Henry W. Naisbitt

In the final chapter of Mosiah, King Mosiah and his people face the fundamental political question—what form of government to choose. After Mosiah demonstrates the potential problems with a monarchy, the people choose a more democratic form of government, under the rule of judges. As the first chief judge, Alma then discovers that even democracy faces difficulties.

While many early Mormon poems dealt with political issues, the majority were reactions either to the persecutions in Missouri and Illinois or to the enforcement of anti-bigamy laws in Utah. The poem I found for this lesson is an exception to that norm.

The author of this poem, Henry W. Naisbitt, was born in 1826. His father died when he was still a boy, so he neglected school to help his mother. But despite the family circumstances, Naisbitt had a great love for reading, which may explain his  literary talent. After apprenticing as a maker of copper kettles, learning to make silk hats and learning carpentry, Naisbitt ended up in the grocery business. He joined the LDS Church in 1850 and immigrated to Utah in 1854. By the late 1800s he had become well known as an exponent of Mormonism and he regularly spoke in the Tabernacle on a variety of occasions and his poems and articles appeared frequently in Mormon periodicals. He served two missions to Great Britain. During the first, from 1876 to 1878, he served as the editor of the Millennial Star. He served the second mission starting in 1898 (at age 72) as a counselor to European Mission President Platte D. Lyman. After returning in 1901, he published a volume of poetry, Rhymelets in Many Moods. He died in 1908.

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Our Kings

By Henry W. Naisbitt

“The kingliest kings are crowned with thorns.” — Gerald Massey.

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.” — Revelations.

Who feels like war, who seeks to turn

The tide of thought which swells to-day?

Who feels the flame of purpose burn

‘Gainst vested right, or tyrant’s sway?

‘Tis well they count the certain cost,

Before they raise the sweeping storm;

And understand if wrecked or tossed,

“Earth’s kingliest kings are crowned with thorn.”

This every age hath given to those

Whose godhead burst the narrow bound,

By custom set by books, or laws

To circumscribe, or truth to bound.

No dungeon dark enough for them;

No death too fierce or too forlorn;

Justice and mercy died—and then—

“The kingliest kings were crowned with thorn.”

For every science martyrs bled,

On every path of thought they fell,

But ages learn from heroes dead,

That truth will rule, who may rebel!

And garnished sepulchres are raised

To men despised and roughly torn,

While fools repeat the name none praised,

“The kingliest kings once crowned with thorn.”

Who asks a mission man to bless?

Who pants for right, unselfish, brave?

Let history tell that no caress

So certain as a martyr’s grave!

Yet if such feel inspired of God

With that high trust of kinship born,

The wrath of man may seem no rod,

“To kingliest kings when crowned with thorn.”

Whate’er the conquest we may seek,

Whate’er we wish to curb or break,

Error with hoary head, or weak

As childhood in its wilful wake;

Be sure, if victory must be won,

If once resolved in tears to groan;

So truth be with us it empowers,

“Though kingliest kings are crowned with thorn.”

And days shall come, I hail them now,

When work which makes a man divine,

Shall have the inspiring care and eye

Of rulers sent as Gods to shine!

Roll on, ye glorious times ahead,

Bring blessings for the crowds unborn,

And resurrect our deathless dead,

“Our kingliest kings once crowned with thorn.”

The Contributor, v2 n12 pg 377
September 1881

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This may be one of those poems where late 19th-century English and British usage gets in the way of our understanding today. I at first thought that some of the words had been switched for something else because of OCR errors, but found that was incorrect. The image of “thorns” is also a bit challenging—is Naisbitt referring to the crown of thorns that Christ wore? or simply to the difficulties that all rulers face—the almost inevitable injustices that every government perpetrates in its attempts to make life better or preserve power (depending on your point of view).

Regardless, this poem includes some fascinating parallels with what Mosiah discussed in advocating the rule of judges. While Naisbitt sees difficulties with a monarchy, ruled by those “Whose godhead burst the narrow bound” and who are responsible for the martyrs who “For every science… bled,” he also, in the end, foresees righteous “rulers sent as Gods to shine” and would “resurrect our deathless dead.”

But the message of this poem is one directed at those who would overthrow the tyrant, urging them to “count the cost, / Before they raise the sweeping storm,” suggesting that “history [tells] that no caress / [is] So certain as a martyr’s grave,” and observing that “ages learn from heroes dead.”

