Journey of the Magi T.S. Elliot

Eliot’s poem is a recreation of the three magi’s traveling to see the foretold birth of the Christ. I feel that he writes his poem in a way to introduce an understanding of how the trip took place and what they felt at the manger. There is no room left for doubt in the poem about how miserable the trip was. This coincides biblically with the census that was taking place causing the towns to be crowded and without vacancy. I feel that Eliot portrays the magi’s as feeling confused, unsure, regretful at times, and perhaps even skeptical about their trip and what was to actually happen. He also shows some foreshadowing with the “three trees” in the distance as their trip comes near its destination. This is obviously a reference to the death of Jesus and the three crosses, but at the same time I am unsure o what he meant to portray by foreshadowing that. Perhaps the theme of birth and death in the same picture again. There are a number of ways to interpret the end of the poem. Mine is that the speaker realizes that with Jesus’ birth there has to be an innocent death paid as foretold also. He also sees that Jesus’ birth forces he himself to be reborn in Christ. His rebirth is what he describes as “bitter agony” because he has to let go of his worldly life and be reborn into a new lifestyle. Then he mentions he should “be glad of another death.” Which could be referring to his own so that he may enter heaven, or Christ’s so that he will be forgiven for all of his sins.