The Many Magi

Aubrey Slaughter 4/9/07 The Many Magi W.B. Yeats’ The Magi holds within it definite departures from the traditional Biblical story. This indicates that while Yeats may be alluding to and drawing heavily from the Christian tradition, the meaning of this poem may lie beyond its scope. The Magi are represented as universal, rather than discrete and separate individuals. Yeats’ assertion that “now as at all times I can see them in my mind’s eye” implies that the Magi are never far from him, and may in fact be a part of his or the collective psyche. If this is so, then the poem would imply that humanity is “the pale unsatisfied one”, “hoping to find” meaning within the meaning within the mystical fog of religion. The repetition of the word “all” when describing the Magi lends credence to the idea of their being inclusive representatives of the world, as does their appearance and disappearance into “the blue depth of the sky”, a sort of overwhelming backdrop to which individuals such as the Magi can sometimes gain precedence. Stripped of their individuality and traditional importance, the Magi must wait in their “stiff, painted clothes”, reduced to powerless observers by their lack of understanding and their inherently ephemeral nature. What they are waiting for, however, is a matter of pressing concern. In The Second Coming, Yeats alludes to the Anti-Christ, who “Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born”. This act by its nature progresses from “Calvary’s turbulence”, and would be a fit for “The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor”. If these Magi are waiting for the Anti-Christ, they are now nihilistic

witnesses rather than awe-stricken onlookers. If these Magi, who have “ancient faces”, are harbingers of the Beast, then the doleful tone that the poem conveys is justified, or even required. The dire birth that is to come is reminiscent of the birth of modern warfare that Yeats saw, and the Magi, the silent, helmed dead who must see it in. This poem is no paean; it is instead a prelude to a dirge, and ushers in something bitter.