behold, my soul
delighteth in the things of the Lord
and my heart
pondereth continually upon the things
which I have seen and heard
nevertheless
nothwithstanding the great
goodness of the Lord, in shewing me
his great and marvelous works
my heart
exclaimeth, O wretched man
that I am
yea, my heart
sorroweth, because of my flesh
my soul
grieveth, because of mine iniquities
I am encompassed about, because
of the temptations and the sins
which doth so easily beset me
and when I desire to rejoice
my heart
groaneth because of my sins
nevertheless, I know
in whom I have trusted
Poet’s Notes:
Reactions to this piece are welcome in the comments below. As a suggested question, what lines of the poem stand out to you? Why?
This free verse poem is adapted from the opening text of what is sometimes called the Psalm of Nephi (found in 2 Nephi Chapter 4 in The Book of Mormon). I’ve adapted the text from the 1830 edition, as reprinted by Herald Publishing House in Independence, Missouri.
Featured image by Oleh Slobodeniuk (iStock)
Wheat & Tares 
I’ve read these verses dozens of times, but it’s funny how simple line breaks can change the flow. The pauses forced me to mull over the words a bit, like an actor giving a monologue. Not sure why, but the line break between “great” and “goodness” stood out to me more than the others, punctuating the goodness of God. I’m not normally a poetry person, but this was really neat. Thanks, Jake!
The “eth” suffix is distracting. It’s like a diacritical glyph that denotes a speech impediment.
Nice!!
vajra2, your interesting note on why the “eth” syllables become problematic got me thinking. The question of composing Mormon-themed pieces in antiquated King James style, especially in dialogue, comes up elsewhere in my writing too. I generally prefer contemporary speaking style. I’m curious if this is something that bugs you generally in LDS scripture also.
Mary Ann, I really appreciate your insight on reading the lines as arranged. I know my reactions to various lines breaks varied from reading to reading, the great / goodness break in particular.
Thanks to each of you for your responses.
Yes, I do find it distracting, particularly, despite the many efforts to “clean up” the language in BOM, it still awkward and approximate. Just now, I read your psalm without the archaisms. Here’s a bit…
…
yes, my heart
sorrows,
because of my flesh
my soul
grieves,
because of my iniquities
I am besieged,
because temptations and sins
so easily beset me
and when I desire to rejoice
my heart
groans
because of my sins
nevertheless, I know
in whom
I trust