Poetry
For the Times and Seasons
The Assassination of Gen'ls Joseph Smith and Hyrum
Smith,
First Presidents of the Church of Latter Day Saints;
Who Were Massacred by a mob in Carthage,
Hancock County, Ill., on the 27th June, 1844;
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A. GIVE EAR
Ye heav'ns attend! Let all the
earth give ear!
Let Gods and seraphs, men and angels hear -
The worlds on high - the universe shall know
What awful scenes are acted here below!
B. BLOOD SO NOBLE/PURE
BLOOD ON INNOCENCE
Had nature's self a heart, her heart would bleed;
For never, since the Son of God was slain
Has blood no noble, flow'd from
human vein
As that which now, on God for vengeance calls
From "freedom's ground" -
from Carthage prison walls!
Oh! Illinois! Thy soil has drank the blood
Of Prophets martyr'd for the truth of God.
Once lov'd America! What can atone
For the pure blood on innocence, thou'st sown?
C. WRETCHED MURDERS
Were all
thy streams in teary torents shed
To mourn
the fate of those illustrious dead;
How vain
the tribute, for the noblest worth
That
grace'd thy surface, O degraded Earth!
Oh wretched
murd'rers! fierce for human blood!
You've
slain the prophets of the living God,
Who've born
oppression from their early youth
To
plant on earth, the principles of truth.
D. OFFERED AS A SACRIFICE
Shades of
our patriotic fathers! Can it be,
Beneath
your blood-stain'd flag of liberty;
The firm
supporters of our country's cause,
Are
butcher'd while submissive to her laws?
Yes,
blameless men, defam'd by hellish lies
Have thus
been offer'd as a sacrifice
T'appease
the ragings of a brutish clan,
That has
defiled the laws of God and man!
'Twas not
for crime or guilt of theirs, they fell -
Against
the laws they never did rebel.
True to
their country, yet her plighted faith
Has prov'd
an instrument of cruel death!
E. THY PROTECTING CARE
Where are
thy far-famed laws - Columbia! where
Thy
boasted freedom - thy protecting care?
Is
this a land of rights? Stern-FACTS shall say
If legal
justice here maintains its sway,
The
official pow'rs of State are sheer pretence
When
they've exerted in the Saints' defence.
F. TWO, SO WISE, SO VIRTUOUS, GREAT AND
GOOD
Great
men have fall'n and mighty men have died -
Nations
have mourn'd their fav'rites and their pride;
But TWO,
so wise, so virtuous, great and good,
Before
on earth, at once, have never stood
Since
the creation - men whom God ordain'd
To
publish truth where error long had reigned;
Of whom
the world, itself unworthy prov'd:
It
KNEW THEM NOT, but men with hatred mov'd
And with
infernal spirits have combin'd
Against
the best, the noblest of mankind!
E. UTTER DESTRUCTION
Oh,
persecution! shall thy purple hand
Spread utter
destruction through the land?
Shall freedom's banner
be no more unfurled?
Has peace
indeed, been taken from the world?
F. THIS AWFUL STROKE
Thou God
of Jacob, in this trying hour
Help us
to trust in thy almighty pow'r;
Support
thy Saints beneath this awful stroke
-
Make bare
thine arm to break oppression's yoke.
D. THY PROPHET
We mourn
thy Prophet, from whose lips have flow'd
The words
of life, thy spirit has bestow'd -
A depth of
thought, no human art could reach
From time
to time, roll'd in sublimest speech,
From the
celestial fountain, through his mind,
To purify
and elevate mankind:
The rich
intelligence by him brought forth,
Is like
the sun-beam, spreading o'er the earth.
Now Zion
mourns - she mourns an earthly head
The
Prophet and the Patriarch are dead!
C. WIDOWS' AGONIZING
GRAONS
The
blackest deed that men or devils know
Since Calv'ry's
scene, has laid the brothers low!
One in
their life, and one in death - the prov'd
How strong
their friendship - how they truly lov'd:
True to
their mission, until death, they stood,
Then seal'd
their testimony with their blood.
All hearts
with sorrow bleed, and ev'ry eye
Is bath'd
in tears - each bosom heaves a sigh -
Hart
broken widows' agonizing groans
Are
mingled with the helpless orphans' moans!
B. IN HIS PROMISE
Ye Saints! be still, and know that God is just -
With steadfast purpose in his
promise trust
Girded with sackcloth, own his mighty hand,
And wait his judgments on this guilty land!
The noble martyrs now have gone to move
The cause of Zion in the courts above.
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A. SLAIN FOR THE WORD OF GOD
a. "And when he had opened the
fifth seal, I saw under the alter,
the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God,
and for the testimony which
they held;
And they cried with
a loud voice, saying,
b. How long, O Lord, holy and
true,
d. dost thou
not judge and
c. avenge our blood on them
that dwell on earth?
e. And white
robes were given
f. unto every one of them;
f. and it was
said unto them,
e. that they
should rest yet for a little season,
d. until their
fellow servants also, and their brethren,
c. that should
be killed as they were,
b. should be fulfilled."
a. [Ellipsis]
Rev. 6:--9,10,11.
Nauvoo, July 1, 1844.
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Summary:
a. ... give ear
b. ... blood so noble/pure blood on innocence
c. ... wretched murders
d. ... offered as a sacrifice
e. ... thy protecting care
f. ... TWO, so wise, so virtuous,
great and good
e. ... utter destruction
d. ... thy Prophet
c. ... widows' agonizing graons
b. ... in his promise
a. ... slain for the word of God
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