In her time, Marianne Farningham, who was actually named Mary Ann Hearn, was well-known for her devotional poetry, as well as some of her hymns, (though I am not aware of any of those that have really stood the test of time). While most of her poems were topical, some of them were narrative in style, including “The Last Hymn.” Though I admit this one perhaps tips into a bit of Victorian melodrama, I still quite enjoy it. Read—preferably aloud—and hear the tale she tells of a man’s final song.
The Sabbath-day was ending, in a village by the sea,
The uttered benediction touched the people tenderly,
And they rose to face the sunset in the glowing, lighted West,
And then hastened to their dwellings for God’s blessed boon of rest.
But they looked across the waters, and a storm was raging there;
A fierce spirit moved above them—the wild spirit of the air—
And it lashed and shook, and tore them, till they thundered, groaned and boomed,
And, alas! for any vessel in their yawning gulfs entombed.
Very anxious were the people on that rocky coast of Wales,
Lest the dawn of coming morrows should be telling
