Michael (son of Hugh) Nibley's childhood poem

[Vort]

(Reprinted -- or perhaps printed for the first time -- without any permission whatsoever.)

When Antony preaches, he goes to the beaches
Converting the fish who can't make it to church.
They swarm up to listen, adrip and aglisten,
The trout and the minnow, the pike and the perch.

"Treat all as your brother. Don't murder each other,
For all of God's creatures are children alike."
What a marvelous spirit! The minnows all cheer it;
They whisper and glare at the murderous pike.

"The root of all evil, great tool of the Devil,
Is love of possessions. You'd best do without."
What a marvelous spirit! The pike love to hear it,
And cast a stern eye on the miserly trout.

"Work hard! Those who idle will bear harsh requital.
Who shirks at his labors gets left in the lurch."
What a marvelous spirit! The trout just revere it.
They nudge one another and mutter, "Those perch!"

"Eschew fornications and lawless relations,
For sex unrestrained leads to sorrow and tears!"
What a marvelous spirit! The perch love to hear it.
They glance at the minnows with snickers and sneers.

The saint ends his preaching. The fish love such teaching,
And watch as his figure recedes from the shore.
Then greed, lust, and slaughter resume in the water,
And all is exactly the same as before.

[Jamie123]

Very true: whenever I come away from a "life changing" sermon, it takes me all of five minutes to return to my usual horrible self.

"Will bear harsh requital"? How old was he when he wrote that?

Edited December 1, 2016 by Jamie123

[Vort]

 

34 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

"Will bear harsh requital"? How old was he when he wrote that?

His father, Hugh Nibley, was an inveterate scholar and bookworm. I expect Hugh Nibley's children talked like that from the age of about four.

[zil]

45 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

"Will bear harsh requital"? How old was he when he wrote that?

I was gonna say: Old enough to have Hugh Nibley as his father?

[NeuroTypical]

Oh wow.  Morning feels I didn't expect.  Well, if Vort can share it so freely, I'm gonna grab it and share it too.  Off to Facebook!

How'd you find it, Vort? 

Edited December 1, 2016 by NeuroTypical

[Vort]

22 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Oh wow.  Morning feels I didn't expect.  Well, if Vort can share it so freely, I'm gonna grab it and share it too.  Off to Facebook!

How'd you find it, Vort? 

Listening to Nibley's recorded classes when he taught Book of Mormon in about 1989. Freely available somewhere. He quotes his son's poem (with notable parental pride) somewhere right around lecture 100.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Vort

[Brian]

Thanks so much for posting this.  I just stumbled upon this site/forum hours after this thread was created.  The Spirit must have guided me here.  I am a member of the Nibley family and also a published poet.  Wasn't raised in the church, but was just baptized about three months ago.  I can't describe what a huge synchronicity seeing this is.  You say you found it while listening to recordings from 1989, the year in which I was born.  This is too much for me to wrap my mind around.  Glad to be here.  

[Vort]

According to this site, the poem is called Saint Anthony [not Antony; my bad] of Padua's Sermon to the Fishes. Just in case anyone cares.