A Tribute to Joseph Smith
By DeWitt Wise
I saw the Temple; and I know he lives!
When best and worst has all been said, he was
A man of sincere love who stood for peace –
A man who made the supreme sacrifice
In mortal strife for immortality.
He trod in paths apart to thwart the claims
Of sinful conflict with all righteousness.
He was a man to shape the destinies
Of coming generations of his kin,
Who set themselves the task to win for God
The great domain, earth’s Western Hemisphere,
And built God’s temples on the lofty rocks
And cragged ridge poles of a continent;
Reclaiming wilderness and desert plains,
And brought effulgent bloom that magnifies
And glorifies the name of God on earth;
Caused winds and rains and snows and stars to know
The greatness of this servant of THE KING,
Till all the heavens did resound with praise
In joyful acclamation of his name.
For comely sacrifice, for mortal man
In paths of meek and lowly servitude,
For pregnant, intimate, and mortal life,
Lo! Joseph Smith abides now with the King
Because his love for moral man is great.
“A prominent citizen, and sculptor of note, of Los Angeles, California, passed through the then yet undedicated temple at Mesa, Arizona, and penned this tribute to the martyred prophet.”
(1934)
I wonder if DeWitt Wise was Mormon?
A google search doesn’t show him, so I wonder how prominent he was. All I found was a couple of mentions in the 1895 “The Monumental News” (a trade publication for grave monuments), which might make him a sculptor of gravestones.
If he is Mormon, I think that would be of interest.
Kent, I haven’t been able to confirm whether he was a Mormon, and I rather read that italicized description as suggesting that he was not. It’s a question worth looking into, either way.