While for years the thought of death was so present to his mind, it was natural for him to sing this wistful:
| I linger sadly near The stormy river; And long to cross, but fear Lest none deliver: Oh I that I might but soar Above its rush and roar, And on the other shore Be safe for ever | | From every dismal wave Come dark foretellings; I think of all the brave Lost in its swellings: O soul of mine, so frail! What if the flood prevail, And thou at last should'st fail To reach those dwellings! | | But see! from yonder shore On high ascended, My comrades in the war, Their sorrow ended: 108 Why should I feel alarm? They crossed on Jesu's arm, And I shall know no harm, By Him befriended. | |
A version of this hymn, changed so as to be an address to the poet, and beginning
| Thou, often wandering near The stormy river,-- | |
is inscribed over his grave in Trefriw Churchyard, where he lies beside his parents and his wife, under the sombre shadow of 'the twin yew-trees.'