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TS Eliot Journey Of The Magi Analysis

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TS Eliot Journey Of The Magi Analysis
T.S. Eliot's poem "Journey of the Magi" interprets the wisemens' trip to go see baby Jesus from a different perspective than most of us are used to hearing. The biblical version that is most popular doesn't seem to mention anything bad or difficult about the journey that they made. The wisemen had a lot going against them to make their traveling terrible. It was in the winter, they rode on smelly camels, and the upset camel men were no comfort to the wandering Magi's.

In the first part of the poem, the speaker, which is one of the Magi, is telling about the weather that they faced. In the fifth line he states, "The very dead of winter." Usually we see the journey that they made as a peaceful short trip across a flat desert ,but the wisemen faced snow, unfriendly towns, and grumbling helpers. At times, the speaker mentions that he misses his home and the "silken girls bringing sherbet." They traveled all night and took turns sleeping, the magi must have wanted to get there sooner to get their trip over just as soon as possible. Although the wisemen were excited about the birth, the speaker shows a sense of sadness also. The birth of this new leader means a death to them in a way. They know in their hearts that this newborn is going to affect their life in a very big way. The sight of the baby profoundly changed the way they lived their lives from that moment on. They saw the people in their kingdoms "clutching their gods" and they didn't see any sort of satisfaction in it. To me it seems like the magi believe because in the ending line the speaker says "I should be glad of another death." The Magi who is speaking must have realized that the Hebrew prophets were right when predicting that the King of the Universe would be born and change the way that the world works and believes. The Magi is looking forward to the death of the newborn so that he can be born again. The birth and death that the speaker talks about is a birth and death of everyone. The birth of the
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