The Journey Of The Magi

Matthew's Gospel reveals little about the three wealthy visitors said to have presented gifts to the infant Jesus. Yet hundreds of generations of Christians have embellished that image of the Three Kings or Magi for a myriad of social and political as well as spiritual purposes. Here Richard Trexler closely examines how this story has been interpreted and used throughout the centuries. Biblically, the Journey of the Magi presents a positive image of worldly power, depicting the faithful in progress toward their God and conveying the importance of the gift-giving laity as legitimators of their deity. With this in mind, Trexler explains in particular how Western societies have molded the story to describe and augment their own power--before the infant God and among themselves. The author demonstrates how the magi as a group functioned in Christian society. For example, magi plays, processions, and images taught people how to pray and behave in reverential contexts; they featured monarchs and heads of republics who enacted the roles of the magi to legitimate their rule; and they constrained native Americans to fall in line behind the magi to instill in them loyalty toward the European world order. However, Trexler also shows these philosopher-kings as competitive among each other, as were groups of different ages, races, and genders in society at large. Originally modeled on representations of the Roman triumphs, the magi have reached the present day as street children wearing crowns of cardboard, proving again the universality of the image for constructing, reinforcing, and even challenging a social hierarchy. Originally published in 1997. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Twentieth Century English Literature Was Shaped To A Great Extent By The Genius Of T.S. Eliot. His Towering Personality Illuminates The Major Genres Of English Literature. No Study Of The Early Twentieth Century British Canonical Literature Is Possible Without Encountering The Icon T.S. Eliot Poet, Critic, Dramatist.Images And Symbols Have Been Always Employed By Writers Of All Literatures Down The Ages. But, Movements Like Imagism And Symbolism Gave An Entirely New Focus To Images And Symbols. Archetypal Criticism Was A Parallel Emergence. In An Age Torn By The Anxiety Of Two World Wars, And Dissatisfied With Scientific And Materialistic Concept Of Man, The Archetypal Approach Sought To Restore To Man The Entire Humanity.The Present Volume Offers An Indepth Study Of The Major Archetypes And How They Are Interwoven In The Imagery And Symbolism In The Poetry Of T.S. Eliot. The Complexities Of The Modern Age And Their Expression In Eliot S Poetry Cannot Be Understood Without Archetypes, Myths And Legends. This Domain Had Not Been Explored So Far. Hence, This Volume Presents A Systematic Structuring And Evaluation Of Archetypal Imagery And Symbolism In Eliot S Major Poems As Well As Other Minor Poems. It Is Hoped That Teachers, Researchers And Students Of Literature Will Find The Volume To Be Of Considerable Interest And Use.

George Williamson treats his subject with great precision. Documenting his analyses with ample quotes from the poems and essays, he elucidates the structure and meaning of Eliot’s masterpieces. To make this guide more accessible, the poems are arranged in chronological order, as they appeared in The Complete Poems and Plays.

Contributed articles on the works of Rohinton Mistry, b. 1952, Indian born Canadian author.

Selected College Poems presents a cross-section of English language poetry suitable for the undergraduate General English course. While the major part of the anthology consists of British poetry from Shakespeare to Dylan Thomas, a few selected American and Indian poets have also been included. Each poem is preceded by an introductory note on the poet and the poem in particular and is followed by detailed explanatory notes.

Praise for the earlier edition: "Students of modern American literature have for some years turned to Fifteen Modern American Authors (1969) as an indispensable guide to significant scholarship and criticism about twentieth-century American writers. In its new form--Sixteenth Modern American Authors--it will continue to be indispensable. If it is not a desk-book for all Americanists, it is a book to be kept in the forefront of the bibliographical compartment of their brains."--American Studies

The aim of Nelson Thornes Framework English is to develop students' confidence and achievement in writing. With its unique range of rich fiction and non-fiction texts, and comprehensive coverage of the core skills, Nelson Thornes Framework English Skills in Fiction and Non-Fiction targets students doing well in years 7-10.

