"A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" (originally titled "The Stranger and His Friend") is a seven-stanza

Stanza

In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...

 poem written in 1826 by James Montgomery

James Montgomery

James Montgomery was a British editor, hymnwriter and poet. He was particularly associated with humanitarian causes such as the campaigns to abolish slavery and to end the exploitation of child chimney sweeps....

. The words of the poem have since been adopted as a Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

.

Origin and authorship

Montgomery wrote "The Stranger and His Friend" in December 1826 while travelling in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 on extended trips in horse-drawn carriages. Montgomery did not write the poem with the intention of it being set to music.

New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 preacher George Coles set the poem to music he wrote. The hymn was adopted by some Christian congregations in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Latter Day Saints connection

"A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" was a favorite hymn of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement

Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...

. The hymn was introduced in the church by Apostle John Taylor, who learned the hymn in 1840 as a missionary

Mormon missionary

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...

 in England. Taylor included the hymn in the Latter Day Saints' Manchester Hymnal

Manchester Hymnal

A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe, informally known as the Manchester Hymnal, was first published in Manchester, England, in 1840...

, which was used in England from 1840 to 1912. The hymn was also included in the church's 1841 hymnal published in Nauvoo

Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Unlike the version in the Manchester Hymnal, the hymn in the Nauvoo hymnal included music composed by Taylor.

On the afternoon that Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum

Hyrum Smith

Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr....

 were killed by a mob

Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.

The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...

 in prison in Carthage

Carthage, Illinois

Carthage is a city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,725 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hancock County. Carthage is most famous for being the site of the murder of Joseph Smith in 1844.- History :...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, the Smiths had requested that Taylor sing the hymn twice.

After he became president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Taylor asked Ebenezer Beesley

Ebenezer Beesley

Ebenezer Beesley was a Latter-day Saint hymn writer and composer. The music for twelve of the hymns in the 1985 English-language hymnal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints written by him....

 to compose new music for the hymn. The results were published in the church's 1889 hymnal, and the hymn has been included in every subsequent edition of the church's hymnal. In the LDS Church's 1985 English-language hymnal

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official hymn book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

, it is hymn #29.

The original tune John Taylor sung before the martyrdom became lost in the years following John Taylor's death. In 2008 a descendant of John Taylor found the original tune in the notebook of Ebeneezer Beesley, and then shared his findings with historian Jeffrey N. Walker. Walker then published his arrangement of the hymn with the tune as it was sung to Beesley.

External links

• "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" : text, lds.org
• "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" : Free MP3 download, lds.org
• "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" : interactive music player, lds.org
• "The Stranger and His Friend" Wikisource
• Library of Congress: Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music: A Poor, wayfaring man of grief, by Rev. George Coles
• Original tune sung by John Taylor