Culture is important. Cultural items not only enhance what we say and teach, making the ideas more memorable and meaningful, they also add additional information, and engage our brains on a level that enhances our learning. As a student of literature as well as the gospel, I’ve long been convinced that our modern culture has discarded much of our culture too early, leaving us without the touchstones we need to keep us grounded in the gospel.

As a result, for many years I’ve tried to enhance the Sunday School curriculum (currently the Come Follow Me series) with examples of LDS poetry that fits the lesson. We certainly have the poetry to do so—I estimate that some 50,000 poems were published in LDS periodicals up to about 1970, when the current three magazine system was introduced. Undoubtedly thousands more have been published in the more than 50 years since then. But it’s rare to find members of the Church who have read or even heard of LDS poetry that doesn’t appear in our hymnals and songbooks.

So, I’m trying again for the 2025 Come Follow Me curriculum. I hope to post poems that fit each lesson 1-2 weeks before hand, so teachers have time to incorporate these poems in their lessons. I plan on posting a poem for each of the 4-5 topics in the lesson since teachers are likely to only use one or two of the topics in their lesson; this way they will always have at least one poem on topic for what they teach. If the teacher wants to read these aloud, I suggest choosing 1 or 2 stanzas to read instead of the whole poem—like any reading in a classroom situation with non-professional readers, too long readings will be difficult for the rest of the class to absorb.

I hope and pray that this will be helpful to teachers and to those who might use it in their personal study of the scriptures.

 

The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The topic of the restoration of the Gospel appears frequently in both our curriculum and in LDS poetry—especially in our hymns. Most members may not know, for example, that our hymnals have traditionally started with the same hymn, Parley P. Pratt’s anthem “The Morning Breaks” was written for the 1840 Manchester Hymnal and has generally been the 1st hymn in the official hymnal ever since.

 

“God loves His children in every nation of the world.”

What a wonderful proposition for the beginning of the lesson and the Doctrine and Covenants. The topic is complicated by our changing understanding of the gospel, but despite this many members of the Church have recognized the universality of God’s love:

God’s Love

by Anton J.T. Sorensen, Bountiful

It matters not what color skin,

Red, white, dark, yellow, gray;

There is a god that dwells within

Each living house of clay.

Each one makes footprints on the sand

And weave beside the loom;

The pattern weaved God understand

And soul within the home.

Me-thinks, while men this life pursue

God’s Love reach everywhere;

It matters not what shade the hue

Each have their load of care.

May sweet compassion rule each heart,

Dispel grim hate and fear;

O God, help each to do their part

While they shall journey here.

1942

 

The Restoration began with an answer to a question.

Eliza R. Snow twice tried to write epic poetry from an LDS perspective. The first attempt was made in Nauvoo in 1843, when she started (and never finished) an epic about the life of Joseph Smith. The following is an excerpt from that poem:

Historical sketch of the Life of President Joseph Smith
Extract from Chapter 2, Third stanza

