Truth

        The poem below was included in the first edition of the Pearl of Great Price, published in 1851 along aside texts like the book of Abraham and Joseph Smith History. It was written by John Jaques, a convert to the church in England. He wrote it in response to Pilate's question to Jesus in John 18. While not officially canonized, it was put to music and made into a hymn titled "Oh Say, What is truth?" which is still in the hymnbook today.
         The most interesting part of the poem is the last stanza, as it answers the question posed at the beginning. Truth is the sum of existence, always existing, never changing. Something as true then as it is now.

Truth

John Jaques

Oh say, what is truth? 'Tis the fairest gem
That the riches of worlds can produce,
And priceless the value of truth will be when
The proud monarch's costliest diadem
Is counted but dross and refuse.

Yes, say, what is truth? 'Tis the brightest prize
To which mortals or Gods can aspire;
Go search in the depths where it glittering lies
Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies.
'Tis an aim for the noblest desire.

The sceptre may fall from the despot's grasp
When with winds of stern justice he copes,
But the pillar of truth will endure to the last,
And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast,
And the wreck of the fell tyrant's hopes.

Then say, what is truth? 'Tis the last and the first,

For the limits of time it steps o'er.

Though the heavens depart and the earth's fountains burst,

Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst,

Eternal, unchanged, evermore.

  

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