The Christian — Warfare and Pilgrimage

What poor, despised company

No. 596
Metre C. M.
Tune NEWELL.
Words Anon.
Music Unknown.
Key D major
Singing key C major
Time 6/4
6 stanzas

Words

What poor, despised companyOf travelers are these,Who walk in yonder narrow way,Along the rugged maze?

Ah! these are of a royal line,All children of a King,Heirs of immortal crowns divine;And lo! for joy they sing.

Why do they, then, appear so mean,And why so much despised?Because of their rich robes unseenThe world is not apprised.

But why keep they that narrow road—That rugged, thorny maze?—Why, that's the way their Leader trod,They love and keep his ways.

Why do they shun the pleasing pathThat worldlings love so well?Because that is the road to death,The open road to hell.

What! is there then no other roadTo Salem's happy ground?Christ is the only way to God,No other can be found.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE CHRISTIAN—WARFARE AND PILGRIMAGE.»; hymn number «596» (large), tune name «NEWELL. C. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals and small capitals), «UNKNOWN.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, with «1.» before «What»; «despised» is sung in three syllables, printed «de - spis - ed» under the staves; the music sings the fourth line twice («A-long the rugged maze? A-long the rug - ged maze?»), printed out in full under the staves — the stanza below gives the four verse lines once, as a poem. Under the staves «yonder», «narrow» and the first «rugged» are printed whole under two or three notes. Stanzas 2–6 are printed as text in two columns below the music, under the reference line «395, 724, 446.» in italics (= may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 395, 724 or 446), numbered «2»–«6» without a full stop (numbered «2.»–«6.» here like stanza 1); stanza 4 begins at the foot of the left column and continues at the top of the right column; lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are indented as printed; «Anon.» in bold italics after stanza 6. The print sets a thin space before «;», «!» and «?» («divine ;», «Ah !», «lo !», «despised ?», «well ?», «What !», «ground ?»); it is closed up here. The curly apostrophes («that's», «Salem's») are written straight. A manuscript note of the exemplar between this hymn and the next (beside the end of stanza 4) is not printed matter and is not transcribed. Spelling («travelers»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.