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Literary Criticism of ‘Journey of the Magi’ The ‘Journey of the Magi’ is a poem written by T. S. Eliot in 1927. The inspiration for this poem is adapted from the story of the Three Magi who traveled from far away to pay homage to birth of Christ under the guidance of a star.
The theme revolves around their search of faith narrated in the point of view of the Magi. The poem has no set rhyme or meter and is constructed in free verse.
Unsatisfied and regretful with the times that they have wasted on worldly pleasures of “the summer palace on slopes, the terraces, and the silken girls bringing sherbet” that they enjoyed, the Magi left their lives of material comforts in order to pursue a quest for spiritual enlightment.
Alliteration is used to produce a smooth flowing effect for the readers to feel the attributed sense of this comfort. Throughout the first stanza of the poem, the Magi describe the initial journey to be arduous as they have to face “the ways deep and the weather sharp” in “the very dead of winter” (lines 4 and 5).
Journey Of The Magi Themes
The depiction of this season that is often featured in many works of literature is used as a metaphor to represent death, the loss of hope and adverse times.
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Comparably, the imagery of the season’s characteristic bitter coldness featured in the poem embodies the sense of hardship that the Magi have to undertake to reach their destination. In the sixth and seventh lines, the “galled, sore-footed, refractory” state of the camels, too tired that they are “lying down in the melting snow” further reinforces the image that travel during this “worst time of the year” can be exhausting.
The setting of the poem in winter may also allude to the time of the year when Jesus was born. However, it isn’t just the weather that is making the journey difficult. As the Magi strive through their journey, they encountered a lot of corruption in places where they passed by. From lines 12 to 16, the Magi narrate the dearth and poverty of the settlements they visited, and the depravity and the immorality of their inhabitants. Anaphora of the word ‘and’ is used at the start of each of these lines.
Not only that it gives the description a cohesive flow by the repetition of the same starting word, the use of this technique is effective in building up the sense of burden that the Magi have to endure during their contact with those places. Moreover, they have to contend with the “voices” echoing in their ears “saying that this was all folly” (lines 19 and 20). These are the voices that come from their own desires, tempting them to abandon their journey and revert back to debauchery.
In the second stanza, the setting shifts from an initial journey traveling through harsh conditions to arriving at a more pleasant environment as they “came down to a temperate valley”. Their arrival at dawn is metaphor symbolizing the start of new beginnings for the Magi. They have reached to a place where they no longer have to suffer the bitterness of the icy terrains that they have traversed, and this signifies that they have finally overcome their adversities and possibly, the penance that they had to pay to recompense for their past sins.
The water mill “beating the darkness” depicts the dispelling of darkness from the “running streams”, which implicates the timeless flow of that happening. Out of the numerous symbolist elements that comprise of this poem, the “three trees on the low sky” in line 24 is one of the most significant that it alludes to the three crosses of the Crucifixion and implies that the heavens have been lowered closer to earth to receive Christ who was killed on one of them. The symbolism of the “old white horse” that “galloped away into the meadow” might represent something that waned in the advent of Christianity (possibly paganism).
The symbolism in line 27 “six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver” denotes to Judas, one of his disciples who betrayed Jesus for money. The final two lines of the stanza, “And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon, finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory” expresses the Magi’s reflection that they have on the change in faith as an understatement, probably realizing that God has already preordained them all along to turn to His path one day.
The last stanza describes the Magi’s reflection on the enlightment that they have attained, but seem to be confused in trying to see the significance of the event. Their doubts are manifested in lines 33-38 “but set down, this set down, this: were we led all that way for birth or death? There was a birth, certainly, we had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, but had thought they were different”.
The repetition of the words ‘set down’, ‘birth’ and ‘death’ in these lines indicates they are baffled and emphasizes the feelings of hesitations that are ruminating in their thoughts. Furthermore, the paradox in lines 28-39 “this birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like death, our death” describes the psychological change the Magi underwent from their conversion, expressing that the decision to renew and embrace a new faith is just as than renouncing their old ones.
The final four lines of the poem concludes that they are “ no longer at ease” “with an alien people clutching their gods”, conveying that the Magi no longer fit in with the “old dispensation” of their own people when they finally return from their journey. The last line of the poem, “I should be glad of another death” expresses their understanding that they have to leave this world in order to be reborn in their new faith again Although its exact meaning remains vague, a likely interpretation of this poem might account of Eliot’s journey on his conversion to Christianity.
It is also possible to speculate that this poem accounts a description of his own real-life journey in his quest for faith. The reflection of Eliot’s spiritual journey is described figuratively in physical aspects to evoke a more tangible perspective to the reader on how the journey was like for Eliot to achieve spiritual enlightment.
Journey Of The Magi Theme. (2019, Dec 06). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-essay-journey-of-the-magi/
