# A Song for Simeon explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by T. S. Eliot.

## What happens

An aged speaker, Simeon, reflects on a life of faith and service in a city, awaiting death with weariness. He contemplates the coming sorrow and exile for his descendants, and at the birth season of Christ, he asks for peace and release, having seen salvation but not the ultimate vision or martyrdom.

## Themes in this chapter

### Time and Mortality

Simeon speaks of his life as 'light, waiting for the death wind' and of being 'tired with my own life,' emphasizing the approach of death and the passage of time.

### Spiritual Crisis and Desolation

The speaker expresses a sense of desolation, not seeking martyrdom or ecstasy, but only peace, and reflects on the coming 'time of sorrow' and 'mountain of desolation.'

### Memory and the Past

Simeon recalls his past deeds—'kept faith and fast, provided for the poor'—and memories linger 'in corners' as he awaits the end.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker is an aged figure, likely Simeon, who has lived eighty years and speaks of his weariness and desire for peace.

## Key lines

> My life is light, waiting for the death wind, Like a feather on the back of my hand.

My life is insubstantial and fleeting, poised for the end, as delicate as a feather resting on my hand.

_Simeon compares his life to a feather, emphasizing its lightness and imminent end._

> Let thy servant depart, Having seen thy salvation.

Allow me, your servant, to die in peace, now that I have witnessed your salvation.

_This echoes the biblical Simeon's prayer (Nunc Dimittis) after seeing the infant Jesus._

> I am tired with my own life and the lives of those after me, I am dying in my own death and the deaths of those after me.

I am weary of my own existence and the future lives of my descendants; I experience not only my own death but also the deaths of those who will come after me.

_Simeon expresses a profound exhaustion that extends beyond his own mortality to encompass future generations._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters/a-song-for-simeon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters