bosom

Bosom of Abraham by Daniel Chorny, 1360 – 1430

I got the giggles at church again. Ever since I was a young girl; whenever we sang the hymn, “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer,” I got the giggles as soon as we hit that word, “bosom.”  That verse, “Oh what rapture filled his bosom,” still makes me snicker.

Joseph’s humble prayer was answered,
And he listened to the Lord.
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God;
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God.
My mother taught me that  “bosom” was the word for a woman’s feminine features; in our family, women’s breasts were called “bosoms.” When I was going through puberty, my need for a bra was all wrapped up in having bosoms.
The Oxford Dictionary defines “bosom” as a woman’s chest:
her ample bosom
the dress offered a fair display of bosom
In the movie “Alex and Emma,” the writer refers to “heaving bosoms” to describe a voluptuous female.  For me, bosom is a word that describes the female. Of course, back in 1840, bosom may have meant something different — something having to do with the heart.
No matter,  whenever I hear this song  and read the words, and hear the word, bosom, I snicker. I just can’t take that song seriously.

Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with my belief in Joseph Smith. I believe he saw the Father and the Son when he went to pray. I believe he was seeking answers and it was a pivotal moment in time and beyond.

I am a believing Mormon.

In my curiosity, I read about the author, George Manwaring. It seems that he was inspired by a painting of the First Vision by C.C.A. Christiansen and wrote his prose. So, it is fair to say that some of this is his view of the vision. I am fine with that, it’s a lovely poem. But I am a stickler for history. I do not like to deviate at all from historical facts and assume anything.  Yet, I appreciate the creative arts too.

Anyway, no big deal about the birds and the bees and the bosoms. Just thought I might confess….my little humor. Remember, humor is a Godly quality. We can’t take ourselves too seriously all the time.

Another “bosom” reference in church history:

I just recently read Lucy Mack Smith’s original 1844-1845 rough draft of her biography, including the life of Joseph Smith.  She dictated it to Martha Jane Knowlton Coray, who later edited it with her husband, making two copies.

One went with the church from Nauvoo to SLC, and the other went to Lucy who passed it on to Orson Pratt. He published it in Liverpool England in 1856. This one got pulled from the shelf so to speak, by Brigham Young, who said it was not authorized and may have errors. He asked church historian, George A. Smith to review it, but still a final copy was not published until 1901.

I noticed that in the 1844-1845 rough draft, the Corays must have change Lucy’s wording of “heart” to “bosom.”

…my child had apparently ceased to breathe I seized a blanket threw it round her and caught her in my arms and commenced pacing the floor those present remonstrated with me saying Mrs [Lucy Mack] Smith it all of no use you are certainly crazy Your child is dead but I would not for one instant relinquish the hope of seeing her bre athe again and live Now my reader are you a parent place yourself in the same situation are you a Mother that has ever been in like circumstances feel for your heart strings can you tell me how I felt with my expiring child strained to my heart <bosom> with all which thrilled with all a mothers love a mothers tender yearnings for her own offspring. At last She sobbed would you then feel to deny that God had power to save to the uttermost— all who call on him I did not then and I do not now at last She sobbed I still pressed her to my breast [p. [10], bk. 2]

— Just kind of funny.

Lucy Mach Smith

 

Featured Image: Bosom of Abraham by Daniel Chorny, 1360-1430