“To Mrs. V. Kimball,” Ensign, July 1977, 65
To Mrs. V. Kimball
(From Poems, Salt Lake City: LDS Press, 1877.)
Thou much belov’d in Zion,
Remember, life is made
A double-sided picture,
Contrasting light and shade.
Our Father means to prove us:
And when we’re fully tried,
He will reverse the drawing,
And show the better side.
Then, then we’ll be astonish’d,
That ignorance could throw
Such dismal shades of darkness
Where light and beauty glow.
The mists that hide the future
Are round our visions thrown:
But when, as seen, we’re seeing,
And know as we are known,
Whatever seems forbidding,
And tending to annoy,
Will, like dull shadows, vanish,
Or turn to crowns of joy.