Mr.

Gershman Miss Arsenault ILA 9 Honors Journey of the Magi Critical Analysis

Jen Crilly 11/12/08

With the great praise that is given to famous poems, there comes plenty of criticism to follow. With examples presented in Michael Lakes criticism of Journey of the Magi, this essay reviews how and why criticism informs peoples understanding of the specific time period, poet, and poem. T.S. Eliot wrote the famous literary work in 1927, during the Modernist Free Verse movement (Journey of the Magi). The movement began in the 1920s and continues on to this day as a part of the Post-Modernist movement. Poems created during the time period are best known for their originality that sets them apart from those of the past. Though T.S. Eliots poem, on the surface, portrays the journey of the Magi to find the baby Jesus, the potential Messiah who will bring about redemption to the world, it serves as a metaphor for T.S. Eliots search for meaning in the modern world. T.S. Eliots Journey of the Magi renders human kinds quest to discover the purpose of their existence in an ever-changing landscape. Michael Lakes Journey of the Magi criticism discusses how the poem shows that death leads to a new birth. The majority of T.S. Eliots poetry was influenced by his religious beliefs. Eliot wrote Journey of the Magi while he was converting to the Church of England (Shuman), otherwise known as the High Church of Anglicanism (Lake). Michael Lake states that Eliot expresses how death has a positive affect, but people are unwilling to give up their life to find out what that exactly is. The positive side of death is that you ascend into Heaven afterwards. However, people dont realize that Heaven is not only the reason for death, but it is the reason for our existence. The

Christian faith states that God put us on Earth to spread his word, and then we die and spend all of eternity by his side. Lakes criticism allows for those who are less informed about how T.S. Eliots life affects his poetry, to understand certain aspects of the poem that they wouldnt otherwise ("Journey of the Magi."). In addition to Lakes analysis giving insight to T.S. Eliots idea that death leads to a new birth, it also explains how he expresses the old dogs cant learn new tricks theory in Journey of the Magi. Eliot adapts the old theory to human nature. T.S. Eliot believes that humans naturally cant evolve or change their habits. Throughout their existence, people fall into an instinctive pattern of life from which it is nearly impossible to make any drastic adaptations. The old Magus in the poem is used to represent all of these similar ideas. Other critics think that the old Magus is actually used to symbolize T.S. Eliot himself. Either way, critical analyzes such as Michael Lakes explain the true meaning of the old Magus in depth. Without such critics, the purpose of for the old Magus would be overlooked ("Journey of the Magi."). Lastly, the criticism makes Eliots beliefs about true self-gratification known. Michael states that Eliot thinks that true self-gratification only comes from the sacrifice of lust for love. The sacrifice of lust for love basically means that in order to gratify yourself, you must do what is best for someone else instead of what is best for yourself. Also, people should do it out of love instead of greed (Lake). In order for someone to help their self, they must help others. Everything is connected and relates to the saying, what goes around, comes around. T.S. Eliot feels that people must be generous, sympathetic, and self-controlling in order to benefit themselves (Lake). Without critics

such as Michael Lake, people would be unaware of T.S. Eliots true messages in Journey of the Magi for the most part ("Journey of the Magi."). Journey of the Magi informs ones understanding of the poet. Since poems are usually a reflection upon its author, the highly religious ideas expressed in the poem symbolize T.S. Eliot religious involvement. Both the poem as well as the criticism state T.S. Eliots theories on how death leads to a new birth, humans cant evolve, and true self-gratification come from the sacrifice of lust for love. Criticism gives people insight as to what certain things represent in poetry, and why poets specifically mentioned something in their poems. If it werent for critics, such as Michael Lake, and their critical analyses, readers would be relatively left in the dark when it comes to the themes and other hidden meanings found in poetry. Though the Journey of the Magi is thought to express T.S. Eliots belief that humans cant evolve, perhaps that is what he is yearning for. He wants a change in the world that will ultimately lead to a better future. Who will the next Messiah be? Maybe humans truly cant change, but did it ever cross your mind that maybe we can? Just as T.S. Eliot did throughout his entire life, the rest of the world continues to look for the one person who will bring about salvation from past mistakes and lead to a new dawn of not only greatness, but happiness as well.

Works Cited: "Journey of the Magi." Poetry for Students. Eds. Mary Ruby and Ira Milne. Vol. 7. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2000. 108-125. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Springfield Township High School. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do? &contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL.poetry&docId =CX2691500020&source=gale&userGroupName=erde79591&version=1.0>.

Lake, Michael. "Journey of the Magi." Poetry for Students. 2000. Gale. Springfield Township Middle School Lib, Oreland, PA. 10 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/retrieve.do? contentSet=EBKS&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en %2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C10%29T.S.+Eliot %24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort= Relevance&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL.po>. Shuman, R. Baird, ed. Great American Writers. 4 vols. Twentieth Century. New York: Marshall Cavendish. 2002.