Dec11
Poetry Friday: Journey of the Magi
There are a few good poems I know of about the Magi in the Christmas story, but I like this one by T.S. Eliot best.
Journey of the Magi
‘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…’
I like this invitation to consider this journey from a more realistic perspective than is usually suggested by nativity scenes (where the “three wise men” don’t really belong anyway) or Christmas cards:
The poem continues in entirety here, where you can listen to Eliot reading it. I especially like the last of its three stanzas, where the speaker poses a question:
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
Poetry Friday is at Random Noodling today.
Definitely one of my favorites, too, Janet. Thanks for sharing it today.
I’d never heard of this before, but I like it. Sometimes looking at it through another’s eyes can put you right there in the setting.
Oh yes, I love this poem too. A sharp, refreshing perspective, and it brings us home.
Lovely poem, beautiful writing
I love this one, too.
This is definitely not the “story” that is told on Christmas cards and in the carols! The recalcitrant camels made me laugh! That’s just what it would have been like. And the speaker’s question…so true…