This paper is to get away from contemporary literary criticism and discourseconcerning Yeats and Eliot. This is not to ignore the features of contemporaryculture which are changing rapidly, including modernism to postmodernism. Yet, Iwant to focus on the poem itself. With the poems of both poets dealing with thesame topic coincidently, I concentrate on the different aspects of modern poetry andimportance of style from the two poets. Also, I believe that such aspects anddifference in style will dedicate to understanding contemporary culture from theirdifferent points of view of the world and religion. This view helps us to understandtoday’s cultural facets from which we can experience a variety of lifestyles.Especially, religious points of view by the two poets help us see the relations ofreligion with today’s culture, the religion which might not be considered serioustoday in a general sense. The poem, “The Magi,” is thus delivered in this paper tosee such religious significance as suggested from various literary symbols they areusing in their poetry.
Eliot tries to find the way in which ultimate happiness of human beings comesfrom the life in religious dimension; whileas Yeats wants to possess a complete lifeon a different level, that is the world of poetry. Such visions are well suggested inthe poem, “The Magi.” Eliot discovers a Christian life from which people canexperience a new vision in today’s difficult times. Yet, Yeats explores a new life inarts. The former is dreaming of a Christian kingdom while the latter is dreaming ofa visionary kingdom. These differences command the style and form of the twopoets. In this respect, Yeats gets over Eliot’s prejudice on him. So, the two poetsshould not be evaluated on the basis of time. They should be taken into accountfrom a variety of perspectives, not from any fixed ones, with the different valuesthey are suggesting beyond time and place.