The Wayfaring Stranger
James Montgomery (1771-1854) wrote the poem “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” which was set to music by George Coles (1792-1858) and became a beloved Methodist hymn.
A poor wayfaring Man of grief
Hath often crossed me on my way,
Who sued so humbly for relief
That I could never answer nay.
I had not power to ask his name,
Whereto he went, or whence he came;
Yet there was something in his eye
That won my love; I knew not why.
Once, when my scanty meal was spread,
He entered; not a word he spake,
Just perishing for want of bread.
I gave him all; he blessed it, brake,
And ate, but gave me part again.
Mine was an angel’s portion then,
For while I fed with eager haste,
The crust was manna to my taste.
(The Rest of the Words and Music)
James Montgomery was known as The Christian Poet of the nineteenth century, possibly because of a book he wrote by that name. A few years after his death he was celebrated in a leading Methodist journal: “His poetry has stood the test of searching criticism and he has left some strains which will not soon be allowed to die in silence.”
Yet according to Michael Hicks of BYU Studies:
“Montgomery himself had been more sober minded and pragmatic in estimating the worth of his own verse. When asked by an attorney which of his poems would survive, he replied, ‘none sir’ then added ‘unless it be a few of my hymns’. It would have certainly surprised this Moravian bard to see the fate of one of his more obscure devotional poems, one he probably never meant to be sung. His small work beginning ‘A poor wayfaring man of grief’ travelled to America, was set to a Methodist Episcopal tune, altered in the frontier folk hymn tradition and finally immortalized by its performance at the Carthage, Illinois jail. Because of the events surrounding that performance, Latter-Day Saints will doubtless preserve and enshrine this poem in song long after Montgomery’s other works have faded.” (from “‘Strains Which Will Not Soon Be Allowed to Die’…: ‘The Stranger’ and Carthage Jail”)
In December 1826, when the Scottish born writer first began the poem entitled “The Stranger and His Friend”, he, himself, had been twice imprisoned for his politics. The poem’s first verse was composed in morning darkness as Montgomery rode by coach from Sheffield to York. The remaider of the composition was written with pencil on a scrap of blank paper found in his pocket while travelling alone in a chaise from Whitby to Scarborough, amid clouds and storms on a wild and melancholy December day.
Eighteen years later on the American frontier, Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, and others were languishing in the summer heat of a Carthage, Illinois jail. John Taylor, one of those imprisoned, wrote of that day:
All of us felt. . .a remarkable depression of spirits. In consonance with those feelings I sang a song, that had lately been introduced into Nauvoo, entitled A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief . . . . After a lapse of some time, Brother Hyrum requested me again to sing that song. I replied, “Brother Hyrum, I do not feel like singing;” when he remarked, “Oh, never mind; commence singing, and you will get the spirit of it.” At his request I did so.
Shortly thereafter, a murderous mob stormed the Carthage jail and shot the Prophet Joseph and his brother dead. Joseph’s body was placed in a “rough pine casket” and carried back to Nauvoo and this, his last hymn, has been beloved by his followers forever since. (An Eyewitness Account)
A Poor Way Faring Man of Grief sung by Rob Gardner.