“COME, MY BRETHREN.”
Another of the “unstudied” revival hymns of invitation.
Come, my brethren, let us try
For a little season
Every burden to lay by,
Come and let us reason.
What is this that casts you down.
What is this that grieves you?
Speak and let your wants be known;
Speaking may relieve you.
This colloquial rhyme was apt to be started by some good brother or sister in one of the chilly pauses of a prayer-meeting. The air (there was never anything more to it) with a range of only a fifth, slurred the last syllable of every second line, giving the quaint effect of a bent note, and altogether the music was as homely as the verse. Both are anonymous. But the little chant sometimes served its purpose wonderfully well.