Elias: An Epic of the Ages is a book-length poem byLatter-day SaintpoetOrson F. Whitney who described the work as "an attempt to present, in verse form, historically, doctrinally, and prophetically, the vast theme comprehended in what the world terms 'Mormonism'."[1] The term "Elias" has multiple meanings in the faith, and the poem plays with these.[2]
Whitney had been ill and, believing he would die, prayed that "he might live to produce a work that would continue his ministry as a teacher after his mortal tongue was stilled."[4] He felt an immediate inspiration to beginElias,[4] which he began early in 1900.[1] Upon finishing a draft, he read the poem to private and school groups. Publication was undertaken in 1904 by a group of his friends (Heber M. Wells,George Sutherland,Anthon H. Lund,Richard W. Young, andH. L. A. Culmer) without Whitney's knowledge; he felt the book was not ready for publication, but accepted their financial backing of the project.[1]
The following ten years, Whitney continued to "bring the book into a more finished state" until its 1914 publication. This publication included "explanatory notes for the benefit of students" with the intention thatElias could function as a textbook in schools.[1]
Neal W. Kramer, twice president of theAssociation for Mormon Letters, describedElias as "Mormonism’s true epic poem."[5] He said it "aspires to reach the heights ofMilton,Spenser, andHomer ... [and] there are moments when the verse, the narrative, and the doctrine combine to make supernalMormon poetry."[5]
Whitney would go on to write a second epic, the romanceLove and the Light: An Idyll of the Westland (1918).
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