Pessimism In Journey Of The Magi

T.S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi is a poem about the Three Wise Men and their journey to the city of Bethlehem for the birth of Christ. However, their journey is not all smooth sailing due to the perils of traveling in the desert. The first stanza includes a recollection of moments within their journey that display instability. The snow-covered desert, lack of fire and shelter, expensive and dirty villages, as well as traveling all night cause the Magi to reconsider whether or not it is worth the peril. In the second stanza the speaker continues, talking about their entrance into Bethlehem from the three trees hanging in the sky to finally arriving in time for the birth. Finally, in the last stanza, the speaker refers to the experience as

In terms of formatting, The Journey of the Magi is primarily free verse, with each line being different from the last. In addition, the tone of the entire poem itself projects pessimism and feelings of disillusion onto the reader. For example, in the last two lines of stanza one, the speaker talks about the lack of positive thoughts regarding their journey. All three of them come to the swift conclusion that going through all of this trouble is not worth the uncomfortable experience. “With the voices singing in our ears, saying/That this was all folly” (Eliot, 19-20). The poem’s pessimistic tone continues into the second stanza, where Eliot uses details within the Magi’s surroundings to introduce an unstable faith in religion, particularly Catholicism. In line 24, the speaker describes the three trees hanging from the sky is where Eliot alludes to the three crosses of

In lines 35-39, Eliot puts the ideas of birth and death against each other, and ultimately has the speaker conclude that the birth of Christ is a certain death itself. Eliot is referring to the death of Catholicism and the doubt that he has over the belief in