Published in 1930, Thomas Stearns Eliot's poem "Journey of the Magi" conveys the atmosphere of the three wise men on their spiritual quest. This biblical allusion parallels the poet's own spiritual quest; his receiving into High Anglicanism, a highly ritualistic, morally and theologically conservative version of Anglicanism. Although the writing of the poem lacks spontaneity (taking three years to complete), an integral part of Eliot's composition is encompassed by emotions - those of futility, emptiness and indecision. Eliot states: "The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by making an 'objective correlative'; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion." This belief in emotive poetry is reflected in "Journey of the Magi" through his evocative use of religious symbolism. The equivocations underscoring this transitional poem emphasise the hardships of change.

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