The Journey Of The Magi- Questions And Answers
QUESTION 1: Give a vivid account of “The Journey of the Magi.”
The Journey of the Magi is a non-African poem by T.S Eliot which is based on life’s journey as full of thick and thorns for someone to be successful in life. The poem illustrates the fact that nothing good comes easily and that the road to success is rough.
T.S Eliot makes use of the story of the three wise men (The Magi) in the Holy Bible who embark on a journey from the east for the re-birth of their souls to visit baby Jesus with gifts; Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. (Matthew 2 vs 1 to 12)
Before the wise men reach their destination, they face a lot of difficulties, discouragement and inconveniences, but with determination, they are able to weather the storm. This teaches a lot of lessons about life.
The poem is divided into three phases. The first phase discusses the journey of the three wise men right from their homes and the difficulties they face in the first part of the journey.
The second phase gives them hope as they reach a more comfortable environment. The last part is about their destination.
The first stanza opens with the description of the weather of the period the three wise men embark on the journey. This tells us that the weather of the period was harsh,
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey;
The ways deep and the weather sharp,”
The period is during the dry harmattan season that they embark on the long journey that takes them travelling through the desert that the heat of the sand of the desert disturbs the camel the men are travelling on.
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter
And the camels galled, sore- footed, refractory.”
They also share their experiences on the way; they sleep under the melting snow and other inconveniences that make them regret ever embarking on the journey. The beautiful girls that come to them with sweet meals to lure them “silken girls” make them remember home and their lovely and beautiful wives at home.
““Lying down in the melting snow,
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.”
The camel men that guide them on the way also complain that they miss their women and drinks, which at times they run away.
“Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women.”
The men also express the unfriendly attitudes of the people they meet on the way. They charge an exorbitant amount for their accommodation, despite the filthy environment. They then choose to travel all night with little or no sleep at all.
“And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the village dirty and charging high prices;
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night.
Sleeping in snatches,”
A discouraging voice always tells them that nothing is going to be achieved on the journey, that it is just a foolish adventure.
“With the voices singing in our ears, saying, saying
That this was all folly.”
In the second phase, the men are now in a more conducive environment compared with the previous places. The environment is wet, smelling of vegetation with a running stream. A place of eating and drinking is seen here.
“Then at dawn we came down to a temperate alley.
Wet below the snow line, smelling of vegetation,
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,”
This tells them that they are closer to their destination.
“And three trees on the low sky.
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.”
The “three trees” the cross of Jesus Christ and the “old white horse” is referring to the donkey Jesus Christ rode to enter Jerusalem.
“Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,”
This refers to the casting of lots for the sharing of Jesus Christ’s garments and Judas’ betrayal of Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver.
They continue on their journey since they have not reached where they are going, nothing tells them that they are there already. They reach there in the evening but the place is not so satisfactory to them. Jesus Christ was born in a manger.
“But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.”
The men recount the agonies they pass through before they reach the place and say that despite the experiences, they would wish to do it again. They refer to it as Birth and Death.
Death is the bad experience they have on the way, while the Birth is the birth of Jesus Christ. They also compare the Birth to death because of the bitter experiences they have before witnessing the Birth.
“Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death.
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.”
The last part of the poem discusses the return of the men to their places after the re-birth. They are no longer convenient, living with their people because they are no more used to the old religions that are being practiced by their people.
They conclude that they would be happy to embark on another journey of salvation.
QUESTIONS 2: What are the messages contained in “The Journey of the Magi”?
These are the messages being passed across by the poet:
SUCCESS IS ATTACHED TO DIFFICULTIES: The poem teaches us that nothing good comes easily. The three men embark on the journey of salvation during the dry harsh weather. It is a long journey that they still have to pass through the desert. The road to success is rough.
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For 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.”
DETERMINATION: Despite the unfriendly conditions the men are exposed to, they still continue on the journey until they achieve their aims. With determination, they overcome the problems.
REGRET: At a stage, the problem was about overcoming them that they regret ever embarking on the journey, but with determination, they overcome it.
WOMEN AS AN AGENT OF DESTRUCTION: The men encounter women on their way as part of the agents that discourage them on the journey.
HOSTILITY: The villagers the men meet on the way are not friendly to them; they charge high prices to accommodate them.
SALVATION: As the men move closer to their destination, they begin to enjoy friendly weather and environment. This teaches us that there is joy in salvation.
