And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time

from T.S. Eliot – The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock on Rap Genius

The lyrical repetition is emblematic of the speaker’s indecision. The lyrical repetition is emblematic of the speaker’s indecision. The lyrical repetition is emblematic…

The line alludes to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: “A time to be born, and a time to die,” etc. It could also refer to the first line of Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” in which the shepherd says, “Had we but world enough and time…” and goes on to say that then he and the girl he wants could talk endlessly about whether to make love, but life is fleeting: “The grave’s a fine and private place / But none I think do there embrace.” Lonely Prufrock, though, has the time.

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