The poem “Family Prayer” lends itself to a wide audience. At first, it seems like John Lyon is talking to Latter-day Saint members, but then as the story goes on, it’s clear that he’s addressing anyone that has ever made a rash decision out of anger. I think the purpose of this poem is to show readers that no matter who they are, one mustn’t let anger and raw emotion dictate the kind of actions they will surely regret. The poem is written in iambic pentameter so rhythm is fluid until the end where Lyon breaks the rhythm in the very last stanza to be didactic, suggesting a moral lesson to his readers.
Ina Coolbrith’s poem “Millenium,” has quite a different feeling than “Family Prayer.” Though this looks to also be written in iambic pentameter, the poem feels much more jarring. For one thing, there is a lot of repetition in this poem. She says, “No nation wars with nation, race with race,” and “brother against brother, face to face.” I feel like the repetitive nature of the poem gives it a foreboding feeling to her readers. Her audience is not solely LDS, though I think that a faithful Christian would be more inclined to read and enjoy this poem. To me, this poem almost resembles the genre of a personal essay in that it reflects the feelings of the poet, but takes a twist as Coolbrith seems to have an imaginary experience of time before the Second Coming.
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