by Orson F. Whitney (1880)<\/div>\n
Far down the mystic river of the Mind,
\nA fleet of recollections slowly wind\u2014
\nA chain of gems on Fancy’s pinions brought,
\nHistoric views on Mem’ry’s canvas wrought.
\nThe foremost is a scene where forests grow,
\nWhere flowers bloom and springtime breezes blow,
\nWhere sweet toned birds send up their matin lay,
\nAnd lave in th’ golden fountain of the day.
\nDeep in the bosom of a woodland shade,
\nWhere Solitude her secret home hath made,
\nA simble lad, his sunburned temples bare,
\nPours forth a guileless soul to God in prayer.
\nA sudden cloud of midnight depth profound,
\nNow hurls him breathless to the trembling ground;
\nSpeechless he’s stricken, but with voice of will
\nCalls on his God, and supplicates Him still.
\nHis prayers are heard. Lo! shining o’er his head
\nA dazzling light! Where hath the darkness fled?
\nA pillar brighter than the noonday sun,
\nWhen on the purest sky his race is run,
\nFalls, gently as the earth-reviving dew,
\nAnd opens to his gaze a heavenly view,
\nTwo Beings, of a glory to defy
\nThe pow’r of words stand ‘twixt him and the sky.
\nAnd is’t a voice, or music low and clear,
\nWhose hallowed sweetness charms the listner’s ear
\nLike murm’ring waters from a mossy rim,
\n“Joseph! ‘Tis my Beloved Son, Hear him!”<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2022<\/strong><\/p>\nWilliam Mulder’s Restoration<\/em><\/h3>\nThe author of this third poem, William Mulder (1915-2008), was an historian and English professor at the University of Utah, who is perhaps most remembered for his important history of the Scandinavian Mormon immigration, “Homeward to Zion.” He served an LDS mission in Holland and served in the US Armed Forces during World War II before he obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard in American Civilization.<\/p>\n
The following poem is, as I said above, on of my favorite Mormon poems. Written a couple of years after Mulder’s return from his mission and after his marriage, but before his military service, the poem’s structure as a sonnet is somewhat unusual among Mormon poetry. It is also much more modern than the previous poems, using what I think is a very devotional and worshipful tone. It will, I think, add immensely to this lesson:<\/p>\n
Restoration<\/span><\/h4>\nBy William Mulder (1941)<\/span><\/div>\n\n- Perhaps I\u2019ll never see the Father face to face,<\/dd>\n
- But I have bowed my head where Joseph knelt<\/dd>\n
- And, moving lips in silent prayer, have felt<\/dd>\n
- The quiet rapture of that sacred place.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n- The trees in their familiar whisperings<\/dd>\n
- Bore witness, and the very atmosphere<\/dd>\n
- Confirmed what I dared only hope before:<\/dd>\n
- I felt the truth the inward vision brings.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n- The glory of the grove still lights my way<\/dd>\n
- As it once lighted Carthage, Liberty,<\/dd>\n
- Nauvoo, the westward march \u2013 and constantly<\/dd>\n
- The vision shines upon the church today.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n- The Restoration comes each spring again<\/dd>\n
- To bring me close to God and to my fellow men.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the second lesson for this year, the Come Follow Me curriculum turns to Joseph Smith-History in order to include a brief look (over two lessons) at the origins of the restoration. For most Church members, the story is very familiar, and the principles taught are well-covered material. And, as you might imagine, the events of the First Vision have been told many times in poetry. But, that was not always true\u2014Mormon poets didn’t cover the First Vision until the saints arrived in Utah. Below I’ve included three poems that treat the First Vision. Two of them are from some of the best known of Mormon poets. But, don’t stop there. The final poem, a sonnet, is the best, and one of my favorites of all Mormon poetry. Eliza R. Snow’s Historical sketch of the Life of President Joseph Smith The earliest poem I found is from 1856 — found in Eliza R. Snow’s first collection of poetry. Snow started writing a poetic epic poem to tell the life story of Joseph Smith in the early 1840s, completing an introductory poem that was published in 1843. She later wrote two “chapters” of the poem covering Smith’s life until the organization […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":41246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2895,2462,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-come-follow-me-currculum","category-poetry-arts","category-sunday-school-lesson-doctrine-and-covenants"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/First-Vision-768x432-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41252,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41245\/revisions\/41252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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In the second lesson for this year, the Come Follow Me curriculum turns to Joseph Smith-History in order to include a brief look (over two lessons) at the origins of the restoration. For most Church members, the story is very familiar, and the principles taught are well-covered material. And, as you might imagine, the events of the First Vision have been told many times in poetry. But, that was not always true\u2014Mormon poets didn’t cover the First Vision until the saints arrived in Utah.<\/p>\n