by Eliza R. Snow

The recklessness of childhood was but just
Diverging into youth—his tender years
Were yet unripen’d with the radiance of
His fifteenth Summer’s sun.
“Which way is right?”
Was the inquiry of his anxious mind;
When loud as though an angel’s whisper came
Upon the breeze, a clear suggestion spoke
With more than mortal meaning, to his heart—
“If any man lack wisdom, let him ask
Of God who giveth lib’rally to all,
Upbraiding not.”
All human aid was vain—
No earthly counsel could avail him aught;
And in his heart he purpos’d to obtain
The wisdom from above.
One beauteous morn,
When not a cloud was seen to hover o’er
The broad horizon—when the vernal sun
Pour’d his reviving rays on Natures crest,
Already deck’d with sweetly scented flowers—
He sought retirement in the woodland shade;
In secret there to lift his heart and voice
To God, in prayer. In all his life before,
He had not shap’d his thoughts and his desires
For vocal supplication. In the depth
Of nature’s wild retreat—where secrecies
Of thought pour’d forth, could only reach the ear
Of Him to whom the secrets of all hearts
Are known—he spread the burthen of his soul
Before the Lord. He scarce had bow’d himself
In humble posture, when, with iron grasp
A power invisible laid hold on him.
His prayer was interrupted, for his tongue
Was suddenly in speechless silence chain’d.
Thick atmospheric darkness gather’d round—
Destruction seem’d inevitable, and
Into the deep recesses of his heart
Despair was fastening its poison’d barb.
Then, with a mighty effort of his mind,
He rais’d his struggling heart to God, and sought
Deliverance from above; when suddenly
A pillar, brighter than the noon-day sun,
Precisely o’er his head, descending, fell
Around him; and he felt himself unbound
And liberated from the terrors of
The strong, unearthly grasp with which he was
Most fearfully enchain’d.
No sooner had
The glory from on high around him shone,
And the demoniac grasp disappear’d, than
He saw two glorious personages stand
Above him in the air; surrounded with
The light that had envelop’d him. With joy,
Wrapt in astonishment, he heard himself
Address’d. Address’d by whom? Address’d by what?
Was that indeed a voice he heard; or was
Imagination, with its frenzied harp,
Playing upon the organs of his mind?
Was that the speech of fancy which he heard?
And was it the soft echo of the strains
Of phantom-music on his ear?
And were
The glorious figures which he saw, the forms
Of airiness and wild delusive thought?
O no: the heavens had verily unfurl’d
The sable curtain which defines the bounds
’Twixt earth and immortality; and he
Was gazing on celestials, and he heard
The voice of the Eternal.One of the
Bright personages whom he saw referr’d
Him to the other, and address’d him thus,“
Joseph, this is my well beloved Son,
Hear him.”
To know his duty, was indeed
The burthen of his mind—the theme of all
His soul’s solicitude. Accordingly,
No sooner had he got possession of
Himself, with power to speak, than he inquir’d,
“Which of the sects is right?” for yet the thought
That all were wrong, had not occurr’d to him.
And what was his astonishment, to hear
The being who address’d him, say, “None of
The various sects are right; and all their Creeds
Are an abomination in my sight.”
He said that the professing world was all
Corrupt. “They with their lips draw near to me,
And while their hearts are far away, they teach
For doctrines the commandments of mankind.
They have the form of godliness, but they
Deny the power thereof.”A second time
He said to Joseph that he should not join
Himself to any sect. Much else was said;
And then the heavens were curtain’d from his view.

1843

Jesus Christ has restored His Church.

Current hymns will, of course, appear from time to time in the poems I suggest — and using hymns has the advantage that most of those in the class will recognize them. But church members won’t always recognize that the hymn has a particular connotation or message. Phelps’ hymn, from 1835, is one of the earliest, appearing in the first hymnal, which was prepared by Emma Smith.

Now we’ll sing with one accord

by William W. Phelps

Now we’ll sing with one accord,

For a prophet of the Lord,

Bringing forth his precious word,

Cheers the saints as anciently.

When the world in darkness lay,

Lo, he sought the better way,

And he heard the Savior say,

“Go and prune my vineyard, son!”

And an angel surely, then,

For a blessing unto men,

Brought the priesthood back again,

In its eminent purity.

Even Joseph he inspires:

Yea, his heart he truly fires.

With the light that he desires

For the work of righteousness.

And the book of Mormon true,

With its cov’nant ever new,

For the Gentile and the Jew,

He translated secretly.

The commandments to the church,

Which the saints will always search,

(Where the joys of heaven perch,)

Came through him from Jesus Christ.

Precious are his years to come.

While the righteous gather home,

For the great Millenium.

Where he’ll rest in blessedness.

Prudent in this world of woes,

He will triumph o’er his foes,

While the realm of Zion grows

Purer for eternity.

 

“The promised Restoration goes forward.”

James H. Hart is one of the most frequently published poets of the pre-Manifesto generation. Hart was an English convert, served missions in England and in France before immigrating to Utah, and later was a prominent member in southern Idaho. His poetry is usually documentary or reacting to occasions rather than feelings and philosophy as is frequent in poetry since the rise of romanticism. As a result, it is no surprise that he wrote about the rise of the Church.

