Journey of the Magi
by T.S. Eliot
'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey,
....
It's an astounding poem. If you've never read it, do yourself a favor -- go read, then listen to Eliot read it -- the link is here.
If you're thinking you're not a big fan of Eliot, give it a try anyway. Then try to answer these questions:
How does he do that?
How did he haul around the reputation of being too scholarly and too philosophical to write poetry, and then do that?
This poem is such a perfect melding of earthly earthiness and supernatural doings. Eliot captures that down-to-your-bones discomfort, the squirming, the revelation, the discovery that this isn't really my home -- that knowledge which at first is both comforting and terrifying.
~~~~~
The round up today is at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
7 comments:
No, I don't know this, Karen. It's so beautiful, & his voice reading... Thank you, a perfect one for now. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you, too, Linda! So glad to introduce you to this one today. All the best to you in 2015!
A perennial favorite. It never gets old, does it? Of course Eliot is my favorite, the poet I know best, the one I saturated myself with.
Yes, Melanie -- it seems new every time I read it. I love it. Knew you did, too. :)
Wow. So much more there than just "We three kings..."
This is what I love about Poetry Friday -- being introduced to poems like that! Thanks, Karen.
Happy to introduce you to it, Tabatha!
Mary Lee, yes -- it's so rich, isn't it?
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