Biblical Simeon in Luke 2:25-35 is an old and devout Jew who sees Infant Christ by the Holy Ghost. Simeon becomes a unique man. He is between in the pre-Christian world and in the Christian world. Like Simeon, T. S. Eliot begins his new religious life as a result of his conversion in 1927. However, Eliot’s conversion involves rather spiritual agony or pain than joy. In this respect, Eliot dramatizes his conversion through his “correlative” or persona Simeon by adding a dark side of the Christian belief to Biblical Simeon’s narrative in “A Song for Simeon.” In this process, Eliot tries to identify himself with his “correlative” or detach himself from him to explore his Christian faith based on the Bible story. For Eliot, “A Song for Simeon” is a song for an interpretation of his painful religious journey toward a true Christian life through his own Simeon.

• 허정자(한국외국어대학교) | HUH Jung-Ja Author