CIURARU – RUSU (CIOBANU) GABRIELA

LEPC II

Models of writing: A comparative analysis between 2 texts

(The Bible, Matthew 2:1-12 and T. S. Eliot, The Journey of the Magi)

The first text is a passage from the Bible, Matthew’s Gospel (2:1-12): The Magi visit the
Messiah. The second text is a poem written by T. S. Eliot: The Journey of the Magi. The main
common characteristic of the two texts is the story of the birth of Jesus and the visit of the three
Magi/wise man. There are some similarities between the two texts, but they also have a lot of
differences.

The text from the Bible reports the story of the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem. It has
several parts: the arrival of the Magi looking for the new-born “King of Jews”, the answer on
where the king was to be born, the attempt of Herod to have the Magi report to him, and the
arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem where they worshiped the child and presented their gifts.

On the other hand, T.S. Eliot’s poem explores the journey the wise men took in order to
get to the place Jesus was born. It differs from the first text because there is no mention of the
gifts, the star or even the name of Jesus. There is no indication of the Magi being astrologers or
priests, the actual nativity scene is elided from the narrative and Jesus himself is absent. The
focus is more on the process and the inner and outer journeys that humanity has to undertake in
order to experience spiritual rebirth.

The gifts that the Magi brought in the first text are full of symbolic meanings: gold, a gift
for a king, incense, for deity (sacrifices in the Old Testament were sprinkled with it), myrrh, as a
preparation for His death and suffering.

If we take into account the genre or species of the two texts, we can say that the Bible is a
narrative writing, a purposeful story, retelling the historical events of the past that are intended to
give meaning and direction for a given people in the present. There is a narrator (in our case
Matthew), a scene (Bethlehem, Jerusalem), a plot (the birth of Jesus and the visit of the three
Magi), characters (Jesus, the Magi, Herod).
 In comparison, The Journey of the Magi is a metaphorical poem, representing both birth
and death, renewal and spiritual rebirth. The speaker is one of the Magi, whose narrative is split
into 3 parts: the journey to the birthplace and the appearance of doubt, the arrival, the prefiguring
and the satisfaction and the reflection and acknowledgement of a new faith. In fact, the birth of
Jesus is the death of the world of magic, astrology and paganism.

The poem is a monologue written in free verse. It makes use of imagery related to
light/darkness, warmth/coldness. We can notice a lot of alliterations: “cold coming….
ways…weather…. winter, summer…. slopes, silken…. sherbet, camel…. crushing” etc. In terms
of time, there are different time frames beginning with the historic level linked to the text in the
Bible (Gospel of Matthew).

We can talk about the two texts according to the codes theory elaborated by Roland
Barthes. The theorist describes the text as “a galaxy of signifiers, not as a structure of signifieds”.
The text has no beginning, it is reversible, it has several entrances. It can be seen as a tangled ball
of threads that need to be unrevealed in order to find a wide range of potential meanings. Barthes
identified 5 codes: hermeneutic, enigma, symbolic, cultural and semantic.

The hermeneutic code refers to the voice of the truth that can be revealed or not. Both
texts have elements that can be linked to the truth, but the way people interpret the Bible is still
very mingled. The enigma code deals with the empirical voice, the way in which tension is built
up. In T.S. Eliot’s poem there is a strong image of tension. The three wise men have a difficult
time getting to the place Jesus was born. The symbolic code is linked to the voice of the person,
to the connotation of the words. If in the Bible, words are clearer, in the poem we have a lot of
examples of words that can be interpreted in various ways. The cultural code refers to the voice
of symbols and the two texts are filled with such examples: the gifts, the star, the three trees in
the valley etc. The semantic code deals with the voice of science, the cultural knowledge,
morality and ideology. Both the passage from the Bible and the poem have information that refer
to ideology and religious knowledge and beliefs.

T. S. Eliot’s poem is based on the theme of religion, the story of the visit of the three wise
men to Jesus’ birthplace. They started their journey in the extreme cold of the winter to reach the
place Christ was born and to offer him presents. In spite of the suffering, they continued their
journey throughout the night; in the way they did not get shelter, food or help from the people of
the cities and town. Everyone was hostile and unfriendly to them and this is a proof that people
(now and then) are not aware of the importance of Christ’s birth. At one point in the course of
the journey, they saw a temperate valley with natural vegetation and beauty which lessened their
tiredness (a beautiful natural imagery). The arrival at the place Jesus was born can be interpreted
also as T.S. Eliot’s religious achievement. Jesus’ birth is different from those of common people,
His birth was hard, bitter agony of the human race, like death. The description of the 3 trees on
the low sky symbolizes the future Crucifixion of Christ. The Magi are a symbol of the spiritual
quest.

“The Journey of the Magi” is inspired by the story in the Gospel according to Matthew.
The Magi from the East came to Bethlehem in order to worship the King who came into this
world to save the Jews. At home, in their distant, foreign lands, the Magi had all the comfort of
princely living, but something was missing – they were restless and unsatisfied. They were
willing to risk everything to find the reality their vision promised. Unlike the poor shepherds, the
Magi had to travel a long road; they had to face adversity, and this had prepared them to accept
the angels’ message.

In conclusion, the two texts have similarities and differences. Of course, the main reason
is that they were written in two totally different periods of time. The Bible was edited at the
beginning of humanity; the New Testament starts with the birth of Jesus. The Gospel from
Matthew presents the journey of the 3 Magi, who wanted to get to the place Jesus was born in
order to worship him and bring Him gifts. They were called by King Herod, who started to get
impatient with the news of a new king who was born. But an angel appeared in their dream and
advised them to take another way home. T. S. Eliot’s poem, “The Journey of the Magi”, focuses
on the difficult journey of the 3 Magi, but never mentions Jesus, or the star they have to follow,
or the gifts they brought all the way from the East. The message of the poem is very strong, like
the difficult birth of Jesus and the difficult journey the Magi passed through, the human race has
to undergo a lot of struggles in order to have a spiritual rebirth.

Bibliography:

https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-312014582/reading-the-bible-as-the-report-of-the-
word-of-god
https://www.slideshare.net/alexdabriel/barthes-codes-theory

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/12/07/AR2007120701782.html??noredirect=on

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-biblical-elements-journey-magi-how-can-line-
347225

https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/eliot/context/