The Journey of the Magi

Continuing off of the previous post, T.S. Eliot's The Journey of the Magi is another brilliant example of a work of art that addresses the melancholic nature of the Christmas message, although the magi seem to be filled with fear and loathing as much as melancholy. Here's the last stanza, although I recommend reading the entire poem (it's not that long):

All this was a long time ago, I

     remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This:  were we led all that way for

Birth or Death?  There was a Birth,

     certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt.  I had

     seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different;

     this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like

     Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these

     Kingdoms,

But no longer at ease here, in the old

     dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their

     gods.

I should be glad of another death.