The Magi

Now as at all times I can see in the mind's eye,

In their stiff, painted clothes, the pale unsatisfied ones
lines 1-2 - The Magi were wise men searching ("unsatisfied ones") for spiritual truth (in the Bible
story, specifically searching for the Messiah, the Christ Child, a deliverer). They are usually
represented in art as dressed in fine, almost royal clothing ("stiff, painted clothes"). The speaker in
the poem imagines them in their search.
Appear and disappear in the blue depth of the sky
With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten stones,
lines 3-4 - The speaker seems to see the seekers (Magi), old and weather-beaten, over the centuries
still seeking, still hoping to find answers. (Were/Are there other seekers searching for the same
answers through all those twenty centuries?)
And all their helms of Silver hovering side by side,
And all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
lines 5-6 - They are still hopeful of finding answers. They focus on this goal together, standing
shoulder to shoulder in their helms of Silver (the fancy headgear such men might have worn),
hoping to find the Child, the answer.

Being by Calvary's turbulence unsatisfied,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.
lines 7-8 - Calvary is the site of Christ's crucifixion. The bestial (beastly) floor is our world, or
perhaps just the stable of the Christmas story, a grubby cave for housing animals, certainly not what
one would expect for the birthplace of a king, a deliverer. The cruelty of the crucifixion and of our
world (or perhaps just the grubbiness of that stable birthplace, so far from glorious) remembered
down through all the centuries, is in sharp contrast to the beauty and hope of the Birth of Christ
those men were seeking. All of us seekers over these twenty centuries are still searching for the
answer to this "mystery," this contradiction between our hopes for divine, loving deliverance and
our knowledge of the cruelties of the world (or if not cruelties, simply the stark, bare realities of
being human versus the glory of the divine). We are the Magi still searching. And the mystery
continues. ("Mystery" in spiritual terms is "a religious truth incomprehensible to the reason and
knowable only through divine revelation.")
Although no other story is more widely known than the life of Jesus, no other story from any other
religion has caused more debate to arise. In The Magi, Yeats focuses on the birth and death of Jesus'
life. Written in 1914, The Magi follows the journey of the "unsatisfied ones" and their unrequited
search for meaning in the "uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor." Yeats uses the wise men
(the "unsatisfied ones") to allude to his belief that mankind has yet to discover meaning and
fulfillment in Jesus' time on earth.
The religious imagery in The Magi helps convey the themes of desire and dissatisfaction.
According to the Bible, the magi (who were known as wise men from the East) followed a bright
star that led them to the birth of Jesus. They worshipped him and gave him gifts of gold, myrrh and
incense. In Yeats' The Magi, the wise men are the "unsatisfied ones." Not only do they witness the
birth of Jesus, but his death as well at Calvary, which is the hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was
crucified. Although they see these miraculous events, they are left unfulfilled, "being by Calvary's
turbulence unsatisfied." The "uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor" could be pertinent to the
birth of Jesus on the stable floor that he was supposedly born upon. But knowing the ideology of
Yeats and his belief in the Second Coming causes us to infer another meaning. The Second Coming,
which he wrote in 1920, is based on the theory that the birth of the Anti-Christ will come at the start
of the millenium. So the "bestial floor" most likely refers to its literal meaning, which is "belonging
to beasts", and the "uncontrollable mystery" is the birth of the Beast, the Anti-Christ. This
foreshadows the conclusion of The Second Coming: "And what rough beast, its hour come round at
last/Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" As the wise men in The Magi are waiting with their
"eyes still fixed" upon the bright star, they won't be satisfied until they are led to the "uncontrollable
mystery on the bestial floor."

Although The Magi is a short poem, it is riddled with plenty of diction and syntax to amplify its
meaning. The magi seem almost otherworldly as they "appear and disappear in the blue depth of the
sky" and are constantly in the poet's head ("Now as at all times I can see in the mind's eye). Yeats'
descriptions of the magi drill the words into the reader's head. For example, he describes the wise
men as "unsatisfied" twice in lines 2 and 7. He uses a series of s-sounding words such as: stones,
stiff, still fixed, helms of silver hovering side by side, and unsatisfied. These are the characteristics
of the magi, who are unchanging with "stiff, painted clothes." This could pertain to the depiction of
the wise men in religious art, who are usually shown wearing fine, rich clothing. They are weary
and "pale" with "ancient faces" that resemble "rain-beaten stones" and are forever waiting, "all their
eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more" the events that will satisfy their quest for meaning.
Yeats' repeats the word "all" when he describes the magi, which may allude to humankind as a
whole ("With all their ancient faces", "And all their helms of silver", "And all their eyes still
fixed"). Perhaps Yeats is pointing out the fact that despite our progression into each new century or
era, mankind is still baffled by religion, which has yet to be resolved into one solution for everyone.
Christ's coming to earth has left us even more dissatisfied and more fervent in our search for
meaning. We won't be fulfilled until "the uncontrollable mystery" arrives, or the emergence of the
Anti-Christ, which according to the Bible, is when the world will begin to end.
Yeats wrote the short poem The Magi in 1914 while he was living in Bloomsbury, London. In this
eight-line poem, Yeats follows the journey of the Magi or the unsatisfied ones and their
unrequited search for meaning in the uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor. The religious
imagery in The Magi helps to convey the themes of desire and dissatisfaction.

Although The Magi is a short poem, its meaning is amplified by its rich diction and syntax. The
magi seem almost otherworldly as they appear and disappear in the blue depth of the sky and are
constantly in the poets head (Now as at all times I can see in the minds eye).
His use of repetition reinforces his imagery of the Magi, who are described twice as unsatisfied
twice (lines 2 and 7). He uses a series of S-sounding words such as: stones, stiff, still fixed, helms
of silver hovering side by side, and unsatisfied. These are the characteristics of the magi, who are
unchanging with stiff, painted clothes. In religious art, the wise men are usually shown wearing
fine, rich, royal clothing.
The Magi are weary and pale with ancient faces that resemble rain-beaten stones and are
forever waiting, all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more the events that will satisfy their
quest for meaning.
Yeats repeats the word all when he describes the Magi, alluding, perhaps, to humanity as a whole:
With all their ancient faces all their helms of silver all their eyes still fixed. And,
perhaps, he uses the wise men, the unsatisfied ones, to allude to his belief that humanity has yet to
discover meaning and fulfilment in Christs time on earth.