The Journey of the Magi

1. The Journey of the Magi T S Eliot Trence Blevins Mrs Johnson D2

2. T.S. Eliot was dusk on August 3, 1914, Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, clutching the telegram announcing the German invasion of Belgium, walked to the window, looked over a darkening London and said. “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” The next day, Britain declared war on Germany. Historical Background

3. T.S. Eliot was the most famous English poet of his time. • He was educated at Harvard University. • He was also the most influential. • In the 1920s, he was a leader of the artistic movement called Modernism. • In 1915, Eliot married the sensitive, intelligent, and witty Vivien Haigh-wood. • He went on to study at Oxford University in England and at the Sorbonne in Paris. • in 1948, Eliot received the Nobel prize for Literature. T.S. ELIOT

4. 'A cold coming we had of it,Just the worst time of the yearFor a journey, and such a long journey:The ways deep and the weather sharp,The very dead of winter.'And the camels galled, sore footed, refractory,Lying down in the melting snow.There were times we regrettedThe summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,And the silken girls bringing sherbet.Then the camel men cursing and grumblingand running away, and wanting their liquor and women,And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,And three trees on the low sky,And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,And feet kiking the empty wine-skins.But there was no information, and so we continuedAnd arriving at evening, not a moment too soonFinding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory. • All this was a long time ago, I remember,And I would do it again, but set downThis set downThis: were we led all that way forBirth or Death? There was a Birth, certainlyWe had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,But had thought they were different; this Birth wasHard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,With an alien people clutching their gods.I should be glad of another death.

5. 'A cold coming we had of it,Just the worst time of the yearFor a journey, and such a long journey:The ways deep and the weather sharp,The very dead of winter.' • And the camels galled, sore footed, refractory,Lying down in the melting snow.There were times we regrettedThe summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,And the silken girls bringing sherbet. First Stanza

6. Then the camel men cursing and grumblingand running away, and wanting their liquor and women,And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly, And the villages dirty and charging high prices:A hard time we had of it.At the end we preferred to travel all night,Sleeping in snatches,With the voices singing in our ears, sayingThat this was all folly. • And the villages dirty and charging high prices:A hard time we had of it.At the end we preferred to travel all night,Sleeping in snatches,With the voices singing in our ears, sayingThat this was all folly. Second Stanza

7. Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,And three trees on the low sky,And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. • Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,And feet kiking the empty wine-skins.But there was no information, and so we continuedAnd arriving at evening, not a moment too soonFinding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory. Third Stanza

8. All this was a long time ago, I remember,And I would do it again, but set downThis set downThis: were we led all that way forBirth or Death? There was a Birth, certainlyWe had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,But had thought they were different; this Birth wasHard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death. • We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,With an alien people clutching their gods.I should be glad of another death. Fourth Stanza

9. This poem discusses the trip the three wise men or magi take during the winter of Bethlehem in order to witness the birth of Jesus. Theme

10. Prentice Hall Literature The British Tradition Common Core Edition. Work Cited Page