"A Song for Simeon" is a 37-line poem written in 1928 by American-British poet
T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). It is
one of five poems that he contributed to the
Ariel poems series of 38 illustrated pamphlets with holiday themes by several authors published by
Faber and Gwyer and sent to the firm's clients and business acquaintances as Christmas greetings. Eliot had
converted to
Anglo-Catholicism in 1927 and his poetry, starting with the Ariel Poems (1927–31) and "
Ash Wednesday" (1930), took on a decidedly religious character. The poem retells the story of
Simeon from the
Gospel of Luke. Simeon was a devout Jew told by the
Holy Ghost that he would not die until he saw the Saviour of Israel. When he encounters
Mary,
Joseph and the infant
Jesus entering the
Temple of Jerusalem, he sees in the infant the
Messiah promised by the Lord and asks God to permit him to "depart in peace." Eliot's poem employs references to the Nunc dimittis, a Christian liturgical prayer for
Compline, and 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 evidence of
anti-Semitism on the poet's part. (
Full article...)
... that Bernard Waldman flew on the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima to photograph the event with a high-speed camera, but took no footage because he forgot to open the camera shutter?
Sainte-Enimie is a commune in the
Lozère department in southern France. Named after a daughter of
Chlothar II, who is said to have lived in the area after catching leprosy to avoid marriage, the commune has been the location of several monasteries. Tourism is now a major part of its economy, and many of the sites are religious in nature.
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