The Epithet, Myriad-Minded Which Coleridge Applied To Shakespeare Seems To Be More Eminently Applicable To Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Whose Long Life Of Eighty Years Was Marked By Ceaseless And Torrential Flow Of Creativity Manifested In The Richness And Variety Of All Kinds Of Literary Forms Dance, Drama, Music, Painting And Original Organizational Activities. Whatever He Touched Turned Into Gold. Touching The Kindred Points Of Heaven And Earth He Was Both A Man Of Action And Of Contemplation, A Seer And Also A Pioneer In Cooperative Movement, A Writer Of Most Profound Poems And An Author Of Children S Text-Books Including Books Of Science, A Nationalist And Internationalist, A Man Of Royal Grandeur Like His Grandfather, A Prince, And An Ascetic Like His Father, A Maharshi. He Was Both A Poet And A Painter, A Dramatist And An Actor, A Philosopher And A Social Reformer, An Educationist And A Humanist. In His Philosophy Of Life The Best Of The East And That Of The West Are Reconciled Into A Harmonious Whole Enriching The Quality And Substance Of Life Which He Always Saw Steady And Saw It Whole. His Life Was Marked As Much By Shakespearean Fecundity As By Protean Plasticity. His Inclusive Mind Aspired After The Universal Man Shining In The Glory Of Creation And Joie De Vivre.Tagore S Unfailing Faith In Man And Divinity, His Concern For Women And Solicitation For Children, His Sympathy For The Poor And The Downtrodden, His Philosophical Speculations And Practical Wisdom, His Perception Of The Zeitgeist And The Evolution Of Taste All Find Expression In The All-Encompassing Sweep Of His Writings In A Magnificent Synthesis Of Philosophical Profundity And Aesthetic Luxuriance.With The Passage Of Time Tagore Has Only Grown In Stature And Is Now Reckoned As An Increasingly Significant And Complex Personality. Whether Seen As A Great Sentinel Or A Complete Man, The Finest Exponent Of The Bengal Renaissance Or The Harbinger Of A New Age, A Majestic Personality Or A Deeply Scarred Individual, It Is Rewarding To Revisit Tagore A Miracle Of Literary History In The Light Of Modern Criticism.The Essays Included In This Volume Offer Illuminating Insights Into Various Facets Of Tagore S Literary Works, Mind And Personality. It Will Be Found Enjoyable As Well As Useful By Students, Scholars And General Readers.

HERE, AT LAST is a book of uncommon common sense for young people by someone who has worked with them for thirty-five years. F. Washington Jarvis is one of the nation's most eminent educators, now in his twenty-eight year as headmaster of Boston's Roxbury Latin School, the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. Jarvis's approach is anecdotal. If it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, it is ten times as true when you are speaking to young teenagers. They are gripped by the story of how real people cope with real situations. They are interested when you share with them the concrete realities of your own life and experience, and they are almost always willing to listen to adults who actually believe in something, who actually stand for something. Jarvis's addresses, reprinted from his school's publications, have enjoyed something of a cult underground circulation among young people - and their parents and grandparents. Now his top hits have been brought together in a single volume for wider circulation. The author never talks down to his audience. he knows that - appearances to the contrary - students are asking the deepest questions, questions about whether life has meaning and purpose. He also knows that teenagers often find themselves caught by surprise in situations where they have to make tough decisions. And he believes that they are willing, even eager, to know how others have coped in similar situations. This is a book of deep and practical wisdom, one of our surprise bestsellers in hardcover, and now available in softcover to serve an even wider audience.

This chronological survey of major influences on T.S. Eliot's worldview covers the poet's spiritual and intellectual evolution in stages, by trying to see the world as Eliot did. It examines his childhood influences as well as the literary influences that inspired him to write his earliest poetry; his life as an American expatriate living in London from 1915 to 1930, including his ill-fated marriage and his intellectual engagement with the literary traditions of his new country; and the ways in which his intellectual pursuits fostered a spiritual rebirth that simultaneously reflected his past and revealed his future, demonstrating how the early Romantic revolutionary became a staunch defender of tradition.

This is the first study to examine the Arabic translations of a number of major modern poems in the English language, in particular T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. With case studies dedicated to the Arab translators who were themselves modernist poets, including Badr Shakir al-Sayyab and Saadi Yusuf, the author brings a reading of the translations as literary works in their own right. Revealing why the Arab modernists were drawn to these poems through situational context, Ghareeb Iskander shows that the influence exerted by the English originals stems from the creative manner in which the Arab poet-translators converted them into their own language.

Current biblical scholarship tends to treat the nativity narratives as having little historical basis and to see in them illustrations of the particular theologies of Matthew and Luke. Nonbiblical scholarship sees in these narratives only an adaptation of traditional folklore themes relating to the birth of the hero. This leaves the ordinary Christian in a vacuum that the mass media and other commercial interests are only too anxious to fill. 'Liberating Christmas' shows that, regardless of whether the nativity narratives are rooted in actual historical situations, they do portray a particular network of social-political relationships. Thus Caesar ruled and taxed peoples, such as the Jews, through client-kings, such as Herod, who ruled with sharply repressive violence. But the narratives also celebrate the birth of a messiah who will finally liberate his people even though he and his family are driven into exile. The Christmas stories as reappraised by this book have, therefore, important political implications, implications not only about first-century Palestine but about contemporary history as well. These latter implications are brought out by an extensive analysis of the political-economic domination exercised in much of Latin America by the United States, domination maintained by Òclient dictators who use death squads (paralleling Herod's slaughter of innocents) to terrorize and control the exploited peasants while driving members of basic Christian communities into exile. 'Liberating Christmas' has as much to say about the 'Pax Americana' as the original nativity narratives had to say about the 'Pax Romana'. The story of Jesus is as important to ordinary readers today as it was when it was first told centuries ago.

Christmas is a charming and memorable season for children, and it is perfectly reasonable for well-informed adults to enjoy cribs, candles, carols, decorated trees, presents, and family feasts. It is not possible, however, to be a well-informed adult believer without adding to the value of the Christmas celebration by searching for the deeper meaning of the gospels, a meaning that is beyond the comprehension of young children. Gospel Overtures offers a detailed analysis of the Christmas stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, as well as suggestions for personal reflection. Christianity is primarily a religion for adults, and the gospel narratives are intended to inspire adult faith. Gospel Overtures is intended to help readers appreciate the depth of the gospels and to grow as believers.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary from Dallas Seminary will be welcomed by a wide spectrum of Bible students, from the beginner, who will find it easy to understand and easy to use, to the advanced, who will find it consistently thorough and reliable.

From an Existential Vacuum to a Tragic Optimism: The Search for Meaning and the Presence of God in Modern Literature employs a new theoretical approach to critical analysis: Victor Frankl’s logotherapy (from the Greek “logos” for word or reason and often related to divine wisdom), a unique form of existentialism. On the basis of his observations of the power of human endurance and transcendence – the discovery of meaning even in the midst of harrowing circumstances – Frankl diagnoses the malaise of the current age as an “existential vacuum,” a sense of meaninglessness. He suggests that a panacea for this malaise may be found in creativity, love, and moral choice – even when faced with suffering or death. He affirms that human beings may transcend this vacuum, discover meaning – or even ultimate meaning to be found in Ultimate Being, or God – and live with a sense of “tragic optimism.” This book observes both the current age’s “existential vacuum” – a malaise of emptiness and meaninglessness – and its longing for meaning and God as reflected in three genres: poetry, novel, and fantasy. Part I, “Reflections of God in the Poetic Vision,” addresses “tragic optimism” – hope when there seems to be no reason for hope – in poems by William Butler Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Part II, “American Angst: Emptiness and Possibility in John Steinbeck’s Major Novels,” presents a study of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and The Winter of Our Discontent – novels that together form a uniquely American epic trilogy. Together these novels tell the story of a nation’s avarice, corruption, and betrayal offset by magnanimity, heroism, and hospitality. Set against the backdrop of Frankl’s ways of finding meaning and fulfillment – all obliquely implying the felt presence of God – the characters are representative Every Americans, in whose lives are reflected a nation’s worst vices and best hopes. Part III, “A Tragic Optimism: The Triumph of Good in the Fantasy Worlds of Tolkien, Lewis, and Rowling,” defines fantasy and science fiction as mirrors with which to view reality. J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are considered in the light of Frankl’s logotherapy – providing paths to meaning and the ultimate meaning to be found in God. In a postmodern, fragmented age, these works affirm a continuing vision of God (often through His felt absence) and, also, a most human yearning for meaning even when there seems to be none – providing, as Frankl maintains, “a tragic optimism.”