As might be expected, the Book of Mormon has inspired considerable poetry among those who have accepted it as a revelation from God; and as some idea of its influence upon minds of poetic temperament may be revealed by these effusions, I present some of them. I first quote Parley P. Pratt, one of the earliest poets of the New Dispensation, and one of its most zealous Apostles. In his Key to Theology, one of the most luminous works yet published by the Church, when treating of the "Rise, Progress and Decline of the Science of Theology in the Western Hemisphere"--he opens that chapter with the following: The spirit world is moved, the silence broken, The ancient Seers from out the ground have spoken. The appointed years on time's fleet wings have fled, And voices whisper from the ancient dead. Volumes of truth the sacred archives yield, The past, the glorious future, stand revealed. It was the revelation of the Book of Mormon and the historical truths which it reveals respecting the blessings of the Lord upon Israel that inspired the following hymn: The morning breaks, the shadows flee; Lo! Zion's standard is unfurled! The dawning of a brighter day Majestic rises on the world. The clouds of error disappear Before the rays of truth divine; The glory, bursting from afar, Wide o'er the nations soon will shine. The Gentile fulness now comes in, And Israel's blessings are at hand; Lo! Judah's remnant, cleansed from sin, Shall in their promised Canaan stand. Jehovah speaks! let earth give ear, And Gentile nations turn and live; His mighty arm is making bare, His cov'nant people to receive. Angels from heaven and truth from earth Have met, and both have record borne; Thus Zion's light is bursting forth, To cheer her children's glad return. The following hymn was also inspired by the Book of Mormon: An angel from on high, The long, long silence broke, Descending from the sky, These gracious words he spoke: Lo! in Cumorah's lonely hill, A sacred record lies concealed. Sealed by Moroni's hand, It has for ages lain, To wait the Lord's command, From dust to speak again. It shall again to light come forth, To usher in Christ's reign on earth. It speaks of Joseph's seed, And makes the remnant known Of nations long since dead, Who once had dwelt alone. The fulness of the gospel, too, Its pages will reveal to view. The time is now fulfilled, The long expected day; Let earth obedient yield. And darkness flee away; Open the seals, be wide unfurled Its light and glory to the world. Lo, Israel filled with joy, Shall now be gathered home, Their wealth and means employ To build Jerusalem; While Zion shall arise and shine, And fill the earth with truth divine. Also the following on the destruction of the Nephites and the glory that is yet to come to their posterity.