Just as these chapters from the Book of Mormon make clear that the questions of governing aren’t easy to solve, so too, Naisbitt sees difficulty for those who would rebel against tyranny and he may even be hinting that the cost of rebellion might be higher than the cost of minor injustice.

The story behind this poem is somewhat unusual. According to the preceding article in the Millennial Star, Parley P. Pratt visited the author, Sarah Smith, on June 15, 1842, when she gave him an account of a vision she received on December 26, 1835. In the vision she is singing hymns in a beautiful garden when Jesus, along with 24 angels, comes and meets her, leads her past hell, tells her that her soul is saved and takes her to heaven, where she sings hymns with them. She concludes:

“The following is one of the hymns which I sung with Jesus and the angels, as we walked in the garden, and which I have ever since retained in my memory, without the slightest alteration in word or syllable:”

No one doth know

by Sarah Smith (as told to Parley P. Pratt)

No one doth know, no tongue can tell,

Whet I’ve gone through since I’ve lain ill;

But Christ has eased me of my pain,

And sanctified my soul in him.

Weep not for me, ’tis all in vain,

Weep for your sins, and then refrain;

For Christ says come, I’ll ease your pain,

If you will come to me again.

O what a happy day ’twill be,

When Christ shall say come reign with me;

When through the pearly gates of heaven,

We’ll sing glad hymns of joy to heaven.

O what a joyful sound to hear

The Saints and angels singing there,

O then, I’ll join in heart, and sing

With Jesus Christ, my heavenly king.

And when I reach that blissful throne,

And have the robes of glory on:

And the bright crown which Christ has given:

Ready prepared for me in heaven.

Oh then I’ll sing, and praise my Lord,

With hymns of joy in one accord;

And angels whispering, all shall say.

Glory unto our Lord most high.

Millennial Star, August 1842

There is no indication in the accompanying text that Sarah Smith was ill in any way, so one possible way to interpret this is that ill is a metaphor for a sinful state.

Given the backstory, as a hymn this has some odd elements. Would Christ really sing a hymn about himself? In addition, while it starts out as a poem about redemption from the illness, by the third stanza it changes into a poem about the celestial life.

Still, the sentiment and ideas of pain and redemption from sin or illness are there, able accompaniment to Alma 36.

Parley P. Pratt

I think the most significant event in Mosiah 18-24 is the baptism of Alma and his followers in the Waters of Mormon. There we find the great description of the Baptismal covenant, in which those baptized

…are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places…

This event led me to a poem by Parley P. Pratt about Baptism, a hymn that seeks to encourage non-members to partake of the ordinance.

Baptism was first published in the very first issue of the Millennial Star, the monthly Church periodical in England. Immediately after publishing the first issue of the Star, Pratt was charged with producing a hymnal and other books needed for regular Church meetings there. Under the title Repent Ye Gentiles All this hymn was included, and it appeared in LDS hymnals until the 1927 hymnal, used until it was replaced in 1948. I’m not sure why it was dropped from the hymnal–it seems as doctrinally sound as other hymns.

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Baptism

by Parley P. Pratt

Repent ye Gentiles all,

And come and be baptiz’d;

It is the Saviour’s call,

He’s spoken from the skies,

And sent the message we declare,

His second coming to prepare.

Be buried with your Lord,

And rise divinely new,

‘Tis his eternal word—

The ancient path pursue,

The promised blessing now secure,

The Spirit’s seal, for ever sure.

Ye souls with sin distress’d,

Who fain would find relief;

Come, on his promise rest,

He will assuage your grief,

He’ll send the Spirit from on high,

When with the gospel you comply.

Come be adopted in,

With Israel’s chosen race,

And wash away your sins,

The promised blessing taste;

The covenant stands for ever sure,

To all who to the end endure.

Millennial Star, v1 n1
May 1840

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There are a couple of intriguing things in the hymn that might sound a little strange to the modern LDS ear. The first line of the second stanza, “Be buried with your Lord” sounds a bit protestant (Baptist, I assume)—the only time that the phrase has been used in General Conference in the past 50 years is when someone has died and was buried with an object, or when quoting Paul (Colossians 2:12 or Romans 6:4). The first line of the last stanza, “Come be adopted in” refers to a concept that isn’t emphasized much today (adoption into the House of Israel has been mentioned in Conference just a handful of times since 1950).

