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The First Poet of Zion

Ever wonder how other cultures adopted the doctrine of the Church? John Lyon’s poetry reveals the priorities, hopes, and dreams of early British converts.

“’Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.”

So ends Alfred Tennyson’s In Memoriam, one of the most beloved poems of the 19th century. Written in response to the death of his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, the poem combines religion, popular science, and Romantic depictions of nature to explore the human experience of love and deep grief through an extensive collection of four-line stanzas.

The author portrait of John Lyon in The Harp of Zion.
Photo by Harold B. Lee Library

This poem caught Kaden Nelson’s (English ’25) attention and led to his love for devotional poetry—in particular, his interest in the unique idiosyncrasies of devotional poetry written by members of different Christian sects in Victorian England. Enabled by a HUM Grant, Nelson has dived into studying this subgenre of poetry with enthusiasm, focusing specifically on a collection of Latter-day Saint poetry written by the first poet that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published: John Lyon.

Seeking a Different Perspective

Nelson first read In Memoriam while taking English 292: British Literary History 2. While working as a TA for the class a year later, he gained more exposure to devotional poetry and started to take note of the way each poet’s religious beliefs appeared in their writings. I saw the way their sectarian affiliations influenced the theological and cultural priorities in their poetry, he says. And I knew that by 1850, the Church had something like 30,000 converts in the British Isles. Mormonism has long been viewed as this predominantly American religion, so I got curious about what British converts might be writing about our theology and the Church.

When Nelson first began researching this topic, he looked at many different authors’ writing, but he eventually narrowed his scope to the writings of John Lyon, a convert from Scotland known for his vigorous preaching and devotion to the gospel. His book The Harp of Zion was the first book of poetry published by the Church. Published in 1853, it contained 104 poems, songs, and hymns examining the truths of the restored gospel. Those truths haven’t changed in the 170 years since, but the culture around them has. Nelson explains that there’s so much to learn about what the Mormon story looked like in Victorian Britain. What were the priorities of these converts? What did they appreciate most about our unique theology?

A New Cultural View of Restored Truth

In Lyon’s case, Nelson has found that Lyon’s poetry plays into Britain’s cultural mindset at the time, where the most important priority was spreading Britishness abroad. Nelson explains that this appears in Lyon’s belief that the act of emigrating to Utah proved earnest devotion to God. The Harp of Zion reflects that devotion in a materialized form—Lyon even went so far as to donate all proceeds from the book to the Perpetual Emigration Fund, which helped poor Saints make the journey to Zion.

It's a good reminder The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a global story in so many ways.

Lyon’s poems also create a snapshot of the day through two other ways: by combining Latter-day Saint truths and doctrine with Romantic elements and by reflecting some of the religious ideals and debates present in Scotland and Lyon’s own life at the time. Two of Nelson’s favorite poems—Man and The Boy’s Questions—exemplify these themes: the first compares man to nature in a deeply connective form that respects the beauty of both, while the second explores the typical religious response of the day to the questions that the gospel answers. It’s been a good reminder that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a global story in so many ways, Nelson says.

Ultimately, this project has been incredibly impactful for Nelson, both academically and spiritually, and he hopes that his research paper will do the same for others. Lyon wrote his poetry during a difficult time, when shifting cultural and social paradigms was the standard. It’s been really powerful for me to see how someone was able to navigate those challenges and cling to their faith, Nelson says. He let his faith evolve and grow as he embraced those changes, and it’s been really beautiful to see that in his poetry.

Have an interesting topic to study? Learn how to apply for a HUM Grant.