Elias Part 15

Enough, I know thee, Strong and mighty One, That standest in the presence of the Lord!

That leadest Israel from bondage old, That liftest up the Ensign unto all!

Know thee, thou Muse and Minstrel of the Mount, Thou Harper on the Hills of Melody?

I know thee, and am here to work thy will, To hymn thy praise, perchance behold thy power, 7030 When, iris-crowned and clothed as with a cloud, Thy face the sun, thy feet as pillared fire, Thou comest down from Heaven, and swearest by Eternity, that Time shall be no more!

Ancient of Ages! Angel of the East!

Spirit of Promise! Prophet of the Dawn[22]!

NOTES

Explanation: The first figure at the beginning of the Note indicates the word or phrase marked in the text; the second figure gives the number of the line in which it is found.

NOTE TO DEDICATION. The Dedication is to President Joseph F. Smith, sixth in succession to the leaders.h.i.+p of the Latter-day Saints, nephew to Joseph the Prophet, and son of Hyrum the Patriarch, who were martyred at Carthage, Illinois, June 27, 1844. The poem made its appearance during President Smith's administration, and the author owes much to his kind encouragement and appreciation.

NOTE TO THEME. The words of the Theme are a pa.s.sage from the "Key to John's Revelation" (Doctrine and Covenants 77:9).

NOTE TO PRELUDE. The Author, while ill, prayed that he might live to produce a work that would continue his ministry as a teacher after his mortal tongue was stilled. The beginning of the answer to his prayer was an immediate inspiration to write this poem.

CANTO ONE

1--t.i.tle: **As From a Dream.** The subject of this Canto is the author's spiritual awakening.

2--20. **Baal and Astoreth** (also rendered Ashtoreth). Pagan deities, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. They were wors.h.i.+ped by the idolatrous Israelites. The Prophet Elijah's controversy with the priests of Baal is one of the most dramatic episodes in sacred history. (I Kings 18:19-40). Baal was the sun G.o.d, chief male divinity of the Phoenicians; Ashtoreth, representing the moon, a G.o.ddess of the Philistines--the same as Astarte of the Zidonians. The corresponding deities among the Greeks and Romans were Zeus or Jupiter and Aphrodite or Venus.

3--60. **Truth's Triple Key.** The Spirit of Truth, revealing past, present and future.

4--86. **Ambrosial Gardens.** The Gardens of the G.o.ds--Heaven.

5--92. **Paradise.** The Spirit World, a place of rest for the righteous, awaiting resurrection and exaltation to glorious spheres beyond. (Alma, 40:11-14; "Joseph Smith's Teachings," pp. 184, 185; Key to Theology, 14.)

6--101. **Love's Eyes.** Love is usually represented as a blind boy, Cupid, shooting his arrows aimlessly. Love, when spiritually enlightened, is no longer blind, but has a definite purpose in view.

7--111. **Lethean Ground.** Lethe, in cla.s.sic mythology, signifies oblivion. It was the name of a river in Hades, of which the dead drank and forgot all.

8--117. **O Thou, Of Beauty!** The stanza beginning with these words is an apostrophe to Woman.

9--130. **Apple of Ashes.** On the sh.o.r.es of the Dead Sea there grows, it is said, a fruit resembling the apple, beautiful and inviting to the eye, but turning to ashes at the touch.

10--167. **Equally May Win.** The vanquished, as well as the victorious, may gain, through experience, development.

11--174. **What Soul Can Grow?** Pride, greed, hate, and all other perverted pa.s.sions, are as weeds and thorns in the garden of the heart. It is fair to presume that the Saviour, when he exhorted his disciples to forgive and love their enemies, had in view the welfare of the disciples themselves. It was more for their sake than for the sake of their enemies, that He gave the exhortation.

12--185. **The Spirit of the Infinite.** The Holy Spirit, a.s.sumed throughout the poem to be acting through "Elias," the Genius of Progress, who also has his agents or instruments.

13--219. **Time's Hills and Vales.** A metaphor suggested by the Book of Abraham (3:18, 19).

CANTO TWO

1--t.i.tle: **The Soul of Song.** Herein the author is represented as soliloquising upon his native mountains, where he meets the Soul of Song and is inspired to sing the epic of time and eternity. As the Soul of Song, "Elias" makes his first appearance in the action of the poem.

2--261. **The Sacred Garden.** The Garden of Eden.

3--263. **t.i.tan Stand.** The t.i.tans were a group of mythical giants, descended from the G.o.ds. (Greek and Roman mythology.)

4--276. **Orphean Boon.** Orpheus, son of the Muse Calliope, received from Apollo or Minerva a lyre upon which he played so skillfully that rocks and trees were moved, rivers ceased to flow, and savage beasts forgot their wildness, charmed by the wonderful sounds. (Ibid.)

