"Elect of Elohim"

I read this poem today from the book The Holy Temple and thought it was beautiful:

In solemn council sat the Gods;

From Kolob's height supreme,

Celestial light blazed forth afar

O'er countless kokaubeam;

And faintest tinge, the fiery fringe

Of that resplendent day,

'Lumined the dark abysmal realm

Where earth in chaos lay.

"Father!"--the voice like music fell,

Clear as the murmuring flow

Of mountain streamlet trickling down

From heights of virgin snow.

"Father," it said, "since one must die,"

Thy children to redeem,

From worlds all formless now and void,

Where myraid life shall teem;

"And mighty Michael foremost fall,

That mortal man may be,

And chosen Savior yet must send,

Lo, here am I--send me!

I ask, I seek no recompense,

Save that which then were mine;

Mine be the willing sacrifice,

The endless glory, Thine!

Still rang that voice, when sudden rose

Aloft a towering form,

Proudly erect as lowering peak

'Lumed by the gathering storm!

A presence bright and beautiful,

With eye of flashing fire,

A lip whose haughty curl bespoke

A sense of inward ire.

"Send me!" -- coiled 'neath his courtly smile

A scarce-concealed disdain;

"And none shall hence, from Heaven to Earth,

That shall not rise again.

My saving plan exception scorns;

Man's will? -- nay, mine alone.

As recompense, I claim the right

To sit on yonder throne!"

Ceased Lucifer. The breathless hush

Resumed and denser grew.

All eyes were turned; the general gaze

One common magnet drew.

A moment there was solemn pause;

Listened Eternity,

While rolled forth from lips omnipotent

The Father's firm decree:

"Jehovah! thou my Messenger,

Son Ahman, thee I send!

And one shall go thy face before,

While twelve thy steps attend.

And many more, on that far shore,

The pathway shall prepare,

That I, the First, the last may come,

And earth my glory share.

"Go forth, thou chosen of the Gods,

Whose strength shall in thee dwell!

Go down betime and rescue earth,

Dethroning death and hell

On thee alone man's fate depends,

The fate of beings all.

Thou shalt not fail, though thou art free--

Free, but too great, to fall.

"By Arm divine, both mine and thine,

The lost shalt thou restore,

And man, redeemed, with God shall be,

As God froevermore.

Return, and to the parent fold

This wandering planet bring,

And Earth shall hail thee Conqueror,

And Heaven proclaim thee King."

'Twas done. From congregation vast,

Tumultuous murmurs rose;

Waves of conflicting sound, as when

Two meeting seas oppose.

'Twas finished. But the heavens wept;

And still their annals tell

How one was choice of Elohim,

O'er one who fighting fell.

-Elder Orson F. Whitney