But even in the “buried with your Lord” line, as well as in many other lines of the poem, we can read echoes of the description of baptism in Mosiah. Alma’s initial baptism is described as being “buried in the water” (Mosiah 18:14). Baptism is described as a ‘covenant’ (v 13), just as it is in the poem’s next to last line. And the idea that those who are baptized will “keep his commandments” (v 10) appears in the last line of the third stanza, “When with the gospel you comply.”

Of course, to a degree these are all ideas that we might expect of an LDS poem about baptism today; but they weren’t quite as well understood when Pratt penned these lines in 1840. And they served as part of Mormon practice and culture for more than 100 years.

And as an adjunct to a lesson like this one, I think these lines may have some life in them yet.

In many ways the idea of sealing a testimony in blood is intriguing. It is not, of course, a purely Mormon concept, for it was a frequently discussed concept in the 1800s, usually when discussing the death of Stephen and the other apostles (it is not often used to refer to the Savior). For some reason, the concept seems to have declined in popularity since 1900. Even in Mormonism, the concept of sealing a testimony has declined in general conference talks[1].

While the lesson focuses on other subject, the idea of martyrdom is one that Mormonism is very familiar with. While I haven’t found any poems that talk about Abinadi’s martyrdom, there are many that speak of Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. I’ve included one of these below:

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O give me back my Prophet dear

by John Taylor

O give me back my Prophet dear,

And Patriarch, O give them back;

The Saints of latter days to cheer,

And lead them in the gospel track.

But ah! they’re gone from my embrace,

From earthly scenes their spirits fled;

Those two, the best of Adam’s race,

Now lie entombed among the dead.

Ye men of wisdom tell me why,

When guilt nor crime in them were found,

Why now their blood doth loudly cry,

From prison walls, and Carthage ground

Your tongues are mute, but pray attend,

The secret I will now relate,

Why those whom God to earth did lend,

Have met the suffering martyr’s fate.

It is because they strove to gain,

Beyond the grave a heaven of bliss;

Because they made the gospel plain,

And led the Saints in righteousness.

It is because God called them forth,

And led them by his own right hand

Christ’s coming to proclaim on earth,

And gather Israel to their land.

It is because the priests of Baal

Were desperate their craft to save;

And when they saw it doomed to fail,

They sent the Prophets to the grave.

Like scenes the ancient Prophets saw,

Like these, the ancient Prophets fell;

And till the resurrection dawn,

Prophet and Patriarch—Fare thee well.

Times and Seasons, 1 August 1845

There are some similarities between what Taylor describes here and Abinadi’s situation—the ‘priests of Baal’ aren’t very different from King Noah’s priests and Joseph Smith’s motivation is similar to Abinadi’s—but the connection isn’t very strong. Still the concept of martyrdom is here.

Taylor meant for this poem to be sung as a hymn, specifying in the Times and Seasons that it be sung to the tune “Indian Student’s Lament,” a popular song of the time with the same meter and number of lines per verse. But there are a number of phrases in the poem that are quite un-hymn-like, starting with the very conversational line “But ah! they’re gone from my embrace” and the introduction of a question in one stanza that is only answered in the next (I guess you can’t really stop singing after the second verse, which ends “The secret I will now relate, / Why those whom God to earth did lend, / Have met the suffering martyr’s fate”).

Despite these problems, O Give Me Back My Prophet Dear was put in the LDS hymnal and remained there until it was dropped with the current hymnal in 1985.

Notes

[1] I searched the General Conference Corpus for all forms of the word “seal’ within 4 words of the word “testimony.” 150 of the 228 hits occurred in the 1st half of the period covered by the corpus (1850-2010). The last 40 years of conference talks mention these terms just 23 times.

John Taylor

Often LDS lessons based on the scriptures cover such a broad range of topics in the scriptures given that the stated theme of the lesson doesn’t capture what is going on in the scripture passages. While this lesson is certainly one of those times, the poem I found is really about the stated theme of the lesson: prophets, seers and revelators.

In early Mormon poetry and writings, this usually referred to one person: the Prophet Joseph Smith. Where today we talk more about prophets generally, for the first 30 years of Mormonism, the prophet mostly referred to Joseph Smith specifically. And it is in the context of Joseph Smith that we learn their ideas about what a Prophet or Seer or Revelator is.

