I have but one more river to cross.
In the traditional ballad ‘In Seaport Town’ there is a recurring phrase:
Till at last they came to that lonesome valley.
This “valley” suggested to the religious mind the emotional depression of the almost converted mourner as well as the valley of death; and thus came into existence the beautiful spiritual ‘Lonesome Valley’:
You got to go that lonesome valley,
You got to go there by yourself
whose tune is closely related to that of the secular song.
The ‘Poor Stranger’ of the English secular ballad who appeared also as “poor strange girl,” a “roving soldier,” and a “rebel soldier,” all of whom are “far from my home,” exerted both melodic and textual influence on the ‘Heaven-Born Soldier’ who urges his comrades to
Come along and shout along
And pray by the way.