5--281. **Oh, Were My Words!** A paraphrase of Job 19:23, 24.

6--288. **Melting Gift.** The power of speech or of song.

7--384. **Voice of the Stars.** Another reference to Job (38:7).

8--390. **The Body's Bard.** This allusion is to poets who exalt the material over the spiritual, the sensuous over the intellectual, the body of things over the soul of things.

9--407. **This Most Ancient Sh.o.r.e.** Modern science, confirming modern revelation, is beginning to regard America as the Old World, not the New.

10--408. **And Man Shall Rise.** Zion, City of the Pure-in-Heart, is to stand upon the ancient site of the Garden of Eden.

11--415. **Shepherd Psalmist.** David, who played before King Saul, exorcising the evil spirit which held the monarch bound. (I Samuel 18:10 and 19:9.)

CANTO THREE

1--t.i.tle: **Elect of Elohim.** Elohim, or Eloheim, the Hebrew plural for G.o.d. To the modern Jew it means the plural of majesty, not of number; but to the Latter-day Saint it signifies both. As here used it stands for "The Council of the G.o.ds," or, as in Psalms 82:1, "The Congregation of the Mighty." In that council or congregation was elected, before Earth was formed, the Redeemer of the World. (Pearl of Great Price--Moses 4:1-4; Abraham 3:22-28; Compendium p. 285.) This Canto glimpses the choosing of Messiah, the rebellion of Lucifer, the Saviour's descent to Earth, his crucifixion and return to Glory. It is the beginning of the poem proper.

2--450. **Olea's Silver Beam.** Olea, according to the Book of Abraham, is Moon; s.h.i.+nehah (s.h.i.+nea) Sun; and Kokaubeam, Stars. Kolob, according to the same authority, is a great governing planet "nigh unto the throne of G.o.d." (Abraham 3; D. and C. 76:25, 28.)

3--504. **Mighty Michael.** Michael the Archangel, leader of the hosts of Heaven against Lucifer and his rebellious legions, became Adam and fell from an immortal to a mortal state that he might become the progenitor of the human family.

4--516. **Tried Souls.** In "Mormon" theology "soul" means body and spirit combined, but in general literature, and especially poetry, "soul" and "spirit" are synonyms.

5--522. **The Stepping-Stone.** G.o.d's children, such as kept the first or spirit estate, were given bodies upon this planet, thus becoming souls, capable of eternal increase and advancement. (Abraham 3:26.) Two-thirds of the spirits then populating the Spirit World were found worthy of opportunities for experience and development in mortality, while one-third--those who rebelled--were denied that privilege. (Compendium p. 288.)

6--528. **The Love That Hath Redeemed All Worlds.** The Gospel of the Christ, the highest expression of G.o.d's love for man, has saved many worlds, and is destined to save many more. (Moses 1:33-39.) But the Gospel is more than a means of escape from impending ills; it existed before man had need of salvation. A divine plan for human progress, embracing both the Fall and the Redemption, it was framed in the heavens before this earth was organized, and is a free gift from G.o.d to man. Man, however, to avail himself of its benefits, must yield obedience to its requirements. Redemption (resurrection) comes unconditionally, but salvation and exaltation depend upon human works as well as upon divine favor. A soul may be redeemed--raised from the dead--and yet condemned at the final judgment for evil deeds done in the body. Likewise may a soul be redeemed and saved, and yet come short of the glory that const.i.tutes exaltation. To redeem, save and glorify is the threefold purpose of the Gospel of Christ. The English word "Gospel" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "G.o.dspell" or G.o.d-Story--the story of G.o.d. In its fullest sense it signifies everything connected with the redemptive career of that Divine Being who gave His life that man might eternally live.

7--548. **Exception Scorns.** Lucifer, who fain would have been the Redeemer, proposed to save by coercive methods, involving the destruction of human agency, and demanded as his reward the honor that belongs to G.o.d. (Moses 4:1-4; Abraham 3:22-28)

8--560. **My Messenger.** It was Jehovah the G.o.d of Israel who became Jesus of Nazareth and died to redeem mankind (D. and C. 110:1-4). He is Son Ahman, concerning whom Orson Pratt, citing an unpublished revelation, says: "What is the name of G.o.d in the pure language? The answer says 'Ahman.' What is the name of the Son of G.o.d? Answer, 'Son Ahman, the greatest of all the parts of G.o.d, excepting Ahman.' What is the name of men? 'Son Ahman,' is the answer." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. II, p. 342.)

9--562. **Thy Face Before.** An allusion to Elias, the lesser going before the greater.