Advent, 3
T.S. Eliot and the Canticle of Simeon
A Song for Simeon
Lord, the Roman hyacinths are blooming in bowls and
The winder sun creeps by the snow hills;
The stubborn season has made stand.
My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.
Dust in sunlight and memory in corners
Wait for the wind that chills towards the dead land.
Grant us they peace.
I have walked many years in this city,
Kept faith and fast, provided for the poor,
have given and taken honour and ease.
There went never any rejected from my door.
Who shall remember my house, where shall live my children’s
children?
When the time of sorrow is come?
They will take to the goat’s path, and the fox’s home,
Fleeing from foreign faces and the foreign swords.
Before the time of cords and scourges and lamentation
Grant us thy peace.
Before the stations of the mountain of desolation,
Before the certain hour of maternal sorrow,
Now at this birth season of decease,
Let the Infant, the still unspeaking and unspoken Word,
Grant Israel’s consolation
To one who has eighty years and no to-morrow.
According to thy word.
They shall praise Thee and suffer in every generation
With glory and derision,
Light upon light, mounting the saints’ stair.
Not for me the martyrdom, the ecstasy of thought and prayer,
Not for me the ultimate vision.
Grant me thy peace.
(And a sword shall pierce thy heart,
Thine also).
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.
Let they servant depart,
Having seen thy salvation.
-T.S. Eliot
Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people;
A light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.
-Nunc Dimittis
Thanks for reading. I thought I would let these words speak for themselves. This is (somehow) the third year I’ve done a piece on advent. The first two have more of an explanation on Advent itself, and my journey with it as I learned (and continue to learn) to lean into the sacred rhythms of the Church calendar. You can read those first two parts here:
God Is In the Manger - Advent and Bonhoeffer
Where is God when it is Dark? - Accidental Advent Art and Rutledge quotes
Thanks, as always, for reading. For whatever reason, Advent art and pieces tend to be some of my personal favorites. So I hope you find something here that connects with you and would love to hear from you. Have a blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas.