A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
29

Text: James Montgomery (1771–1854)
Music: George Coles (1792–1858); altered
Tune name: DUANE STREET

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus spoke these words after teaching his great lesson on charity. His message to his followers was that any act of generous compassion toward a person in need is counted as an act performed for the sake of the Savior himself.

“A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” is a narrative hymn that answers the question posed in Matthew 25:37–39:

“Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

“When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

“Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?”

The poem, originally titled “The Stranger,” first appeared in an anthology of verse in 1834.

This hymn is especially loved among Latter- day Saints because of the role it played in the last hours before the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith was in jail in Carthage, Illinois, with his brother Hyrum, John Taylor, and Willard Richards. Hostility was growing, mobs threatened violence, and the prisoners knew their lives were in danger. Yet the Prophet was calm. Early on the morning of his martyrdom, Joseph wrote to his wife Emma: “Dear Emma, I am very much resigned to my lot, knowing I am justified, and have done the best that could be done. Give my love to the children and all my friends. . . . May God bless you all” (Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002], 630).

John Taylor told of the scene in the jail cell: “All of us felt unusually . . . languid, with 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” (History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, 1932], 7:101–2).

Not long after Elder Taylor sang the song the second time, the mob attacked the jail, murdering the Prophet and his brother.

The text has been part of Latter-day Saint hymnody since it was included in the Manchester hymnal in 1840.

The tune name DUANE STREET is taken from the Duane Street Church in New York City where, in 1839, the composer, the Reverend George Coles, preached a famous sermon in honor of the centennial of the Methodist Church. Our present tune is actually a rather elaborate variation of DUANE STREET.