--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1842 to 1843. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 4 number: 3 published: 1842-12-15 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“Apostrophe to Death,” *Times and Seasons* 4, no. 3 (December 15, 1842): 48." printed_title: APOSTROPHE TO DEATH. source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1842-12-15_4_3 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n03.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1842-12-15_4_3 start_page: 48 end_page: 48 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1842 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1842-12-15_4_3 publication_year: 1842 --- # Apostrophe to Death BY MISS E. R. SNOW. What art thou, Death?-I've seen thy visage and Of revelation shone upon thy path Have heard thy sound-deep, low, murm'ring sound Thou seem'st no more a hideous monster, arm'd That rises on thy tread! With jav'lins, arrows, shafts, and iron barbs, Thy land is called To fix in everlasting hopelessness A land of shadows; and thy path, a path The noblest prospect and the purest hope. Of blind contingence gloominess and fear- Beyond thy presence and beyond thy reach- Thy form, comprising all that's terrible; Beyond the precincts of thy dread domain- For all the terrors that have cross'd the earth, Beyond the mansions where in silence lie Or crept into its lowest depths, have been The scattered relics of thy ghastly power-. Associated with the thoughts of Death! High on eternity's projecting coast; The tales of old bear record of thy deeds, A glorious beacon rears its lofty disk, For thou hast been in every rank and grade- And the bright beams of immortality In every circumstance-in every place By revelation's bold reflection giv'n, A visitor. Unceremoniously Have fall'n upon thee and roll'd back the shades Thou'st strode into the mansions of the great, Which superstition, ignorance and doubt And rous'd a strain of agonizing grief Had heap'd like ocean's mountain-waves upon Above the rich, embroidered carpetings Thy lone, unsocial, hourly-trodden path. That decorate the splendid citadels Hope, the bright luminary of the heart, Where pomp and fashion reign: where bolts and bars Is coursing around thee, and her orbit's breadth To each intruding form; all but thyself, Extends beyond the utmost of thy shades Preclude admittance: thou hast added oft And points her radius to celestial spheres To the abode of wretched poverty The mask that hung in troubled folds around A larger, deeper draught of wretchedness! Thy pulseless bosom, has been torn aside- The rich and poor, the little and the great Seen as thou art, by inspiration's light, Have shar'd thy bitterness-have seen thy hand! Thou hast not look the righteous need to fear, But thou art chang'd-the terror of thy looks- With all thy ghastliness-amid the grief The darkness that encompass'd thee, is gone; Thy presence brings. I hear a thrilling tone There is no frightfulness about thee now Of music, sweet as seraph notes that ride Intelligence, the everlasting lamp Upon the balmy breath of summer eve. Of truth, of truth eternal, lighted from Art thou a tyrant, holding the black reins The world on high, has pour'd its brilliant flame Of destiny that binds the future course Abroad, to scatter darkness and to chase Of man's existence? No; thou art, O Death! The horrors that attended thy approach! A haggard porter, charg'd to wait before And thou art chang'd-for since the glorious light The Grave, life's portal to the worlds on high. The Times and Seasons, IS EDITED BY JOHN TAYLOR. Printed and published about the first and fifteenth of every month, on the corner of Water and Bain Streets, Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, by JOHN TAYLOR & WILFORD WOODRUFF. TERMS.-TWO DOLLARS per annum, payable in all cases in advance. Any person procuring five new subscribers, and forwarding us Ten Dollars current money, shall receive one volume gratis. All letters must be addressed to John Taylor, editor, POST PAID, or they will not receive attention.