The 1914 edition of Elias

Elias: An Epic of the Ages is a book-length poem by Latter-day Saint poet Orson F. Whitney who described the work as "an attempt to present, in verse form, historically, doctrinally, and prophetically, the vast theme comprehended in what the world terms 'Mormonism'."[1] The term "Elias" has multiple meanings in the faith, and the poem plays with these.[2]

The poem was included in the 100 Works of Significant Mormon Literature list compiled by the Association for Mormon Letters.[3]

Publication history

Whitney had been ill and, believing he would die, prayed that "he might live to produce a work that would continue his ministy as a teacher after his mortal tongue was stilled."[4] He felt an immediate inspiration to begin Elias,[4] which he began early in 1900.[1] Upon finishing a draft, he read the poem to private and school groups. Publication was undertaken in 1904 by a group of his friends (Heber M. Wells, George Sutherland, Anthon H. Lund, Richard W. Young, and H. L. A. Culmer) without Whitney's knowledge; he felt the book was not ready for publication, but accepted their financial backing of the project.[1]

The following ten years, Whitney continued to "bring the book into a more finished state" until its 1914 publication. This publication included "explanatory notes for the benefit of students" with the intention that Elias could function as a textbook in schools.[1]

Structure

The book begins with a poetic "Dedication" to Joseph F. Smith, then a rendering of Doctrine and Covenants 77:9 as "Theme," an "Argument" in prose, and a table of contents laying out the remainder of the volume (with the notes following the epilogue):

Prelude—The Author's Purpose
Form: A single Spenserian stanza[2]
Content: Whitney describes his survival from illness to write this book[4]
Canto One—As From a Dream
Form: Blank verse[2]
Content: The "author's spiritual awakening"[4]
Canto Two—The Soul of Song
Form: Spenserian stanzas[2]
Content: Elias appears as " the Soul of Song" as the author soliloquis[es] upon Utah's mountains[4]
Canto Three—Elect of Elohim
Form: Eight-line stanzas in short meter[2]
Content: The "beginning of the poem proper"; covers the Council in Heaven[4]
Canto Four—Night and the Wilderness
Form: Blank verse[2]
Content: An "allegory of the Christian or Meridian Dispensation" of the time following the deaths of Christ and John the Baptist, the "mission of the Comforter," and the Great Apostasy[4]
Canto Five—The Messenger of Morn
Form: Blank verse[2]
Content: The message of Joseph Smith[4]
Canto Six—From Out of the Dust
Form: Spencerian stanzas[2]
Content: The story of the Book of Mormon[4]
Canto Seven—The Arcana of the Infinite
Form: Heroic couplets[2]
Content: The "esoteric or advanced principles of the Gospel[4]
Canto Eight—The Lifted Ensign
Form: Blank verse[2]
Content: The beginnings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[4]
Canto Nine—Upon the Shoulders of the Philistine
Form: Heroic couplets[2]
Content: The Saints' westward migration[4]
Canto Ten—The Parted Veil
Form: Spencerian stanzas[2]
Content: Joseph Smith's vision of his people's future destiny[4]
Epilogue—The Angel Ascendant
Form: Blank verse[2]
Content: An "address to and a response from" Elias[4]

Legacy

Neal W. Kramer, twice president of the Association for Mormon Letters, described Elias as "Mormonism’s true epic poem."[5] He said it "aspires to reach the heights of Milton, Spenser, and Homer ... [and] there are moments when the verse, the narrative, and the doctrine combine to make supernal Mormon poetry."[5]

Whitney would go on to write a second epic, the romance Love and the Light: An Idyll of the Westland (1918).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Foreword" by Orson F. Whitney to the 1914 edition of Elias: An Epic of the Ages
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "From Lolly to Elias" by Theric Jepson, Thubstack, April 23, 2023. Accessed April 23, 2023.
  3. ↑ "The AML 100 Works of Significant Mormon Literature." Dawning of a Brighter Day. Association for Mormon Letters. July 22, 2022. Accessed April 23, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Notes to Elias: An Epic of the Ages by Orson F. Whitney. 1914.
  5. 1 2 "The Life of Orson F. Whitney: Historian, Poet, Apostle, As Recorded in His Daily Journals: Review" by Neal W. Kramer, BYU Studies. Accessed April 23, 2023
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