Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot: Analysed Textual
           Examples
       Technique         Example               Effect
                         “Running away… And       ● Neglecting indulgent lifestyles and remain
                         the night-fires going      loyal
                         out…And the cities       ● The challenges and distractions to their
       Polysyndeton      hostile and the towns      spiritual quest
                         unfriendly…And the       ●  Overwhelms the reader with a culmination
       Imagery           villages dirty”            of ideas that reaches its peak with the
                                                    imagery of a hostile urban environment
                                                  ●  Explores the challenges/distractions of
                                                    modern, urban life and indulgent lifestyles
                         “A temperate valley…     ● Images of rejuvenation and symbols of life
                         smelling of vegetation;    juxtaposed to the environment described in
                         with a running stream…”    the first stanza
       Juxtaposition
                                                  ● Suggests a progression from a hostile
                                                    urban life towards a spiritual experience of
                                                    rebirth
                         "I had seen birth and    ● With the birth of Christianity, the speaker
       Paradox
                         death"                     senses the death of the old ways
                         “We returned to our      ● Idolatry, desperation, hopelessness,
                         places, these Kingdoms,/   pre-Christian world suggests the modern
                         But no longer at ease      world, one cannot return once enlightened
       Allegory          here, in the old         ● Death of old systems and beliefs
                         dispensation,/ With an   ● Highlights the discomfort of spiritual growth
                         alien people clutching     and enlightenment
                         their gods”              ● How new beliefs and faith can be isolating
           © Art of Smart Education, 2022 https://www.artofsmart.com.au/
         Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot: Sample
         Paragraph Analysis
         Journey of the Magi, through the allegory of the memories of the Magus, suggests a
         form of spiritual fulfilment and provides a sense of hopeful expectation, which is lacking
         in his previous poems. The first stanza explores the physical difficulties of the journey to
         convey the challenges of modern, urban life and spiritual growth. This is evident with
         Eliot’s description of “running away… And the night-fires going out…And the cities
         hostile and the towns unfriendly…And the villages dirty”, which uses polysyndeton to
         overwhelm the reader with a culmination of ideas that reaches its peak with the imagery
         of a hostile urban environment. This is juxtaposed by the beautiful imagery of
         rejuvenation and birth with “a temperate valley… smelling of vegetation; with a running
         stream…” to suggest a progression from a hostile urban life towards a spiritual
         experience of rebirth. This juxtaposition elucidates Eliot’s exploration of spirituality as a
         challenging yet inevitable journey towards rebirth and enlightenment, which reaffirms
         the idea of transcending a Modernist futile existence through religion.
         © Art of Smart Education, 2022 https://www.artofsmart.com.au/
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