The Latter-day Kingdom

The Latter-day Kingdom"

By President Charles W. Penrose

How shall I sing thy beauty, pow'r and light,

O glorious kingdom of the latter days!

I see thy loveliness, I feel thy might,

But fail in utterance to speak thy praise !

I search in vain the records of the past,

Which paint dead kingdoms in their short-lived pride,

They cannot picture thee, whose pow'r shall last

While heav'n and truth and Deity abide.

And shall the little "powers that be" today,

Be likened for a moment to thy majesty?

As well declare pale Vesta's twinkling ray

Unfolds the splendor of eternity.

In hist'ry only Egypt's greatness lives —

Lost are its treasures, all its wisdom hid,

Except the scraps the crumbling mummy gives,

The sculptured sphynx and tow'ring pyramid.

Assyria! Thy sceptre lies in dust,

Thy bow is broken and thy pomp has fled.

Perished thy fruits of conquest, blood and lust,

With all the warriors that Tiglath led!

Where are the palaces of Babylon,

The "hanging gardens" and the golden tow'rs?

With the Chaldeans' starlight wisdom gone,

Walls, gates and glory, images and flow'rs!

And could'st not thou, O Greece, avert thy fate,

With oracles and wealth and victory?

Couldst not thy world-wide reign perpetuate,

With all thy gods and deep philosophy?

*Among all his poetic writings President Penrose considers this his

best poem. It was written in London, while he was on a mission from Zion,

in 1866.

480 IMPROVEMENT ERA

The soul that moved thee in thy conquering march,

That spoke in poesy and art and grace,

Is disembodied; and the mouldering arch

And chiseled fragment mark thy burial place.

And thou, O Rome ! proud mistress of the world !

Thine armored legions spread no terror now.

They bring no blood-bought spoils of gems impearled,

To deck thy bosom and thy haughty brow.

Thy Coliseum's vast and vacant walls,

Rot as an emblem of thy great decay,

And on the ear its mournful echo falls,

A dismal knell of thy departed sway!

O! all ye living governments and states!

Gaze on the relics of far mightier powers !

The hand that shattered them, uplifted waits

The bell that ends your few remaining hours!

In the high chambers of the West, I see

An infant kingdom struggling to the birth.

And the prophetic spirit says to me,

"In manhood this shall govern all the earth."

O Zion! built by Saints of latter-days,

Bring forth the promised kingdom to the world!

Upon the mountain tops "the ensign" raise,

And spread its shining folds to all the world!

Gathered from ev'ry clime and tongue and race,

Under that banner, righteous men shall stand,

And the all-conquering Christ shall show His face

And give dominion to that faithful band.

Armored in truth and God's authority,

Dauntless and terrible, yet full of love,

The King shall lead them unto victory,

And bring a vanguard from the ranks above.

No weapon formed against them shall prevail,

No cunning plan shall prove their overthrow;

The prince of all earth's kingdoms they assail,

And drive his forces to the shades below.

THE LATTER-DAY KINGDOM 481

The spirit that gives wisdom to the wise,

From Council, Congress, Parliament, shall flee —

Shall rest on those whom wicked men despise,

And leave the world to human policy.

Left, in a day of storms, each hark of state,

Rotten and rudderless, whirled madly on

Against each other on the sea of fate,

With awful crash to depths of death go down.

But see the ship no storm can overwhelm.

Saving the remnants of the wrecks below!

"The Priesthood's" written on her shining helm,

"God's Kingdom" is inscribed upon her bow.

God's Kingdom! Seen in vision by the seers!

God's Kingdom! Clothed in justice, truth and light!

Theme of the prophet and the bard appears

To save the nations from chaotic night.

A perfect government for all the earth.

Not a republic nor a monarchy,

And yet from both all principles of worth

Are blended in this great Theocracy.

Wielding almighty power in ev'ry land,

The willing people bend to its supreme decrees,

And mutual int'rest, like a golden band,

Binds in one social compact men of all degrees.

Appointed by the great Jehovah's voice,

By intellect and virtue qualified,

And a free people's universal choice,

The leading spirits govern and preside.

No longer bound beneath the cruel weight

Of idle vampires, draining their life's blood,

The joyful nations yield the pow'r of state

To legislators for their country's good.

Earth's treasures, hiding 'neath the deep sea waves,

Bound in the rock, or shining on the strand,

Or glittering in subterraneous caves,

Come sparkling forth at industry's command.

482 IMPROVEMENT ERA

New sciences and arts diffuse new light,

Knowledge of future and of past events,

Wisdom to comprehend the secret might,

And subtle forces of the elements.

In wondrous implements, mechanic skill

Gives unto labor swift and easy wings,

Making each sterile spot with life to thrill,

While water from the thirsty desert springs.

Thought, freed from human trammels, brings to light

Its glorious conceptions without fear,

And mouldy Precedent, struck dead with fright,

Reposes on an unregretted bier.

The laws which life and health perpetuate,

By inspiration's sacred voice are taught,

And every passion made subordinate

To principles with lasting pleasure fraught.

Jesus, the Sinless, fills the regal throne,

To Him all other rulers bend the knee;

He reigns not by His right and might alone,

But loving homage swells His majesty.

Earth, linked into the chain of worlds on high,

Among the ransomed planets takes its place,

And finds itself in blest affinity

With orbs that govern time through boundless space.

Such is the kingdom now on earth begun;

A branch of the great Governmental Tree,

Whose roots are grounded in the central sun,

Whose boughs bear fruit through all eternity.

Happy are they who labor in its cause,

Happy are they who suffer for its sake;

For all who are obedient to its laws,

Of all its joys and honors will partake.