On the Latter-day Dispensation

by James H. Hart

When Zion’s long appointed time, foretold in sacred pages,

Had come, by faith and promise, as looked for through the ages,

Then came the Eternal Father, in plenitude of power,

And revealed Himself in person, in this the eleventh hour.

His royal Son was present on that eventful day,

And pointing, said, “Behold my Son, hear Him and Him obey.”

Thus spake the great Jehovah, as man would speak to man,

And thus the Church of Jesus Christ in latter-days began.

Not only these great Potentates of everlasting fame,

But Moses and Elijah and other Prophets came.

Thus blending frail humanity, with all the name implies,

With Rulers of the Universe, and Legates of the skies.

Three witnesses were chosen, and unto them was given

To see the great Moroni, a messenger from heaven,

Who showed them the engravings, and plates of golden hue,

And bade them handle, and to bear a record, strange, but true.

As they were so directed, they saw, and felt, and knew,

The records and the messenger were genuine and true.

Nor did they ever waver midst all the scenes of strife,

But testified persistently throughout their checkered life.

The honored Seer was but a boy-had seen but fourteen years-

To whom the future was portrayed through both the hemispheres;

‘Twas shown that ‘mongst the nations he would form a brotherhood,

His name be known in every land for evil and for good.

They told him not to fraternize with any sect or creed,

That all were vague and spurious, and led by selfish greed;

They had neither Faith nor Priesthood, nor Gospel that could save

Themselves and those that slumber in dark and silent grave.

They gave the tyro keys and powers to formulate the scheme

Devised to found a Kingdom and every soul redeem;

E’en every son of Adam who would subjugate his will,

In this or in the spirit world, and righteous laws fulfil.

The record he translated by gift, and power, and grace

Of God, th’ Eternal Father of all the human race.

And those who will may read and learn the history sublime

Of nations on this continent, down from remotest time.

He organized the Church of Christ as ’twas in days of yore,

Its officers and rites complete, no fewer, and no more;

Its faith and gifts and miracles were thus restored again,

And with the Church of latter days forever will remain.

He taught mankind to worship the true and living God,

Who in the form of perfect man the earth again has trod.

He taught the only Gospel the Gods have ever given,

To elevate the sons of men from earth to reign in heaven.

Among our great reformers he stands without a peer,

Combining all the qualities of Prophet, Priest and Seer;

And in the role of statesman prescribed a plan to save

Thousands who now lie mouldering in fratricidal grave.

He urged upon philanthropists, by sale of lands to raise

Wherewith to buy the negroes, and let them end their days

With slavish bonds unshackled, and thus avert the day

When the gory field of battle would be the only way.

In eighteen hundred thirty-two he told the name of State

In which the dread rebellion would surely culminate;

That in the bloody conflict the slaves would marshalled be

Against their masters, and ‘twould end in death and misery.

The counsel was unheeded, as now is known, too well,

For in the great rebellion legions of warriors fell,

And untold lives and treasure was e’en the costly price

Of failure in observing the Prophet’s sound advice.

He taught sincere repentance, that men should all obey

The everlasting Gospel, restored in God’s own way.

He guaranteed the sacred gifts that man could not bestow,

E’en gifts that from the Source of Truth in heaven can only flow.

Refusal by Jehovah to verify the bond,

A failure to bestow the gifts on those who did respond,

Would have solved the “Mormon problem,” and ended all its strife,

When no one would have wished to take the great Apostle’s life.

But every word and prophecy were backed with vital power,

His work has been triumphant in every trying hour;

With this eternal Priesthood there’s no such thing as fail,

For, guided by Omnipotence, they must and will prevail.

They grapple with emergencies and breast the surging wave,

And some o’er death have triumphed, and rest in silent grave;

They’re uncompromising heroes, ‘mid scenes of Gentile strife,

And fight for truth and liberty in jeopardy of life.

No greater revolution on earth was e’er begun;

More splendid victories for truth the Prophets never won.

