Mormon poetry (or Latter Day Saint poetry) is poetry written by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) about spiritual topics or themes. Mormons have a long history of writing poetry relevant to their religious beliefs and to the Mormon experience. Mormon poetry, like Mormon fiction, has experienced different periods throughout the LDS Church's history, including the "home literature" period and the "lost generation." Some Mormon poetry became church hymns.
Mormons have composed religious poetry since the church's beginnings in the early 19th century. Poetry was often featured in LDS newspapers. [1] : 86 Church tithing funds aided the publication of the first LDS book of poetry. [1] : 85 The first volume of Mormon poetry ever published was Parley P. Pratt's The Millenium and Other Poems. [2] Franklin Richards was president of the European Mission and said that when "faithful Saints" prayerfully study religious poetry, "the heart is purified," the soul inspired, and good judgement bred. [1] : 86 For example, the Elder's Journal, published at Far West in 1838 and edited by Joseph and Don Carlos Smith, contained a beautiful poetic tribute to James G. Marsh. [3] Poetry was often used in hymns in the foundation period of LDS Literature (1830–1880). Notable poets include Eliza R. Snow, Parley P. Pratt, W. W. Phelps, and John Lyon, who wrote The Harp of Zion: A Collection of Poems, Etc. (1853). [4] Joseph Smith's son, David Hyrum Smith, a member of the RLDS Church, inherited his father's gift with words and wrote poetry for the Herald . [5]
During the "home literature" movement period (1880–1930), a number of poets published or disseminated their works. Poets Josephine Spencer and Augusta Joyce Crocheron wrote poems; some were didactic, and others had realism or narrative as goals. [4] :465–468 Southern Utahn Charles Walker wrote poems and hymns which became popular, [6] and Orson F. Whitney penned songs, lyric poetry, and a book-length epic poem, Elias: An Epic of the Ages (1904). [4] :465–467 Whitney was an advocate of the home literature movement, which encouraged both published works and personal efforts to create "faith-promoting" verses. [7] In the 1930s, Church magazines including the Improvement Era and the Relief Society Magazine published hundreds of poems submitted by readers. [8] Early Mormon poetry tended to attack the secular world and defend its own community. [7]
The next generation of Mormon poets, educated and modern, attacked faults in Mormon culture. [7] The generation was considered "lost" because the critical works were largely rejected by Mormons themselves despite the praise they received from the rest of the poetry community. [9]
Another shift in Mormon poetry occurred in the 1960s, starting with Clinton F. Larson's poetry. Larson managed to depart both from the "didactic and inward-looking provinciality" of early poetry and the "elitist, patronizing provinciality" of his contemporaries in the lost generation (1930–1970). [4] In the 1950s, he started writing modernist poetry that drew on his Mormon faith. In his review of Larson's poetry collection, Karl Keller wrote that Lason's poetry showed "religion succeeding in an esthetic way." [4] The development of this new movement was aided by the development of the first Mormon academic and literary periodicals, including BYU Studies (1959) and Dialogue (1966). Larson founded BYU Studies in 1959, and contributed poetry there and to Dialogue. [4] After this development, many of the Mormon poets who emerged were academically trained. Knowledgeable of trends in literature, these poets were more like their peers in mainstream American poetry than their predecessors in Mormon poetry. [7]
More recently, poetry has been seen in general conference sermons given by Latter-day Saint apostles. For example, in 1972, as part of his address, Bruce R. McConkie read his poem, "I Believe In Christ," which later became a church hymn. [10] In 1997, Boyd K. Packer shared his faith about the cleansing power of Jesus in his poem "Washed Clean" as part of his April conference sermon. [11] While those examples are of personally composed pieces, poetry from other authors is also quoted in general conference messages. David O. McKay, 9th president of the church, referenced hundreds of poems throughout his addresses. [12] :6–7 Thomas S. Monson, the 16th church president, was an avid lover of poetry and often quoted poems in his own sermons. [13]
In Bert Fuller's review article, Mormon Poetry, 2012 to the Present (2018), he summarized the works of the most prominent Mormon poets. He specifically mentioned the works of Kimberly Johnson, calling her poems in Uncommon Prayer "a well-crafted triptych of reverent irreverence that answers in verse the rising tide of postsecularism." [14] : 81 Johnson has also made translations for Hesiod's Theogony and Works of Days, which Fuller assesses as the "most readable English version available." [14] : 81 Fuller praises Kristen's Eliason's poetry in Picture Dictionary, a collection in the form of a bilingual dictionary. [14] : 82 Fuller further mentions John Talbot's witty Rough Translation, Lance Larson's "eminently readable" Genius Loci, and Susan Elizabeth Howe's Salt. [14] : 84–85
The Association for Mormon Letters has given awards for poetry nearly every year since 1977 as part of the AML Awards.[ citation needed ]
For Mormons, poetry is a form of art that can bring the Holy Spirit to the presented message. Early Mormon poets wrote about topics essential to their religious beliefs, such as prophets, revelations, and temples, and considered hymns and poetry an essential part of their worship. [2] Important themes in contemporary Mormon poetry include one's ancestry, Church doctrine, and the Mormon experience. [15] The LDS Church has officially encouraged its members to write hymns and poems on multiple occasions. [2] [8] In Mormon scripture, God emphasizes the importance of song and verse: "my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me." [16] Latter-Day Saints also value identifying and understanding poetry in the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. [17]
Poetry is also considered helpful to Mormon efforts to preach the gospel. [18]
In the late nineteenth century, a subgenre of "death poetry" was prevalent among Mormon women poets. Death poetry allowed these poets to express their feelings, find consolation in doctrine, and seek comfort in sorority since death was prevalent in early Utah life. Much of this poetry was published in the Woman's Exponent . [19]
The Songs of Zion is a collection of hymns sung by The Church of Jesus Christ. These songs are believed to be received by revelation from God, rather than actually written by Mormons. [20]
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In the Latter Day Saint movement, Heavenly Mother, also known as Mother in Heaven, is the mother of human spirits and the wife of God the Father. Collectively Heavenly Mother and Father are called Heavenly Parents. Those who accept the Mother in Heaven doctrine trace its origins to Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The doctrine became more widely known after Smith's death in 1844.
