On the Poetics of Self-Knowledge: Poetry in Parley Pratt's Autobiography
Keywords
Mormon studies, Parley Pratt, Self-Knowledge, LDS leaders
Abstract
Interrupting ONE of the many banal travel itineraries that punctu ate Parley Pratt's Autobiography is a striking poem written—according to the text—during Pratt's first visit to Niagara Falls.2 Pedestrian though the itinerary is, it is not without narrative importance. The journey in question was set in motion by an event that Pratt makes into something of a centerpiece for the Autobiography. Soon after he had been ordained a member of the original Quorum of the Twelve and immediately after he had received his "endowment of power" in the Kirtland Temple, "Elder Heber C. Kimball and oth ers entered my house, and being filled with the spirit of prophecy, they blessed me and my wife," telling him that—despite a number of difficulties—he would "go to Upper Canada, even to the city of To ronto" to "find a people prepared for the
Original Publication Citation
“On the Poetics of Self-Knowledge: Poetry in Parley Pratt’s Autobiography.” Journal of Mormon History 37.1 (Winter 2011): 173–78.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Spencer, Joseph M., "On the Poetics of Self-Knowledge: Poetry in Parley Pratt's Autobiography" (2011). Faculty Publications. 3280.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3280
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2011-12
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/6091
Publisher
JSTOR
Language
English
College
Religious Education
Department
Ancient Scripture
Copyright Status
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms