Mr. Gershman
Miss Arsenault
ILA 9 Honors
Jen Crilly
11/12/08
“Journey of the Magi” Critical Analysis
With the great praise that is given to famous poems, there comes plenty of
criticism to follow. With examples presented in Michael Lake’s criticism of “Journey of
the Magi,” this essay reviews how and why criticism informs people’s 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. Eliot’s 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. Eliot’s search for meaning
in the modern world. T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi” renders human kind’s quest to
discover the purpose of their existence in an ever-changing landscape.
Michael Lake’s “Journey of the Magi” criticism discusses how the poem shows
that death leads to a new birth. The majority of T.S. Eliot’s 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 don’t 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. Lake’s criticism allows for those who are less informed
about how T.S. Eliot’s life affects his poetry, to understand certain aspects of the poem
that they wouldn’t otherwise ("Journey of the Magi.").
In addition to Lake’s analysis giving insight to T.S. Eliot’s idea that death leads to
a new birth, it also explains how he expresses the “old dogs can’t learn new tricks” theory
in “Journey of the Magi. Eliot adapts the old theory to human nature. T.S. Eliot believes
that humans naturally can’t 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 Lake’s 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 Eliot’s 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. Eliot’s true messages in
“Journey of the Magi” for the most part ("Journey of the Magi.").
“Journey of the Magi” informs one’s 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. Eliot’s theories on how death leads to a new birth, human’s can’t 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 weren’t 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. Eliot’s belief that humans can’t 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 can’t 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&use
rGroupName=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=R
ESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2
CNone%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.