What makes a person eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize? To receive the Nobel Peace Prize a person must make an outstanding contribution to society. This contribution must make a positive impact in people's lives while at the same time be affective in the future. This is precisely why Thomas Stearns Eliot won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1948. For making a new standard in modern poetry, he was awarded this great honor. His writings were known through out the world for not following the commonly used technique of writing poetry. Poems that he wrote were not only emotionally pleasing, but spiritually satisfying as well. One such example would be Journey of the Magi. This captivating poem is one of Eliot's most important works, not only because of the importance of the poem, but because of the story behind the poem.
Journey of the Magi was written shortly after he rejoined the Anglican Church. During his child hood, he had no choice but to be the same religion as his father and family members were. However, as he was growing up he decided to go on his own and convert to Calvinism. This, he later decided, was a grave error on hi own part. In the fall of 1926, Thomas Eliot and his wife accompanied his brother Henry and his wife to Italy. On the second day of the trip they visited St. Peter's. This church impressed Eliot so much that he reconverted back to the Anglican Church. However, this re-conversion came at a costly price. His guilt of changing religions affected him through out his life. His close companion Herbert Read even said: "I always felt that I was in the presence of a remorseful man, of one who had some secret sorrow or guilt." Perhaps this is why he was so compelled to write Journey of the Magi . This poem may possibly have been an apology letter to God in some way.
Though the poem could have been written out of guilt, it yet remains an incredible poem. This poem is written more in the sense of a story and not a poem. Unlike a traditional poem, this poem has no rhyming words, or even a rhythm to the poem. The poem re-illustrates the memories of one of the wise men that went to find the baby Jesus. Looking back at his memories the reader is actually able to see that almost every detail of his memory was a foreshadowing of Christ's death. When taken into proper consideration, this effect has a tremendous impact not only on the poem, but also on the reader. The way Eliot integrates the past and future is done so elegantly that it is almost unnoticeable. The slight details in the poem, such as the three trees, could be seen as nothing. However, we can see that the three trees represent the scene in which Jesus is to be crucified. These slight details are what make this poem so interesting.
Another poem in which Thomas Stearns Eliot incorporates life experiences is A Dedication to My Wife. This heart-warming poem was written for his wife after she had passed away. Once again guilt has played its tune in the life of Thomas Eliot. Marriage to Vivienne Haigh-Wood was not a happy one. At the tender age of twenty-six and twenty-seven the two were married. But did they marry out of love,or out of youthful ignorance? It was well known at the time that Eliot's marriage was not going well. He was as unhappy as she was. This was clearly shown in his writing. In Ode, he writes: "... Tortured. When the bridegroom smoothed his hair there was blood upon the bed. Morning was already late." In this we can speculate that the wedding night did not go as planned. Though the couple had may problems, deep down they shared a love which no one could probably understand. From the start of their life together Vivienne suffered from excruciatingly painful migraines. She would take medication to ease her pain, but the medication would cause her to go into rage fits. This situation would cause Eliot to go to America and never come back. While in America, he would hear the news of his wife's death. This would spark the painful inspiration of A Dedication to My Wife.
A Dedication to My Wife was written to let people know how sorry he felt for her and how much he actually loved her. In the last stanza it states: "But this dedication is for others to read: These are private words addressed to you in public." During their marriage they never really told anybody how they felt about each other. Is guilt the culprit of this poem? Or, is this poem his way of saying sorry? After reading the poem it is clearly seen that this poem is meant to be an apology not out of guilt, but out or truthful love.
T. S. Eliot was and will always remain a distinguished man in history. At the time I was given this assignment I was less then pleased that I had received Eliot as my research topic. However, after doing some research and technical work, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much I actually liked Eliot. Being exposed to Eliot's great works has opened a dam of knowledge for me. T. S. Eliot was truly a great man, but an even better poet.