"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."[[5]]
That is poetry, real poetry, full of rhythm, yet having no rhyme.
Above and Beyond.—Anything is poetic that suggests something greater than itself. The lilies of the field suggested to the Savior's poetic mind the glory of Solomon. He used them as a means of instilling into the minds of his doubting disciples the great lesson of trust in Providence.
Man, fashioned in the divine image, suggests God, and is therefore "a symbol of God," as Carlyle affirms.[[6]] But Joseph Smith said it first and more fully. He declared God to be "An Exalted Man." To narrow minds, this is blasphemy. To the broad-minded, it is poetry—poetry of the sublimest type.
Poetic Ordinances.—The bread and water used in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, represent something greater than those emblems—something above and beyond. The whole sacred ceremony is a poem in word and action.
The same is true of Baptism, which stands for birth, creation, burial and resurrection. Fatherhood and motherhood are both symbolized in the baptismal ordinance, the true form of which is immersion. Any deviation from that mode destroys its poetic suggestiveness, its symbolism.
The Greatest Poet and Prophet.—Jesus Christ, the greatest of all prophets, was likewise the greatest of all poets. He comprehended the universe and its symbolism as no one else ever did or could. He knew it through and through. What wonder? Had he not created it, and was it not made to bear record of him?[[7]] He taught in poetic parables, taking simple things as types of greater things, and teaching lessons that lead the mind upward towards the ideal, towards perfection. The Gospel of Christ is replete with poetry. It is one vast poem from beginning to end.
What of Philosophy—"Philosophy is the account which the human mind gives to itself of the constitution of the world." So says that great modern philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson.[[8]] In Article Eleven I have pointed out the similarity between Plato's concept of causes that produced the universe, and Joseph Smith's teaching upon the origin and purpose of the great plan of eternal progression. But Joseph did not get his philosophy from Plato. He had it directly from the divine Source of Plato's inspiration. There is no plagiarism in this semi-paralleling of a sublime thought. In like manner Confucius taught, in a negative way, the Golden Rule, afterwards taught affirmatively and more fully by Jesus of Nazareth. Truth, whether uttered by ancient sage or by modern seer, is worthy of all acceptance.
Emerson on "Compensation."—Few things of a philosophic nature appeal to me more strongly than Emerson's great essay on "Compensation." Says that master of thought and expression: "Every excess causes a defect; every defect an excess. Every sweet hath its sour, every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure, has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life."
"Nature hates monopolies and exceptions. The waves of the sea do not more speedily seek a level from their loftiest tossing, than the varieties of conditions tend to equalize themselves. There is always some leveling circumstance that puts down the overbearing, the strong, the rich, the fortunate, substantially on the same ground with all others."