The Minstrel of Zion ‎#157

157. The itinerant's death

1 The music of his steps was sought,
His time had come, but he came not;
His little ones were wont to greet
The sound of his returning feet:
They waited long, were waiting still,
To see him hasting o'er the hill,
Across the brook, and to the door,
His manly face with joy spread o'er.

2 He was a faithful man of God,
And in his Saviour's footsteps trod;
Stern duty bade him often stray
From those who near his bosom lay:
But when from anxious toils return'd,
Kind hearts with strong affection burn'd;
The husband's and the father's voice,
In every ear pour'd richest joys.

3 But ah! those ears no more shall hear
That voice to wife and children dear;
Those eyes of love shall never more
Look on that face with joy spread o'er;
Shall never see their loved one come,
To cheer their hearth and bless their home:
Low lies his form beneath the sod;
High lives his spirit with his God.

4 Yet still they look with glistening eye,
Till lo! a herald hastens nigh;
He comes the tale of wo to tell,
How he, their prop and glory fell;
How died he in a stranger's room,
How strangers laid him in the tomb,
How spake he with his latest breath,
And loved and bless'd them all in death.

Text Information

• First Line: The music of his steps was sought
• Title: The itinerant's death
• Publication Date: 1845

Tune Information

• Name: THE ITINERANT'S DEATH
• Composer: S. W.
• Meter: L. M.
• Key: G Major or modal