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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.

The other name given to Lds poetry is Mormon poetry. It is part of a larger literature collection that includes fiction. Old literary journals have published and critiqued this category of works. Among the journals is Elders journal that had verses written by Marsh James. It works were edited by Don C and Joseph Smith. The editors site these works as exceptional.

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.

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.

Most general conferences are based on poetry from earlier writers. Leaders in the church are particularly passionate about poetry. It is worth noting that the current leader and president is totally in love with this art. Citations can always be found in his works and talks. He goes by the name Thomas Monson. The religious connection in this work has not made it any less creative.

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.

Lds poems have their style captured in The Spirit of God that was authored by W Phelps. He is in the same category of pioneers as Snow Eliza who wrote O My Father. Contemporary poets are represented by Orson Whitney who has written The Epic. The themes tackled by present day writers are broader to include violence among others. The spiritual perspective is dominant in this poetry.




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