Jesu, meek and gentle. G. R. Prynne. [A Child’s Prayer.] Written in 1856, and published in the author's Hymn Suited for the Services of the Church, &c, 1858, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. In 1861 it was given in Hymns Ancient & Modern and subsequently in most collections published in Great Britain and America. The author has also republished it in his work The Soldier's Dying Visions, and Other Poems, 1881, and has added the following note:—
"This little hymn has found its way into most English hymn-books. It is commonly thought to have been written for children, and on this supposition I have been asked to simplify the fourth verse. The hymn was not, however, written specially for children. Where it is used in collections of hymns for children, it might be well to alter the last two lines in the fourth verse thus:—
”Through earth's passing darkness,
To heaven's endless day."
Usually the original text is given as in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1875.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
