A Song for Simeon

A Song for Simeon
by T. S. Eliot
The cover of the poem's first publishing, Faber and Gwyer's 1928 pamphlet
Written	1928 (1928)
First published in	Ariel Poems
Illustrator	Edward McKnight Kauffer
Form	Dramatic monologue
Meter	Free verse
Publisher	Faber and Gwyer
Publication date	September 1928 (September 1928)
Lines	37

"A Song for Simeon" is a 37-line poem written in 1928 by the American-English poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). It is one of five poems that Eliot contributed to the Ariel Poems series of 38 pamphlets by several authors published by Faber and Gwyer. "A Song for Simeon" was the sixteenth in the series and included an illustration by avant garde artist Edward McKnight Kauffer.^[1] The poems, including "A Song for Simeon", were later published in both the 1936 and 1963 editions of Eliot's collected poems.^[2]

In 1927, Eliot had converted to Anglo-Catholicism and his poetry, starting with the Ariel Poems (1927–31) and Ash Wednesday (1930), took on a decidedly religious character.^[3] "A Song for Simeon" is seen by many critics and scholars as a discussion of the conversion experience. In the poem, Eliot retells the story of Simeon from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, a just and devout Jew who encounters Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus entering the Temple of Jerusalem. Promised by the Holy Ghost that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour, Simeon sees in the infant Jesus the Messiah promised by the Lord and asks God to permit him to "depart in peace" (Luke 2:25–35).

The poem's narrative echoes the text of the Nunc dimittis, a liturgical prayer for Compline from the Gospel passage. Eliot introduces literary allusions to earlier writers Lancelot Andrewes, Dante Alighieri and St. John of the Cross. Critics have debated whether Eliot's depiction of Simeon is a negative portrayal of a Jewish figure and evidence of anti-Semitism on Eliot's part.