He Looked Beyond

Looked Beyond Seventy years have passed since Brigham's eyes surveyed thee, Zion. A dry, forbidding land, enclosed in mounts of iron; The Prophet then, methinks, saw Zion risen As ancient seers beheld in glorious vision. He looked beyond the rock-ribbed canyon waste, The valleys, baked and beaten, sore defaced; The wilderness of sand and sage and sea; A land of savage tribes, blood-thirsty, free. And, looking, saw the stagnant pools burst forth with water sweet; The valleys filled with fields, with towns replete; Orchards and vineyards teeming with their store, And mountains yielding wealth in wood and ore. And in the midst of all, the Prophet's gaze Beheld a city rise from out the haze, Stretching its virile limbs o'er vales and hills, Throbbing with commerce in its marts and mills. He saw the homes of saints from every nation, Called by God's servants to a sure salvation. But grander still, his keen, prophetic eyes Beheld Jehovah's House rise to rejoicing skies; And gathered Israel pouring through its gate, To save their kin who helplessly await. 0 Brigham, blessed wert thou above most seers of God, Steadfast and faithful to the Iron Rod — A Moses and a Joseph moulded into one, A humble giant in the Kingdom of the Son, You looked beyond the cheerless depths of night, And, looking, saw afar the noon-day light. Atlanta, Georgia Frank C. Steele