At nine o'clock on the morning of 17 November 1844, five months after Joseph's death, Emma gave birth to David Hyrum. Eliza R. Snow visited and wrote a poem about the infant, born to a world without a father. [1]
Sinless as celestial spirits—
Lovely as a morning flow'r
Comes the smiling infant stranger
In an evil-omen'd hour.Not to share a father's fondness—
Not to know its father's worth—
By the arm of persecution
'Tis an orphan at its birth!Smile, sweet babe! Thou art unconscious
Of thy great, untimely loss!
The broad stroke of thy bereavement,
Zion's pathway seem'd to cross!Thou may'st draw from love and kindness
All a mother can bestow;
But alas! On earth, a father
You art destin'd not to know! [2]
A transcription of full poem as printed in the Times and Seasons is available.