Hymn forever linked in minds of LDS people to martyrdom
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With its unusual lilting melody and message of love for the Savior, the hymn, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," is forever linked in the minds of Latter-day Saints to the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Text of the hymn, beloved by the Prophet, was written by James Montgomery and first called, "The Stranger," as it appeared in an anthology of verse in 1834. The tune was composed by the Reverend George Coles of the Duane Street Church in New York City.In the last hours before the martyrdom, the Prophet Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, John Taylor and Willard Richards waited in an upper room of the Carthage Jail. The passing time brought with it a growing threat of mob violence; a pervading sense of danger filled the room.
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, 7:101-2.)
In the hymn are the lines:
My friendship's utmost zeal to try,
He asked if I for him would die.
The flesh was weak; my blood ran chill,
But my free spirit cried, "I will!"
A short time later, the mob with blackened faces broke into the jail and began its work of slaughter.