They’ve gathered ransomed legions from far and distant lands,

Dispelled the fogs of ages, and broke the tyrant bands.

And this is but commencement, a beginning of the plan,

Projected in eternity before the world began,

To found a righteous Kingdom, whose power will never end,

Where every man will meet in peace a brother and a friend.

The ultimatum of the Saints will be supremely great,

And Utah, now oppressed, will be the great Millennial State.

‘Tis futile for despotic fiends to play their venal game,

For Zion will eclipse her foes, and put them all to shame.

No grasping tyrant then will seek his fellow to oppress,

Nor dare to subjugate the weak, and place him in duress;

The Saints must have their heritage, and hinder it, who can?

Since Heaven has vested power on earth to execute the plan.

‘Tis folly and presumption for mortals to contend

Against the Priest or Prophet the Lord may choose to send;

No matter if the chosen one should be the merest youth,

He’s bound to win the battle when vested with the truth.

‘Twere better men had ne’er been born, than human tyrants be;

And better with a millstone be cast into the sea,

Than harm the Lord’s Anointed, or least of all His Saints,

For retribution follows a righteous man’s complaints.

The tempest and tornado, and e’en the dread cyclone,

Are ministers to execute fiats from the Unknown.

And lightnings, plagues and pestilence are also held in store,

To waste besotted nations till the wicked rule no more.

Then rally all ye noblemen from every sect and creed,’

And help us fight the battles ‘gainst tyranny and greed,

Nor rest upon our armor till human rights shall be

O’er all the earth extended, and every soul be free.

1883

 

“The heavens are open.”

While we’ve already included one poem by Eliza R. Snow, this one is very different. Instead of telling a story, this is a psalm — not unlike those of David in the Bible.

Psalm

by Eliza R. Snow

Praise the Lord O my soul: Praise him all ye sons and daughters of Zion.

Let us sing unto him a new song: let us sing of his marvellous doings in the last days.

He is the same yesterday, to-day and forever; therefore I will praise him for what my eyes have seen, and my ears have heard.

He hath opened the fountain of knowledge: he hath unlock’d the treasures of wisdom and understanding.

He hath brought to pass that which he spake by the mouth of his ancient prophets: yea, he hath caused truth to “spring up out of the earth, and righteousness to look down from heaven.”

In ancient time he call’d his servant David from the sheep-fold to preside over the nation of Israel; yea, from a tender of flocks did he raise him to the sovereignty of his covenant people.

He call’d Elijah from the occupation of husbandry, even when “ploughing in the field with twelve yoke of oxen;” to be a prophet in Israel:

Yea by the hand of Elijah, was he anointed to the office of his calling, even to proclaim the word of the Lord-to declare the counsels of the Most High to the people.

In these last days the Lord hath call’d his servant Joseph-the son of an husbandman; to be a prophet and a teacher: yea, to be a mighty instrument in rolling forward and establishing that kingdom which “shall fill the whole earth.”

The Lord hath spoken to him from the heavens-he hath instructed him thro’ the ministration of angels-he hath taught him by the power of the holy spirit.

He hath opened the heavens, he hath rent the veil thereof, before his face-he hath spread the visions of eternity in his presence-he hath drawn aside the curtain of futurity and showed unto his servant things to come.

He hath anointed him with the oil of understanding, and instructed him in the great mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; even those “mysteries which have been hid from ages and from generations.”

Rejoice all ye Saints of the Lord and listen to the instruction of his prophet-be careful to depart from evil-let your hearts be pure for the great day of the Lord approaches.

He will perform a speedy work upon the earth-he will cut it short in righteousness-he will not suffer his word to perish.

Therefore, let the nations be wise-let the great ones of the earth receive counsel; let the honest in heart prepare and gather even unto Zion:

For “the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunken man,” yea, she shall groan because of iniquity which is already increasing heavily upon her.

But “Zion shall be redeem’d with judgment, and her converts with righteousness”-the nations of the earth will honor her-the glory of the Lord will encompass her round bout; and his praises will be heard in her midst.

1841