T.S Eliot

Brittany KnowlesShannon McCulloughPeriod 5

Biography

• T.S. Eliot was born Thomas Stearns Eliot on September 26, 1888

• He was born and grew up in St. Louis Missouri, but later became a British citizen

• Although starting school later then most children because of a medical condition, he attended Harvard when he was older and later studied at Oxford University in England

• Many critics admired his originality

Biography (cont.)

• Many people are influenced by his modern style of poetry

• In 1927, he joined the Anglican Catholic Church of England because religion inspired him and filled him with hope

• In 1948 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature

Biography (cont.)

• T.S. Eliot died on January 4, 1965

• There is a memorial of him in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey

Poem

A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.' And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling And running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly.

Poem Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the

snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness, And three trees on the low sky, And an old white horse galloped in away in the meadow. Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel, Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver, And feet kicking the empty wine-skins. But there was no imformation, and so we continued And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

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 had 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.

Poem Summary

• This poem symbolizes the coming of Jesus Christ

• Eliot talks about the long and painful journey of the Magi to go see the savior

• Eliot talks about three significant events: the Nativity, the empty tomb of Easter, and the

second coming of Christ• He talks about how the coming of Jesus

symbolizes darkness leaving the Earth

Poem Overview

• The topic of the poem is Christianity• The Journey of the Magi is a modern poem• It is a dramatic monologue and written in free

verse• The rhythm of the poem is established by the

quotation from Lancelot Andrewes• The tone of the poem is at first soft and flowing

and then they become longer and looser. In the final section the speaker voice becomes weary and doubtful

Poem Overview

• A literary device is a literary or linguistic technique that produces a specific effect

• An example of a literary device used in the Journey of the Magi is:

Alliteration: “cold coming” and “summer palaces on slopes”

Work Cited Page

• "Journey of the Magi (Style)." Answers. 2006. Answers Corporation. 15 Feb. 2008     <http://www.answers.com/topic/journey-of-the-magi-poem-4?nr=1&lsc=true>.

• Poetry Archive. 13 Feb. 2008 <http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=7070>.

Work Cited Page

• "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career." Modern American Poetry. 1999 . American     National Biography. 20 Feb. 2008 <http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/     a_f/eliot/life.htm>.

• Wohlpart, Jim. itech. Aug. 1996. University of South Florida. 15 Feb. 2008     <http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/eliot.htm>.