Monday, September 2, 2013

The Spirituality Theme In Lds Poems

The Spirituality Theme In Lds Poems



By Kate McMahon





Lds poems are a project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints. Their themes or topics are purely spiritual. The church began at the sunrise of the nineteenth century and has been churning poems ever since. The church considers this as an art form that is intended to bring the Holy Spirit closer to the people.



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.



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.



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.



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.



There is an excellent and voluminous Mormon literature collection that includes works of fiction. There are a number of authors who capture the attention of literary critics by their work. A good number of these poems have ended up as hymns and therefore have double existence. The writers display both traditional conservativeness and modern day creativity and dynamism.



One may classify poets under the Mormon bracket in two categories. One category is the early poets who wrote between 1830 and the middle of the twentieth century. The other group is made of writers who picked up in the middle of the twentieth century up to the present moment. Their works are distinct and can be identified with the themes and style of writing. Their audience is also different and spread in different parts of the world.



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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The Spirituality Theme In Lds Poems



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