The specific verses in the book of Mormon readings for this week that refer to the seer are Mosiah 8:13-17, in which Ammon tells Limhi both that a seer can read the plates that Limhis’s people have found and something about what a seer does. In the following poem, poet and future prophet John Taylor not only lauds Joseph Smith the prophet and seer of his time, but also gives some characteristics of what a seer is and what he does:

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The Seer

by John Taylor

Written for the dedication of the Seventy’s Hall (Nauvoo),
and dedicated to President Brigham Young.

The seer;—the seer;—Joseph the seer—

I’ll sing of the Prophet ever dear:

His equal now cannot be found,—

By searching the wide world around.

With Gods he soared, in the realms of day;

And men he taught the heavenly way.

The earthly seer! the heavenly seer,

I love to dwell on his mem’ry dear:—

The chose of God, and the friend of men,

He brought the priesthood back again,

He gazed on the past, on the present too;—

And ope’d the heav’nly world to view.

Of noble seed—of heavenly birth,

He came to bless the sons of earth:

With keys by the Almighty given,

He opened the full rich stores of heaven,

O’er the world that was wrapt in sable night,

Like the sun he spread his golden light.

He strove,—O, how he strove to stay,

The stream of crime in its reckless way—

with a mighty mind, and a noble aim

He urg’d the wayward to reclaim:

‘Mid the foaming billows of argry strife—

He stood at the helm, of the ship of life.

The saints;—the saints; his only pride,

For them he liv’d, for them he died!

Their joys were his;—their sorrows too;—

He lov’d the saints;—he lov’d Nauvoo.

Unchanged in death, with a Saviors love

He pleads their cause, in the courts above.

The seer;—the seer—Joseph the seer!

O, how I love his memory dear,

The just and wise, the pure and free,

A father he was, and is to me.

Let fiends now rage in their dark hour;—

No matter, he is beyond their power.

He’s free;—he’s free;—the Prophet’s free!

He is where he will ever be,

Beyond the reach of mobs and strife,

He rests unharm’d in endless life,

His home’s in the sky;— he dwells with the Gods,

Far from the furious rage of mobs.

He died; he died—for those he lov’d,

He reigns;—he reigns in realms above,

He waits with the just who have gone before,

To welcome the saints to Zions shore;

Shout, shout ye saints—this boon is given,

We’ll meet our martyr’d seer in heaven.

Meant to be sung to the tune: The Sea.
Times and Seasons, 1 January 1845

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While the scriptural account seems pretty straightforward in its description of a seer, Taylor’s poetry seems to suggest a bit more. He describes Joseph as “The earthly seer! the heavenly seer,” which, to my mind, suggests some kind of role in the hereafter for seers, although I have no idea what exactly that might be. He later suggests one possible role in the hereafter, saying that “He pleased their cause in the courts above” and in the very end, “He reigns;—he reigns in realms above, / He waits with the just who have gone before, / To welcome the saints to Zions shore.” Elsewhere, Taylor’s description of a seer is more straightforward. He says of the seer: “He gazed on the past, on the present too;— / and ope’d the heav’nly world to view.”

Taylor is not the most accomplished of early Mormon poets (Parley P. Pratt, Eliza R. Snow and John Lyon were better, IMO), but his poetry was far from ignored. This piece was meant as a hymn and, according to the instruction in the published version, was meant to be sung to the tune of a popular song, “The Sea,” probably the tune used for a song by Barry Cornwall which became popular in the 1830s and which was republished multiple times in popular newspapers and magazines. Taylor’s poem uses the same meter, but has a stanza twice the length of Cornwall’s song, so, I surmise, the tune was meant to be repeated. The text was first printed as a single sheet, apparently provided to those attending the dedication, which lasted seven days from December 26, 1844 to January 1, 1845. The same setting was the included in the Times and Seasons. It was later published in the Nauvoo Neighbor and the Frontier Guardian.

As a hymn, it was included in the Liverpool Hymnal of 1847, and was republished in LDS Hymnals through the 1948 book, but was not included in the most recent (1985) hymnal. Somewhere among the string of hymnals, the tune “The Sea” was dropped, and an arrangement of the tune “Neukomm.” by Ebenezer Beesley was used instead, which required changing the order of some of the words and repeating some of the lines.

