Prayer for Tradition In the poem "A Song for Simeon," T.S. Eliot uses ambiguity and religious allusion to convey decay and death of the old order to make room for modernity. Examining the imagery in the poem and the tone used allows for a better idea of what the speaker's attitude is toward these changes, and perhaps a hint of how the author himself feels. The view the speaker takes toward the changes he believes are to come is one of fear. He feels threatened by the thought of the way of life he knows ending and seems to prefer that his life, which he feels to be complete already, end before he can witness that end. Looking at the poem as a whole, two main themes stand out