The Lone Seer
Updated: Dec 1
Editor's note: This poem is a companion piece to The Three Kings By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The lead image is based on Timothy from bookofmormon.online.
The Seer went out and he bowed to pray,
The next in a long line of Nephis pure;
A Prophet out of the West dismayed,
As he worshipped by night and he pled by day,
For the aid of Jehovah whose word is sure.
God's voice was so beautiful, still and clear,
That all the other sounds of the air
Became a white noise in the atmosphere,
And by this he knew that the coming was near
Of the Prince foretold in yesteryear.
Night then went by without moonlight's gleam,
A midnight of gold with aurum skies;
One star up in heav'n bore new light's stream,
Above the dominant, blazing sun's great beam,
A Lamanite's promise made true o'er time.
And so the Lone Seer found courage to rest,
Through the blaze of the night and heav'n's great swell;
No longer awakened by anxious breast,
His God had thwarted the evil test
Devised by the wicked under Satan's spell.
“Of the child that is born,” said Nephi, Seer,
“Good people, I pray you, behold the news;
For we in this land have seen His star,
It appeared so fast, and has shone so far:
The sign to worship the King of the Jews.”
Days passed away, and the star stood still;
But evening came eventually;
O'er years faith died of its own free will,
And Nephite doubt grew loud and shrill:
"No Christ was born across the sea!"
Gadiantons published, “You preach in vain;
We know of no King but Jacob the Great!”
They thought Nephi was a man insane,
As he wore out his soles across the plain.
A prophet in haste, a looming fate.
So he cried repentance to all of them,
And Jacob the Great, who had heard this thing,
Sent for the Robbers and threatened him;
And said, “Go down and do him in;
Then kill the judges and make me king.”
And the Robbers fought through the gate and the guard,
Through the bloody streets, till their forces turned
And cheered as they entered the palace yard;
The doors were breached, though the doors were barred,
And soon the walls of the palace burned.
And broken there in the bloody street,
In the acrid air from the smoke of fire,
The Prophet's brother lay at his feet;
A dead disciple of a future day,
Timothy, stoned by the wicked's great ire.
His brother Nephi, after the death,
Sat watching beside his place of rest;
And praying to heaven for one more breath,
Felt the power of Jesus of Nazareth
Bring Timothy's heartbeat to his chest.
Helping young Timothy to his feet,
He cried in gratitude to their King;
This miracle, with its mercy sweet,
Though temporary and incomplete,
Was resurrection's foreshadowing.
And his brother wondered and bowed his head,
And stood as still as a statue of stone;
His heart was troubled yet comforted,
Remembering what the Prophet had said
Of an endless reign and of David’s throne.
Then the two rode out of the city gate,
With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;
But they went not back to Jacob the Great,
For they knew his malice and felt his hate,
And returned to their homes by another way.
About the Author
Once a mighty warrior in the pre-existence, Gazelem retired and came to earth to get a body and explore the arts. Outside of Latter-day Saint art and literature, you can find him writing and editing for ProvoMusicMagazine.com
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