Eliza Roxey Snow was one of the most celebrated Latter-day Saint women of the nineteenth century. A renowned poet, she chronicled history, celebrated nature and relationships, and expounded scripture and doctrine. Snow was married to Joseph Smith as a plural wife, and was a plural wife to Brigham Young after Smith's death. Snow was the second general president of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which she reestablished in the Utah Territory in 1866. She was also the older sister of Lorenzo Snow, the LDS Church's fifth president.
Parley Parker Pratt Sr. was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith. Named in 1835 as one of the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Pratt was part of the Quorum's successful mission to Great Britain from 1839 to 1841. Pratt has been called "the Apostle Paul of Mormonism" for his promotion of distinctive Mormon doctrines.
Lavina Fielding Anderson was a Latter-day Saint scholar, writer, editor, and feminist. Anderson held a PhD in English from the University of Washington.
Hymns are an important part of the history and worship of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Arthur Henry King, also found as Arthur H. King, was a British poet, writer and academic.
Emily Hill Woodmansee was an English-born American Mormon poet and hymnwriter. Although only one of her hymns "As Sisters In Zion" is included in the 1985 LDS English language edition of the LDS Church's hymnbook, previous LDS Church hymnbooks have included more of her works.
Douglas H. Thayer was a prominent author in the "faithful realism" movement of Mormon fiction. He has been called the "Mormon Hemingway" for his straightforward style and powerful prose. Eugene England called him the "father of contemporary Mormon fiction."
George Eugene England, Jr., usually credited as Eugene England, was a Latter-day Saint writer, teacher, and scholar. He founded Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the oldest independent journal in Mormon Studies, with G. Wesley Johnson, Paul G. Salisbury, Joseph H. Jeppson, and Frances Menlove in 1966, and cofounded the Association for Mormon Letters in 1976. He is also widely known in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for his many essays about Mormon culture and thought. From 1977–1998, England taught Mormon Literature at Brigham Young University. England described the ideal modern Mormon scholar as "critical and innovative as his gifts from God require but conscious of and loyal to his own unique heritage and nurturing community and thus able to exercise those gifts without harm to others or himself."
Susan Evans McCloud is an American novelist, author, poet, hymnwriter, and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Lorin Farrar Wheelwright was an American Latter-day Saint hymnwriter, composer, musical instructor and educator.
The Association for Mormon Letters (AML) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 to "foster scholarly and creative work in Mormon letters and to promote fellowship among scholars and writers of Mormon literature." Other stated purposes have included promoting the "production and study of Mormon literature" and the encouragement of quality writing "by, for, and about Mormons." The broadness of this definition of LDS literature has led the AML to focus on a wide variety of work that has sometimes been neglected in the Mormon community. It publishes criticism on such writing, hosts an annual conference, and offers awards to works of fiction, poetry, essay, criticism, drama, film, and other genres. It published the literary journal Irreantum from 1999 to 2013 and currently publishes an online-only version of the journal, which began in 2018. The AML's blog, Dawning of a Brighter Day, launched in 2009. As of 2012, the association also promotes LDS literature through the use of social media. The AML has been described as an "influential proponent of Mormon literary fiction."
Preston Nibley was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and wrote several books on the church, including several pieces of devotional literature.
John J. Lyon was a Scottish Latter Day Saint poet and hymn writer.
"The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee" is an 1840 hymn written by Latter Day Saint apostle Parley P. Pratt.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and a topical guide to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
James Goldberg is an American historian, playwright, poet, and writer. He has Jewish, European, and Punjabi ancestors, and his grandfather, Gurcharan Singh Gill, was the first Sikh to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He attended Otterbein University briefly before transferring to Brigham Young University (BYU), where he completed his undergraduate work and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. He was an adjunct professor at BYU.
Songs and Flowers of the Wasatch is a book of poetry edited by Emmeline B. Wells and illustrated by Edna Wells Sloan. Several copies, with hand-painted illustrations, were exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in the Women's Building Library and the Utah Building. Utah women poets wrote the book's thirty-four poems, which focused on Utah's landscape and Mormon theology. Reviews when the book came out focused on the book itself as an art object. Mormon historians see the book as Utah women's attempt to assimilate to cultural expectations of citizens of the United States of America.