Journey of the Magi

Quiz: "Journey of the Magi" by T. S. Eliot

1. [Recall – Form & Speaker] Who is the speaker of "Journey of the Magi," and at what point in time does he appear to be narrating the events of the poem?

1. [Recall – Context] From what source did Eliot borrow the language of the poem's opening lines, and why is that source significant to understanding his intentions?

1. [Recall – Imagery] Identify THREE images from the dreamlike second stanza that the speaker only partially recalls seeing during the journey.

1. [Recall – Symbols] What biblical event do the three trees in the second stanza foreshadow, and what does this foreshadowing suggest about the relationship between Christ's birth and death?

1. [Comprehension – Symbol] What two separate moments from the story of Christ do the images of silver pieces and men gambling recall, and what broader point do these symbols make about the poem's timeline?

1. [Comprehension – Tone] How would you describe the speaker's emotional state by the time he reaches the third stanza? Why is his tone surprising given that he has just witnessed the birth of Christ?

1. [Comprehension – Theme] The speaker asks whether he witnessed a birth or a death. In what sense can the Nativity be understood as a "death" for the Magi?

1. [Analysis – Symbol] What does the white horse symbolize in the context of the poem, and from which text does this image originate?

1. [Analysis – Context] "Journey of the Magi" was published in 1927, the same year Eliot converted to Christianity. How does the poem's portrayal of conversion challenge a conventional, celebratory view of religious faith?

1. [Analysis – Theme] The poem explores the idea of being caught between two worlds. Using evidence from the analysis, explain how the concept of "the old dispensation" reflects the theme of identity in the poem.

Answer Key

1. The speaker is one of the Magi (wise men). He narrates as an old man looking back on the journey long after it occurred, reflecting on its unsettling impact.

1. Eliot borrowed the opening lines almost verbatim from a 1622 Christmas sermon by Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, a writer he admired. This grounds the poem in established Christian tradition while Eliot simultaneously subverts its tone of reverence.

1. Any three of the following: a valley with flowing water, a vine, a tavern, three trees beneath a low sky, a white horse, and men gambling for silver pieces.

1. The three trees foreshadow Golgotha and the three crosses of the Crucifixion. This suggests that Christ's birth already contains the essence of his death — the Nativity and the Passion are inseparable.

1. The silver pieces recall Judas's betrayal, and the gambling recalls soldiers casting lots for Christ's garments at the Crucifixion. Together, they reinforce the poem's central idea that the end is intertwined with the beginning — that birth and death are one continuous event.

1. The speaker is exhausted, unsettled, and quietly alienated. This is surprising because witnessing the birth of Christ might be expected to produce joy or spiritual triumph; instead, the speaker experiences a profound and ongoing inner crisis.

1. Witnessing the Incarnation marked the death of the speaker's former self and his pre-Christian worldview. The old life he once knew was extinguished by the encounter, making the birth of Christ simultaneously the death of who he used to be.

1. The white horse symbolizes apocalyptic change — the end of one era and the turbulent beginning of another. The image is drawn from the Book of Revelation.

1. Rather than portraying conversion as joyful or liberating, the poem presents it as deeply disorienting and costly. The Magi return feeling alienated from their former world yet not fully at peace in a new one, suggesting that true faith demands the sacrifice of comfort and certainty.

1. "The old dispensation" refers to the pre-Christian pagan world the Magi return to after witnessing the Nativity. They can no longer embrace it, yet they have not fully left it behind. This in-between state reflects the theme of identity — the speaker is caught between two worlds, belonging fully to neither, which mirrors the painful, unresolved nature of genuine spiritual transformation.