TS Eliot

The first five lines talk about how cold it was, thereby emphasizing the difficulty of the journey.

The poet shows that there were multiple difficulties and they just kept coming. This is meant to make us feel pity for the men, because of mounting difficulties they had to face.

1. The first five lines are quoted from a sermon of a priest in the 1600s. How do the first 5 lines of the poem set the scene for the difficult journey ahead? (1)

2. Look at how many times the poet uses the word ‘and’ in the first stanza. Why does he do this – what does it make us feel about their difficulties? (2)

A life of luxury where they were privileged to all their hearts’ desires.

The camels were being difficult; their guides were crude and neglected their duties; the fires kept going out in the cold; there were not enough shelters; the people they encountered were unfriendly, hostile, dirty and not honest; prices were high(any three)

3. What kind of life had the wise men left behind in their home country? (1)

4. What were some of the difficulties they had on their journey? (3)

If they were not use to these luxuries they would not have missed them as much

‘And three trees on the low sky’ (Line 24)

5. Why would the magi regret the “summer palaces” and the “silken girls” mentioned in lines 9-10? (1)

6. In the middle stanza the wise man describes various scenes he saw. Many people think that these are related to Christian stories. Here are some Biblical stories – which images in the poem can they be linked to? (5)

a. When Jesus was crucified there were three crosses on the hill.

‘And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow’ (Line 25)

b. In the Bible the saviour is depicted as arriving on a white horse.

c. Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding.

‘the empty wine-skins’ (Line 28)

d. Judas received 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus..

‘dicing for pieces of silver’ (Line 27)

e. The Roman soldiers played dice to see who would take Jesus’ clothes.

‘Six hands at an open door dicing’ (Line 27)

To avoid the hostile and unfriendly people; at night the men ran off and could not do so if they were traveling; they did not have to worry about fires for heat

And arrived at evening, not a moment too soonFinding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.(Line 30 – 31)

7. Give three (3) reasons why the magi decide to travel all night. (3)

8. Quote the two lines that describe the Magi’s arrival at their destination. (2)

They travelled all this way to see a great king and probably expected more / They did not expect to have such a life changing experience which would affect everything they had ever believed and known.

He emphasizes the importance of what he is about to ask.

9. After all the travelling you would expect the men to be very excited at the sight of Jesus’s birth. Why do you think he only found the place ‘satisfactory’? (1)

10. Why do you think he gave a whole line to and repeats the words: ‘set down / This set down / This’ (Lines 33-35)? (1)

They suddenly realised that everything that they had believed was of no significance. Their entire way of life would change.

11. In the last stanza the wise man says that there was a birth and a death. There was Jesus’ birth, and their birth into Christianity. Why do you think this rebirth was ‘hard and bitter agony for us, like Death’? What is going to change in their lives? (2)

The births were the birth of Jesus and their ‘birth’ into Christianity. The deaths refer to actual death and the death of their religion

The word ‘alien’ refers to something that is foreign. As he is referring to the people of his own country – his people – he is saying that his own ways of living has become foreign to him.

12. The poet is exploring the literal and figurative meanings of birth and death. Explain the births and deaths he is referring to in the last stanza. (2)

13. What is significant about the phrase “alien people” in line 42? (1)