Getting Familiar with the Hymn: Come, Ye Disconsolate

The hymn “Come, Ye Disconsolate” was written by Thomas Moore, also known as the “Voice of Ireland." He was an Irish Catholic and a friend of the famous poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord George Gordon Byron. He enrolled in Trinity College in Dublin but was not permitted to graduate because of his Catholic faith. He was trained to be a lawyer in London, however, he doesn’t have an interest in pursuing that field. He received an award of Admiralty in Bermuda but he resigned as he found that monotonous. He decided to devote his life to literature. His contribution to hymnody consists of 32 poems paired to Irish tunes, and these were printed in Sacred Songs in 1816. “Come, Ye Disconsolate” was the most famous piece among the sacred texts he had written, and it was published hundreds of times over the years. Some of the songs that became popular as well include “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms,” “The Last Rose of Summer,” and the patriotic song entitled “The Minstrel Boy.” He gained high profit from his publications through royalties; however, he spent his later years in poverty and clouded by mental illness because of poor business skills.

There was a great melancholy depicted in the poem. A deep gloom was evoked from the words used in the text such as disconsolate, wounded, and languish. The deep despondency is then countered by hope in the final line: “earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove."

The scriptural reference of the hymn was from 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 which says, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”