Zion's Freedom: An 1889 LDS Poem

The following poem by T. W. Brookbank is taken from The Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star 51/49 (9 December 1889): 784. The historical context, I'd surmise, is the legal repression that the Latter-day Saints faced for their continued violations of the anti-polygamy laws of the day, as warranted by the Edmunds Act of 1882 and later the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887; this state of affairs reached a turning point when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly renounced polygamy in the Manifesto of 1890, though continuing to practice it covertly until this was exposed, requiring a Second Manifesto (1904).

Christ the Lord will succor Zion -
King of mighty Kings is He -
'Tis His arm the Saints rely on.
For their promised victory:
Gentile sway shall soon be broken;
Haughty foes before Him flee;
For this word our God hath spoken,
"Zion's people shall be free."
Then, O foemen, bind your chains,
Saints of God despise their pains,
Nor can death their souls appall;
And your tribes ere long shall see
Dearest Zion strong and free;
High enthroned above you all.

Though the Saints you hail to prison,
Boast not rashly in your pride;
Never yet have there arisen
Tyrant hopes no ills betide:
Zion's armies do surround her,
Marshalled there from heavens wide,
And in their glory they will found her,
When her sons are fully tried.
Then, O foemen, build your jails,
Not one hero spirit quails,
Freedom's hosts you'll ne'er subdue;
But your tribes ere long shall see
Dearest Zion strong and free,
And enthroned in glory too.

Spoil our rights by charter granted;
Plunder consecrated gains;
Breathe out war, where now implanted,
Smiling peace so sweetly reigns;
Tear protection from the mother;
Seize our homes and fertile plains;
Zion's hopes you cannot smother,
E'en when bound in felons' chains.
Then, O foemen, fill ye up
Direst woe's most bittter cup,
You shall drink its dregs at last;
While the Saints in Zion free
Shall outspread from sea to sea;
Glorified by troubles past.

You may safely hunt the lion
When no lion is in view;
But your safety don't rely on
When the lion is hunting you;
Thus you war against Jehovah,
And you wage it fiercely, too;
But before your days are over,
He will wage a war with you.
Then, O foemen, fill ye up
Direst woe's most bitter cup;
You shall drink its dregs at last;
While the Saints in Zion free,
Shall outspread from sea to sea;
Glorified by troubles past.