The death of David John Griffiths, infant child of Daniel and Anna
Griffiths, Capcoch [1], Aberdare, and the
Poet’s grandson. He died April 29, 1857:
Dearest
Dafydd – fairer now – and happier
In a radiant light,
From your affliction
Has come the purpose of your pain:
The attainment of a
greater bliss – a home
To one deserving of it;
To live in joy, dearest child,
There, where the worthy dwell.
He
saw the fond face of the great Prophet – Joseph
And of Jesus who was slain;
Of the host of light in heavenly form
And the evil he is now spared.
The
infant, the pure, the sinless – is today
Freed of all decay;
He is met where he abides
By many familiar faces.
He
is there among his forbears – and enjoys
Their righteous company -
The happy throng of that blest realm
Whose language speaks of joy.
His
earthly body will be raised – from the earth
He will come when the world is cleansed;
In it, soon, he’ll live anew -
And therein be fulfilled.
May
31, 1857. DEWI
ELFED.
[1] Capcoch: The name of a mid-19th century
coalmining settlement some three miles south of Aberdare and about 1½ miles
south of the site of Gwawr
Baptist chapel, Aberaman where David Bevan Jones had
been minister prior to his joining the Latter-day Saints in 1849-50. The name
was originally that of a public-house around which the colliery village first developed.
Today the settlement is known as ‘Abercwmboi’ (after
a nearby farm).
[Our heartfelt thanks to D. L. Davies for the English
translation of this poem.]
