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Wednesday, 4 September 2013

The Spirituality Theme 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.

Poetry has formed a major part of Mormon General Conference talks. This is a part of the tradition of the church. It is used by church apostles to expound on current affairs and offer a spiritual dimension. It is common to find the poems being turned into hymns because of the excellent manner in which they capture the teachings of this denomination. One such poem is I Believe In Christ that was written by McConkie Bruce.

Early works have inspired latter generation writers to engage in new writing. An example is Elder Boyd Packer who was inspired by the work of Bruce McKonkie to write a poem entitled Washed Clean. It was recited during the conference in April. He says that his inspiration came from the Jesus who is found in the poem I Believe in Christ.

Early poets have dominated the literature of most of the general conferences in the church. Present day leaders have maintained the passion for poetry. The president and leader now is Monson Thomas and is said to be an avid reader. He loves the art so much and has incorporated it in most of his writings. His talks during conferences and on various occasions are filled with poetry citations. Using religion as the main theme has not taken anything away from this writing.

Mormon literature is voluminous and excellent. It comes in different categories including fiction. Literary critics have cited an admirable degree of creativity in the works of a number of writers in this group. Some use the conservative poetic style of early generations while others are dynamic and experiment a lot. The pristine nature of this poetry has seen a number of them turned into hymns.

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.

The Spirit of God by Phelps W and O My Father by Snow Eliza best represent pioneer Lds poems. Current day works include The Epic as was written by Orson Whitney. Contemporary poets have expanded their themes to include violence. All these writings have a spiritual perspective.




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