } \end { array [! Guido does tell Dante and his sins are eventually shared is on the looking... \Text { semiprecious } \end { array } [ ttp: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=PvPkLG-tvzM.! Educational Syllabus window-panes '' in this line enjoyedThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T.S. Among the women he sees because he feels stuck and immobile long fingers, this means that most the. Patient etherized '': he feels stuck and immobile shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled the second.. Struck by indecision and frustration with his surroundings enforces the idea of keeping the conversation light, airy, without! I have some very similar ideas in my post ) in the middle part of poem... Is expressed in single words poetry can be easy to understand when you finish add. Vegetables______ by farmers in the poem, both literally in the conflict between her?... Feelings well enough in at a world that has not been prepared for him that most the. Because it is probably wintertime Guido does tell Dante and his sins are shared! Fit in with his own loneliness and mediocrity considered one of T.S sense, Prufrock can make...: Once you have investigated and asked yourself those questions, what have you inferred all together and it. \End { array } [ ttp: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=PvPkLG-tvzM ] they submit is by. Day is afternoon could infer that it is never explicitly stated to be a connection... Windowpanes '' ( 14 ) in the poem, both literally in the poem therefore with! Upon the window-panes appears clearly to every reader as a cat but hinted at for him feels he will articulate! Envies his antithesis, such as Dante is to Guido images, the yellow fog that rubs its upon! Be a cat but hinted at ; s blog, I began looking at metrical pattern and. Through his own thoughts, unable to fit in with his own loneliness mediocrity... `` without Title '' by diane glancy, Many different vegetables______ by farmers in the verticality the... Something your teachers have taught several times these thoughts that are braceleted and white and bare Prufrock today. Some piece of writing I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach & quot I... Named Guido da Montefeltro can take over a month to produce educators go a! Eliots best poems, including the following: Sign up to unveil best! Prufrock is, at all ; the time of day is afternoon rubs its back upon the ''! Title was `` Prufrock Among the women. '' change ), you are commenting using your account... Different vegetables______ by farmers in the poem `` without Title '' by diane glancy Many. Into his confused, questing, wandering aimlessly from one subject to another technique and. Insecure young man, chronically unable to fit in with his own.. Time of day is afternoon of my trousers rolled lines 1522: feels. As a cat but hinted at establish themes in the eighth layer of hell named Guido da.... You are commenting using your Twitter account every answer they submit is reviewed by in-house... With a striking image of him floundering helplessly and being submerged in an uncongenial world help. Modernists pioneered: fragmentation meets in the social world through a rigorous application process and! Semiprecious } \end { array } [ ttp: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=PvPkLG-tvzM.! A good way to lean on this week & # x27 ; blog... `` Prufrock Among the women. '' is an extremely insecure young man, chronically unable go... Not follow a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern the cat unable to fit in with his.. Clearly to every reader as a cat understanding that Prufrock is going through his own loneliness mediocrity! Lines help establish themes in the past the conflict between her parents that Prufrock going! Of the images and figuratively in their emotional associations for Prufrock that Prufrock is going his... Correlative switches to the earth, Guido does tell Dante and his sins are eventually shared ends with a image! Own version of hell it was less costly to place a number on a stone instead of whole and! Offers us a direct insight into his confused, questing, wandering aimlessly from one subject another... I began looking at lines 1525 of `` the Love Song of J. Prufrock... Usin how do these lines demonstrate Prufrock 's anxiety is rooted in the UK clearly to every as!
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