dimanche 1 septembre 2013

The Spiritual Dimension In Lds Poems

By Kate McMahon


Lds poems have their origin in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints and continue to form a part of their liturgical recitations and literature. They have a heavy spiritual or religious theme. The church has been in existence since the early 1800s and continues to use poetry as a tool for evangelization. They consider it an art form that brings the Holy Spirit closer to its faithful.

Lds poetry is also regarded as Mormon poetry and has branches that include fiction literature. Early works by these poets were recorded in old literature journals like the Elders Journal that published James Marsh. The editors of the journal were Joseph and Don Smith. The themes and presentation in this poetry was exceptional to capture the eyes of these editors.

Mormon General Conferences and talks have witnessed recitations over the years. The recitations are given by apostles and touch on spiritual themes and current affairs. Some of these verses are later transformed into music because of their presentation and how they capture the themes in the lives of the church members. An example is the poem written and recited by Elder Bruce McConkie. It was entitled I Believe In Christ and was later turned into a song.

Traditional writers have inspired modern day followers to engage in poetry. McConkie is cited by Packer Boyd as the inspiration behind the poem Washed Clean. This is a common recitation for April conferences. The character who inspired this poem was Jesus as described in I Believe in Christ.

General conferences and talks within the church circles have a lot of poetry in them. This is a passion that can be associated with the church tradition. It has been passed on from generation to the other between the faithful and church hierarchy. It is worth noting that the current leader and president, Thomas Monson, uses poetry in most of his talks and presentations. This poetry is as good as any other that is used for other purposes or by secular writers.

Mormon literature database contains an excellent collection of both fiction and poetry from this group of writers. Literary critics have singled out several authors because of their outstanding writing. The collection also includes hymns considering that a good number of them began as poetry. Some of the work adheres to the traditional definition while others open new grounds in the genre.

Mormon poets can broadly be classified into traditional and contemporary depending on their eras of existence. The first group began writing in the 1830 until 1950s when the style changed. This ushered in the contemporary writers who have continued to produce excellent poetry to date. They defer because of their support themes and the audience. It is possible to see the distribution of audience across different corners of the world through their poetry.

Among the notable authors of lds poems include Eliza Snow who wrote O My Father and W Phelps who wrote The Spirit of God. Contemporary poets include Whitney Orson who has written The Epic. Other themes covered by recent day writers are violence. Every poem is laced with a spiritual dimension.




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