Journey of the Magi by T. S. Eliot - Essay Example

The poem is precisely depicting the journey of the poet; Eliot, from being an atheist to a Christian. In this analysis, it will be clear that as much as the poet tries to capture the Magi emotions he also wanted to reflect on his developments as a writer in Christian faith. There are two themes among others which are clearly depicted in this poem. There is the theme of rebirth and death which are clear indications of the similarity of the poet’s journey and that of the Magi. The poet compares the suffering of the Magi and the one during the birth of Jesus or the Christian religion to the death of other religions though most readers may view death and birth as two diverse things.

The poem realizes that both of these themes are similar. As depicted in the poem “Birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like death, our death" (Eliot, 2012, lines 38-39). This indicates that Eliot had explored all the hard feelings of the three kings when they were accepting a new religion. Most significantly, they had to discard their faiths and all their beliefs as they believed they were in the wrong religion and no longer felt at peace as quoted in the poem; “But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation” (Eliot, 2012, line 40).. The poet compares the suffering of the Magi and the one during the birth of Jesus or the Christian religion to the death of other religions though most readers may view death and birth as two diverse things.

The poem realizes that both of these themes are similar. As depicted in the poem “Birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like death, our death" (Eliot, 2012, lines 38-39). This indicates that Eliot had explored all the hard feelings of the three kings when they were accepting a new religion. Most significantly, they had to discard their faiths and all their beliefs as they believed they were in the wrong religion and no longer felt at peace as quoted in the poem; “But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation” (Eliot, 2012, line 40).

In the first stanza, the main focus on criticism is solely on the journey as depicted in the first line “A cold coming we had of it” (Eliot, 2012, line 1) during “the worst time of the year (Eliot, 2012, line 2). The setting was symbolic as the three Magi talk of their past lives which were sorrowful and full of ease that they seemed to regret it. This is quoted in the poem “A hard time we had of it” (Eliot, 2012, line 16). In the poem, it shows that the exact feelings of the Magi, “…regretted…the silken girls bringing sherbet” (Eliot, 2012, lines 8-10).

In a similar way as that of the Magi, the poet felt that he was physically and spiritually moving towards the life of accepting Christ and putting a ban as the Magi had on their sinful lives. The poet seems to have an opinion on the subject matter in the poem. This is evident from the third stanza where Eliot emphasizes on the Magi’s doubts on death and rebirth. This suggests that the Magi wanted another death in