T.S Eliot

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T.S Eliot
Brittany Knowles Shannon McCullough Period 5
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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

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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

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Biography (cont.)

• T.S. Eliot died on January 4, 1965
• There is a memorial of him in Poets Corner in
  Westminster Abbey

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Work Cited Page

• "Journey of the Magi (Style)." Answers. 2006.
  Answers Corporation. 15 Feb. 2008     lthttp//www
  .answers.com/topic/journey-of-the-magi-poem-4?nr1
  lsctruegt.
• Poetry Archive. 13 Feb. 2008 lthttp//www.poetryarc
  hive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId7070gt.
  

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Work Cited Page

• "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career." Modern American
  Poetry. 1999 . American     National Biography.
  20 Feb. 2008 lthttp//www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poe
  ts/     a_f/eliot/life.htmgt.
• Wohlpart, Jim. itech. Aug. 1996. University of
  South Florida. 15 Feb. 2008     lthttp//itech.fgc
  u.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/eliot.htmgt.