The Story Behind the Song

In the final hours before his death, early church leader and prophet Joseph Smith asked apostle and friend John Taylor to sing the hymn A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. Its lyrics, centered on service and sacrifice, brought peace to the men imprisoned at Carthage Jail as they awaited their uncertain fate. Despite the familiarity of this account to many Latter-day Saints, the poem behind the hymn remains a mystery to many who sing it.

In a Wonder of Scripture Lecture on March 27, 2026, Associate Dean Leslee Thorne-Murphy (British Literature) told the story of James Montgomery, author of the poem The Stranger and His Friend, which was adapted to compose the lyrics to A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. She suggested that Montgomerys life and poetry teach not only the need for Christlike service but also what true charity looks like.

James Montgomery was born in Scotland in 1771. His parents both passed away when he was young, leaving him to fend for himself as a young teenager. Montgomery ran away to London at the age of 16 in pursuit of the life of a poet, Thorne-Murphy said. With nothing but a single change of clothes and three and sixpenceabout half a weeks pocket money for a childhe relied on the kindness of strangers as he made his way to London. There, he found work at a newspaper.

At the time, English authorities acted against any newspapers they suspected might encourage revolution, taking extra caution due to the French Revolution. This pressure led Montgomerys boss, the editor of the newspaper, to flee to the United States, leaving Montgomery to run the paper alone. Although Montgomery felt he abided by the governments regulations, he was unjustly imprisoned for several months due to charges of sedition and libel.

Thirty years after being released, Montgomery wrote The Stranger and His Friend. By that time, Thorne-Murphy said, he had become an established, well-known, and well-respected citizen of his city. He had flourished in his career as a poet and was in a place where he could reflect on moments from his early life. From a more stable and comfortable position, he could look back on the time when he was a wayfarer, when he had been a stranger seeking friends, and when he had been imprisoned for what he considered unjust reasons.

The Stranger and His Friend describes several interactions between two people who learn to love one another over the course of the poem, Thorne-Murphy said. She suggested that what makes the poem so impactful is Montgomerys ability to describe these interactions with each sensethe sights, the sounds, the smells, the touchas he imagines himself at scenes all too familiar to moments in his own life. In the poem, the stranger is hungry and without shelter, and the friend provides food and accommodation. Later, the stranger is imprisoned, and the friend provides comfort. When the stranger is wounded, the friend provides care. One of the things that [his] poetry does best is to invite us into this realm of imagination, said Thorne-Murphy.

Another unique aspect about The Stranger and His Friend is that it was originally written for a charity bazaar, a type of 19th-century event that brought together the most wealthy and powerful of the community. While charity bazaars were intended to raise money, most of the attendees were there to exhibit wealth and power in public performance and generous spending. There, Montgomerys poem was sold at a high price.

Thorne-Murphy suggested that by writing about heartfelt service and sacrifice, Montgomery aimed to make a statement about giving with sincerity rather than for public display. She said that Montgomerys poem insists all must consider themselves both recipient and donor in turn, reflecting the idea that even the wealthiest are strangers at some point in their lives. Years after his own experiences with poverty and imprisonment, Montgomery not only places himself within similar moments, but he invites readers, too, to imagine themselves as the stranger. In doing so, he suggests that behind every act of giving is the reality that anyone can become the stranger and that true charity should be offered sincerely.

Montgomerys poem follows an Italian form called

, one that is typically used in poems about love. Though not of the romantic variety, said Thorne-Murphy, his is a poem that still tells of love. Instead of a romantic kind of love, the poem illustrates love and devotion to the Savior.

At the end of Montgomerys poem, the stranger is revealed to be Christ Himself. Montgomery writes, Then in a moment to my view / The stranger darted from disguise; / The tokens in his hands I knew, / My Savior stood before my eyes! Calling the friend by name, Christ thanks him for his charity and willingness to serve a stranger. This stanza echoes the Saviors words, that inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40).

Thorne-Murphy pointed out that it is not until the ending of the poem that Christ speaks in first person. She suggests that He does so to address not just His friend but also the reader, in the hopes that they are His friends as well. Thorne-Murphy believes The Stranger and His Friend demonstrates a pattern for Christlike service, and she hopes readers accept the Saviors invitation to extend sincere charity to both strangers and friends alike.

Watch Thorne-Murphys complete lecture on the Neal A. Maxwell Institute website.