While I have no idea why it was dropped from the hymnal, I wonder if it wasn’t because it concentrated too much on Joseph Smith. I know we have some hymns that still do this, but this hymn seems to go a bit beyond what the others do, IMO (although I haven’t studied that issue in depth). It is also not the strongest hymn, so it could be that it was dropped simply because there was so many better hymns, and hadn’t gained a place among those beloved hymns that would be impossible to replace.

Still, The Seer does provide a window on the role of a prophet, seer and revelator, and so would be interesting to contemplate along with Mosiah 8:13-17 in the lesson.

John Lyon

The culmination of King Benjamin’s address to his people was the “mighty change” they experienced which led them to repent and covenant to keep the commandments and to seek to do good continually. While the scripture says that they “had no more disposition to do evil,” given the later history of this people, we might surmise that the disposition didn’t last. Nor did Benjamin expect that his people would remain sinless, but instead they would likely need a disposition to seek and obtain forgiveness. I suspect that one aspect of the “mighty change” described in the Book of Mormon is exactly that, seeking forgiveness for errors and sin.

So, perhaps we can see something of this “mighty change” in our attitude toward forgiveness. Do we quickly recognize error and seek forgiveness, or do we delay? Mormon poet John Lyon sees this kind of attitude in his poem on forgiveness:

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Forgiveness

by John Lyon

When I against the Lord transgress;

And none but he can know my secret sin,

Then I’ll repent, and strive his love to win;

By doing all that I’ve forgot to do,

And more devoutly, righteousness pursue;

Then shall I have forgiveness.

And should my folly cause distress,

To father, mother, sister, brother, friend;

I’ll run with speed, confess to each, and mend

The sinful breach, by new obedience I

All loss restoring, through the vile offence;

Then shall I have forgiveness.

Should love demand that I confess,

For open sin a public sense of grief;

I’ll humbly yield, if this should bring relief,

No matter what may be the penance; still,

I’ll strive the law of trespass to fulfil,

To gain from all, forgiveness.

Then shall my brethren love, and bless,

The penitent with heartfelt joy again,

While the recording angels sound the strain

Through brighter spheres: the sinner is forgiven,

And mercy, radiant with the smile of heaven,

Exults in God’s forgiveness.

Lyon

Kilmarnoch, December 11th, 1846.

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In many ways I like John Lyon better than his better-known contemporary and poetic foil, Eliza R. Snow. His poetry is often lighter and more approachable, covering subjects like currency and the death of a canary. Born in 1803, Lyon was largely self-taught, only learning to read at the age of 25, but nevertheless soon becoming an active literary participant, working for seven different newspapers in his native Scotland and assisting in the production of several anthologies of the work of other poets. He joined the LDS Church in 1844 and published his first LDS poem, “Man,” in the Millennial Star in 1845. By 1849, Mission President Orson Spencer lauded his work as “genius” and providing “unmistakable melody and power.” Lyon served an LDS mission in England, published a volume of poems, The Harp of Zion, and then immigrated to Utah, where he was made a patriarch in 1872. His Utah poems were published posthumously in the volume Songs of a Pioneer.

Kate Thomas

King Benjamin’s oft-cited dictum that service to our fellow man is service to God is well known among Mormons. And, if surveys like the recent University of Pennsylvania survey are accurate, Mormons do quite well putting the idea in practice. Still, better than others doesn’t mean that we are where we should be or ought to be. And, like all humans, we have our rationales for failure to act. So perhaps a poem that addresses our failures will work well with Book of Mormon lesson #15.

If anything, the idea Kate Thomas expresses in this poem is more timely today than ever. We have both more distractions and more demands on our time than ever, while simultaneously enjoying more labor-saving devices than were available when Thomas wrote this. In my view, this simply makes the point that it isn’t really about time, but about our priorities:

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If I Had Time.

by Kate Thomas

If I had time, O minds all dulled with sleeping,
I’d waken you to thoughts and deeds sublime.
I had time , O eyes grown dim with weeping
I’d brighten you—If only I had time!

If I had time, O hearts so worn with grieving,
I’d comfort you with Gods own word sublime.
Spirits dark-stained with sins past all believing,
I’d seek to clear you—If I had the time!

