Allusions In The Journey Of The Magi

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Journey of the Magi Seeing the light while in the tunnel is something we all hope for. Likewise, the “modern poets,” or wise men, were longing for the same thing. T.S. Eliot in “The Journey of the Magi,” finds the light at the end of the tunnel. By the use of imagery, symbols, and allusions we will see the Magi, Eliot, find his faith. This will not be a physical journey, but this was his life journey. The wise men, in the Bible, went out to find Jesus, their savior. Eliot goes to find hope and savior also; this poem in its entirety is an allusion to the Christmas story. He was empty with no hope after the war; it was “The very dead of winter.” (5) Winter was a symbol of where he was emotionally in his life. Identically, He then reflects …show more content…

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” When a Christian is saved the old them dies, not a physical death but a spiritual one. Then a new creation is formed. That is exactly what Eliot was confirming when he was questioning “Birth or Death?” (36) Then he says, “But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, / With an alien people clutching their gods. / I should be glad of another death.” (41-43). His dispensation has been changed on this journey. He has a new view on life because of all these things that he has seen. Many people will still be going in their dark, depressing ways but not him. He was glad of his spiritual death; the old him died and a new Eliot was arising. Eliot’s useless life was transformed by an encounter with the King. Jesus was his light at the end of the tunnel. The entire poem was an allusion to the Christmas Story, but there were many more allusions, symbols, and imagery that helped us see him transform from hopelessness to hopefulness. Jesus was not in the manger. He already was baptized, put on a tree, made the white horse run

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