Post by biglin on Dec 24, 2020 19:43:08 GMT -5
I, who have slept upon the ground,
watching the heavens above,
in every twinkling star have found
a proof of God's great love
a Romany lad from Bedford way
a lost child of Israel,
despised by men, often the prey
of sinners who damned my soul to hell
even a jail could not bind me,
and Christ released me to spread His word,
His grace and mercy still remind me
how greatly poor mankind has erred
with grace abounding, every pounding
the worldly wisemen throw at me
can be endured, by God's love cured
and all by His great grace set free
a pilgrim I till the day I die,
though I transgress, still my progress
remains our search to find salvation,
live in God's light, and not in trepidation
Author notes
John Bunyan was the author of the most popular classic of Christian literature: “The Pilgrim's Progress”. He is widely considered by historians as a “Tinker”, a name given in Great Britain and Ireland not only to Gypsies but also to other Traveller groups. However, there is strong evidence that the Bunyans were Romanichals, whose traditional occupation is that of brazier. In his autobiographic work “Grace Abounding”, Bunyan wrote some statements about his descent as the most despised of all the families of the land, and considered that his particular lineage may be that of the lost Israelites ? such a thought in Britain in those times was exclusive of Roma. Bunyan clearly refers to his family as belonging to a non common kindred and a discriminated minority. Parish registers of the 16th century remark of the Bunyans (and similar spellings of this surname) as belonging to the “Egyptians” as well as other qualifications like “braziers”, “horse-dealers”, “fortune-tellers”, “vagrants”, etc., all of them pointing out to the Roma people. Wedding annals confirm the Bunyans having married full-blood Romanichels for generations, and in those times Roma did not marry non-Roma people. Also the area of Elstow, where he was born, has been for centuries a Gypsy settlement. John Bunyan was immersed in the river in 1653 and was a member of the Baptist Church. He became soon a successful preacher and was imprisoned for preaching without license. Many of the phrases that he wrote in his masterpiece, The Pilgrim's Progress, have become common expressions in English language.
He is the greatest example of an English working-class writer.