O careless soul, self-shut in narrow prison,
Open thy doors! Indifference is crime!
Over thy heart let Christ reign newly risen,
And for thy Masters’ service make the time!

From: Young Woman’s Journal,
v10 n7 July 1899, p. 314.

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Kate Thomas, was a prolific poet and playwright who isn’t well known among Church members today, but who gained national recognition for her poem, Hymn of the Pioneer. She was born in 1871 to Richard Kendall and Caroline Stockdale Thomas. Her father was a choreographer in the Salt Lake Theater and later converted the family barn into a professional theater known as the Barnacle. Kate entered the LDS Business College at age 19, and soon began writing poetry published in college publications. She also attended the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah) and wrote for the University Chronicle (forerunner of today’s Daily Utah Chronicle) as well as the Church’s Young Woman’s Journal and the Relief Society Magazine. She moved to New York City in 1901, where she became an outspoken peace activist, anarchist, supporter of the very controversial League of Nations, and practitioner of Yoga. She continued to write for LDS publications during this time, traveled widely to both coasts and to Europe, and never married. Her younger sister, Blanche Kendall Thomas, became a famous New York actress, and her younger brother, Elbert Duncan Thomas, was Utah’s US Senator from 1933-1951, replacing Reed Smoot.

Eliza R. Snow

Perhaps the most dramatic incident in gospel doctrine lesson #14 is Enos’ prayer; an example that has no doubt led many LDS Church members to wonder about their persistence and perseverance in prayer. Indeed, Enos’ story of his prayer is generally taken as a lesson in how to pray and what prayer means.

It might also be said that Mormonism began with a prayer, and an answer to that prayer that came by way of a vision. That fact, as well as many other examples of prayer, is common in Mormon literature. However, few poems actually discuss the role of prayer or give the kind of lesson that Enos does.

This poem is a bit of an exception. In urging the Saints to “call on the Lord in Mighty prayer,” Eliza R. Snow suggests many of the things we should pray for, and even seems to urge the same goals that drove Enos after he has obtained forgiveness for his sins. Knowing something of Church history at the time this was written (early 1841, just a couple of years after the Saints were expelled from Missouri), much of what Snow sought in urging prayers were in response to direct threats and concerns that the Saints faced:

Awake! ye Saints of God awake!

by Eliza R. Snow

Awake! ye Saints of God awake!

Call on the Lord in Mighty pray’r,

That he will Zion’s bondage break,

And bring to nought the fowler’s snare.

He will regard his people’s cry-

The widow’s tear-the orphans moan!

The blood of those that slaughter’d lie

Plead’s not in vain before his throne!

Tho’ Zion’s foes have counsel’d deep,

Altho’ they bind with fetters strong-

The God of Jacob does not sleep,

His vengeance will not slumber long.

Then let your souls be stay’d on God-

A glorious scene is drawing nigh!

Tho’ tempests gather like a flood,

The storm, tho fierce, will soon pass by.

With constant faith and fervent prayer

With deep humility of soul-

With steadfast mind and heart prepare,

To see th’ eternal purpose roll.

For God in judgment will come near;

His mighty arm he will make bare:

For Zion’s sake he will appear-

Then O ye Saints! awake! prepare!

Awake to union and be one,

Or saith the Lord you are not mine.

Yea, like the Father and the Son,

Let all the Saints, in union join.

Times and Seasons,
1 February 1841

While I don’t think this poem is well known, I’m sure at least some readers will recognize it as one of the hymns found in the current LDS hymnal (#17). In fact, it has been in LDS hymnals since 1841, albeit with a different tune (since the current tune was composed by Evan Stephens, who was born in 1854). The text above is also slightly different from the current hymn text, coming from the original publication in the Times and Seasons. In any case, I think it fits with the discussion of Enos’ prayer.

The earliest use of the Olive Tree imagery in literature is from Parley P. Pratt, who included it in his poem, Historical Sketch from the Creation to the Present Day. This poem was included in The Millennium, the first published book of Mormon poetry, which Pratt published in 1835.

Here’s what Pratt wrote:

Historical Sketch from the Creation to the Present Day, Part 3

by Parley P. Pratt

Go ye and preach in all the world.

Baptizing in my name,

He that believes and is baptized

Salvation shall obtain.