HUMBLENESS: The men are not satisfied with the place because Jesus Christ was born in a manger. This is a sign of humbleness, for a king to be born in a manger.
BIRTH: This is shown by the birth of Jesus Christ which brings salvation to the world.
QUESTION 3: Identify three poetic devices used in “The Journey of the Magi.”
These are the poetic devices used in the poem:
BIBLICAL ALLUSION: There is extensive use of Biblical allusion in the poem. The poet uses the story of the three wise men in the Bible to illustrate the fact that success is not achieved on a platter of gold. Reference is also made to the cross of Jesus Christ as well as Judas Iscariot negotiating the betrayal of Jesus Christ.
ALLITERATION: There is also the use of alliteration in the poem. We have it in lines 1, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 18, 19, 27, 29, 35.
REPETITION: There is constant repetition of “time” in the poem to show the time of the journey. “And” is also repeated severally in the poem likewise “Birth and Death.” The essence of repetition is for emphasis and to call the attention of the people.
LANGUAGE: The poet’s choice of words and expression is in line with the subject matter. The Biblical allusion aptly brings out the message of the poem. The vocabulary used is also simple for easier understanding of the poem. There is also the appropriate use of alliteration and repetition in the poem.
DRAMATIC: The poem can be dramatized. The three wise men can be turned to characters as well as the camel men and the hostile villagers.
MOOD: The mood of the poet has the admixture of sadness and happiness. The experiences of the Magi at the beginning are sad, but toward the end of the poem, the mood changes to that of happiness because of the friendly environment and the re-birth of the wise men.
QUESTION 4: Narrate the experiences of the Magis in “The Journey of the Magi.”
The poem is about the Magi; the three wise men in the holy Bible, who embarked on the journey from the East for the rebirth of their souls to visit Jesus Christ at birth with gifts; Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh. The men face a lot of difficulties on the way.
The Magis embarked on the journey during an unfriendly weather; the weather was harsh.
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey;
The ways deep and the weather sharp,”
It was during the dry harmattan season. They rode on camels back through the desert and the heat of the sand of the desert disturbed the camel from walking conveniently.
They shared some ugly experiences they had; like sleeping under the melting snow and other places that were not pleasurable for them that they regretted ever embarking on the journey.
The beautiful girls that come to them with sweet meals to lure them “silken girls” make them remember home and their lovely and beautiful wives at home.
““Lying down in the melting snow,
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.”
The camel men that served as guide to them also complained that they missed their women and drinks; this makes them run away at times.
“Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women.”
The people they met on the way were also hostile to them; they charged exorbitant amounts for their accommodation and the environment was not so convenient for them. They later decided to travel throughout the night and if at all they wanted to rest, they sleep in snatches.
“And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the village dirty and charging high prices;
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night.
Sleeping in snatches,”
It got to a stage that they were totally discouraged that they were having the feelings that the journey was a futile one; nothing would be achieved.
The second stage of the journey takes them to a more friendly environment. They were closer to where baby Jesus was born.
The environment is wet, smelling of vegetation with a running stream. A place of eating and drinking is seen here.
“Then at dawn we came down to a temperate alley.
Wet below the snow line, smelling of vegetation,
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,”
They continue on the journey until they reach their destination which they were not so satisfied with, because Jesus was born in a manger.
QUESTION 5: What are the themes of “The Journey of the Magi”?
The themes are the same with the messages of the poem.
SUCCESS IS ATTACHED TO DIFFICULTIES: The poem teaches us that nothing good comes easily. The three men embark on the journey of salvation during the dry harsh weather. It is a long journey that they still have to pass through the desert. The road to success is rough.
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For 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.”
DETERMINATION: Despite the unfriendly conditions the men are exposed to, they still continue on the journey until they achieve their aims. With determination, they overcome the problems.
REGRET: At a stage, the problem was about overcoming them that they regret ever embarking on the journey, but with determination, they overcome it.
WOMEN AS AN AGENT OF DESTRUCTION: The men encounter women on their way as part of the agents that discourage them on the journey.
HOSTILITY: The villagers the men meet on the way are not friendly to them; they charge high prices to accommodate them.
SALVATION: As the men move closer to their destination, they begin to enjoy friendly weather and environment. This teaches us that there is joy in salvation.
HUMBLENESS: The men are not satisfied with the place because Jesus Christ was born in a manger. This is a sign of humbleness, for a king to be born in a manger.
BIRTH: This is shown by the birth of Jesus Christ which brings salvation to the world.