Discuss the theme of regret in The Journey of the Magi .
Explanation
"Journey of the Magi", is one of the four Ariel Poems written by Eliot during 1927 and 1930. It is in the form of a monologue in which a magus, one of the Three Wise Men who came from the East to Bethlehem to see the infant Jesus, narrates their journey long after the event, and analyses its impact on their imagination. It was written by Eliot soon after his conversion to Catholicism. The agony of parting with one faith and embracing another is therefore the theme of the poem. In order to express this feeling, Eliot, according to his poetic practice, chooses the biblical alibi of the journey of the three Wise Men f rom the East to Bethlehem to see the Incarnation. Eliot believes that "poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality' So to escape from his emotion of agony and his personality, he dissolves himself in the emotion and personality of the Magi placed in a similar situation.
The poem is in the form of a monologue. One of the Magi, long after their journey, narrates the event in the end he analyses with uneasiness the impact of the journey on their imagination. He accepts the birth of the new faith. But he does not understand its significance. He is also unwilling to relinguish his pagan way of life which Christ has come to destroy. His "hard and bitter agony is as painful as that of the poet who is enchained to the past and unable to submit to a transition.
The Magi began journey during the worst time of the year. It was the very dead of winter. The journey was long and the ways were deep and hard. The camels on which they travelled were galled, sore-footed and refractory. They often lay down in the melting snow. The Wise Men felt sorry for leaving their summer palaces and the silken girls bringing sherbet. The camel men cursed complained and ran far away for want of liquor and women. They had no nightfires or shelter. The cities were hostile and the towns unfriendly. The villages were dirty and changed his sprices. At last they decided to travel by night sleeping only in snatches. All along, their voice of reason was reminding them that their action was foolish. The last part of the poem is more blatantly the Magus reminiscing about the story ("all this was a long time ago, I remember"), and in his recollection, he seems to be doubtful about whether or not the birth was a good or bad, replacing as it would his own religion and culture. In fact, at the end of the poem, he seems to regard it as a bad thing indeed, with the Magus wishing for his own death alongside the death of his peoples' conventional beliefs; hence, regret.