Then rising from Mount Olivet

Unto his Father’s throne.

On high to reign until he claims

The kingdoms for his own.

His servants then, in mighty power,

Soon made his gospel known,

The Jews reject while Gentiles come.

And glad their Saviour own.

The Jews dispersed through all the earth,

Jerusalem trodden down,

In desolation long has lain,

And cursed has been the ground.

The Gentile churches for a while

Produced the natural fruit,

Being grafted in the natural vine

Partaking of the root.

But soon the fruit became corrupt.

By flatteries and lies.

Teachers in pride were puffed up,

The simple truth despised.

Great Babylon at length arose,

In mighty power to reign,

Nations and kings became corrupt,

And many saints were slain.

The scriptures of their plainness robbed,

And mystery thrown around.

That men might sup her golden cup

And all true knowledge drown.

Thus generations long have past

And age on ages rolled,

The latter day approaching fast,

Its glories to unfold.

Our fathers of the Gentile race

Traversed the western main,

And found a wide extended land,

Of valley, hill, and plain.

This land was peopled with a race,

Which long had dwelt alone,

No record nor tradition traced

Their origin unknown.

The Lord in mercy has disclosed,

The truth so long concealed.

The record found beneath the ground

Has glorious things revealed.

This is the land which Moses blessed.

To Joseph and his seed;

These are the everlasting hills,

‘T was for his bounds decreed.

From The Millennium (1835) and
The Millennium and other poems, (1840)

While the Olive Tree imagery is used in this poem, its not pervasive, and instead Pratt, like most Mormon poets of his time, speaks in simple, obvious language, stressing content over aesthetics or depth. In that sense, it fits well with the correlated lessons in today’s LDS Church meetings.

I’d be interested to know of other poems that use the Olive Tree imagery. My corpus of Mormon poetry so far is limited to early poetry, so I’m sure that there is much more available in the poetry I haven’t yet collected.

Of course, despite the fact that the topic of Jacob’s sermon is a common element throughout much of Christianity, the justification of pride and wealth, even by using the scriptures, is just as common. Orson F. Whitney takes on a common justification of wealth and pride in this poem, which I think fits well with Jacob’s sermon:

Aristocracy

by Orson F. Whitney

The world is his who sees its vain pretense,

And tries it with the touchstone—common sense;

And tho’, with some, ’tis Title rules the earth,

In Reason’s balance, Brains far outweigh Birth.

Avails it, then, if Gossip’s tongue beguiles

The fashion throng where wanton Folly smiles;

Or Vanity, the pampered child of Praise,

To win new lies from Flattery, essays;

While Genius, climbing to its destined place,

Encounters sneering Envy in the race

Where polish’d Dunce, with studied speech inflate,

Affects to scorn, but cannot emulate ?

The mind of sterling Merit can despise

This meretricious tinsel of disguise;

For, tho’ decrees of Caste its way retard,

A conscious virtue “is its own reward.”

What recks, if Pride on fancied honors dwell;

Or sordid Gain of Mammon’s glories tell;

Or fashion’s queen, with stolen sceptre, play

The tyrant o’er dominions of a day?

Is not a crown of Virtue dearer prize

Than Gold which teaches Merit to despise?

A station ‘mong the kings and queens of Thought

A nobler rank than is of Name begot?

He’ll find, who studies for his own behoof,

That ’tis the pillar which sustains the roof,

Whereon the fluttering ensigns, waving high,

In haughty grandeur court the distant sky.

And who would Ocean’s hoarded treasure know;

Or gather of its gems, must search below;

While further observation shows the wise

That air-distended bubbles always rise.

From The Contributor, January 1880, p. 83

While western civilization has rejected much of the inherited aristocracy that Whitney was familiar with, in its place, I think we have substituted another kind of aristocracy, one less connected to birth and more connected with the possession of wealth. Instead of titled nobility, we have those who have “earned” wealth in sports venues and in front of cameras or through stumbling onto a clever business idea. While we can’t and should not begrudge the effort they have put into obtaining wealth and creating pleasure and benefit for our society, in all these efforts there is an element of good fortune that is too often missed. And worse, there is a kind of aristocracy that too often arises from this wealth.

If we have escaped the era of titled nobility that Whitney criticizes, we must still recognize that we are in a society that worship’s mammon.