Deseret

DESCRIPTION: "Deseret, Deseret, 'tis the home of the free, And dearer than all other lands 'tis to me, Where the Saints are secure from oppression and strife." Deseret is the pride of the world, a pattern to all; the singer loves to be there among the Mormon leaders
AUTHOR: probably William Willes
EARLIEST DATE: 1872 (Willes, The Mountain Warbler)
KEYWORDS: religious home | Mormon
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, pp. 186-188, "Deseret" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: William Willes, _The Mountain Warbler: Being a Collection of Original Songs and Recitations, by WIlliam Willes, with a Selection from Other writes, for the Use of Choirs, Sabbath Schools and Families_, Deseret News Book and Job Establishment, Salt Lake City, 1872 (available on Google Books), pp. 18-19, "Deseret" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "To the West" (tune)
NOTES [119 words]: One wonders what William Willes was (covertly) drinking when he wrote this. Deseret, free from oppression and strife? In 1859, the United States had almost gone to war with the Mormons, and in 1872 was still refusing to admit Utah as a state because of polygamy....
Not everything in the Willes book is by Willes (and, we might add, it's texts only; no tunes are printed; despite its title, it's not what I would call a book for choirs!). Willes generally attributes poems written by others, and this has no attribution. On the other hand, he put a "W. W." after some of his own poems, and it doesn't have that, either. It's almost certainly by Willes, but perhaps one could argue that it has not been proved. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: LDC186

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