Elder Parley P. Pratt writes from Valparaiso, Chili, S.A. Nov. 23, 1851, to his family. He had just arrived. Elder Rufus Allen was with him, had rented a house, learning the language and making acquaintances with his neighbors; but had not at that time made any move to promulgate the gospel.
November in Chili
by Parley P. Pratt
‘Tis the spring of the year, all the fountains are full,
All natures is pregnant with life and with love;
A chorus of voices ascend from each pool—
A myriad of songsters enliven the grove.
To her nest, ‘mid the Andes, the Condor retires—
The winds from Magellian no longer prevail;
And Sol, with the north breeze returning, inspires
New life on the zephyr and love on the gale.
The forest is clad in its robes of fresh green,
Where the dove sings an anthem, his mate to decoy;
The orchard is dressed as a holyday green,
And the rosebud is bursting with fullness of joy.
The orange, the olive, the fig and the vine,
Are clothed as in Eden, with innocent bloom;
The earth as an altar of incense divine,
Exhales a sweet odor or richest perfume.
The young of the flock bound exulting away,
While their dams nip the blade, ‘mid the dew-drops of morn;
And groups of young Ninos are sportive and gay,
Yet my heart ‘mid this gladness is sad and forlorn.
I sigh for the storms of November to come,
The frost, and the snow drifted plain I would see;
The bleak, wintry blasts of my own mountain home,
And the storm-beaten glacier are dearer to me.
The chime of the sleigh bell again I would hear—
The low mourning tempest in harmony roll;
It would speak of my country and kindred so dear,
Oh! this would be music indeed to my soul.
[Deseret News, Apr. 3, 1852]
[Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nov. 23, 1851, 1-2]
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006]