Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was an English pastor, preacher, poet, and hymn writer. Wrote about 600 hymns including When I Survey the Wondrous...
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was an English pastor, preacher,
poet, and hymn writer. Wrote about 600 hymns including When I Survey the
Wondrous Cross, Am I a Soldier of the Cross, and Joy to the World. Considered
the founder of English hymnody and children's hymnody. Published books of
poetry, hymns, and three volumes of theological discourses.
Isaac Watts may be considered the father of English hymnody.
The beginning of the eighteenth century marks a distinct period in the history
of hymnology. The apostle of the new departure was Dr. Isaac Watts. He was the
first to see the real need, and in large measure he succeeded in supplying it.
He was born at Southampton, [England], July 17, 1674. He was a precocious
child; learned to read almost as
soon as he could articulate, and wrote verses
when a little boy. He was firmly attached to the principles of the
Nonconformists, for which his father had suffered imprisonment, and was therefore
compelled to decline the advantages of the great English universities, which at
that time received only Church of England students. He availed himself,
however, of the privilege of attending a Dissenting academy in London, taught
by Mr. Thomas Rowe, where he applied himself to study with uncommon diligence
and success. During his school days it was his habit frequently to attempt
poetry both in English and in Latin, according to the custom of the time. In
this manner he was unconsciously preparing himself for a long, brilliant, and
useful career. In 1705 he published his first volume of poems, Horæ Lyricæ,
which was received with approbation in Great Britain and America, and gave the
author, in the opinion of the learned Dr. Johnson, an honorable place among
English poets. His Hymns and Spiritual Songs appeared in 1707; Psalms, in 1719;
and Divine Songs for Children, in 1720.
One characteristic of Watts's hymns is majesty. He is bold,
massive, tremendous. This was not his only style of writing; some of his hymns
are very pathetic. For example, "When I survey the wondrous cross"
and "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed." Grandeur was his forte, but he
could be as simple as a child and as tender as a mother. The same hand that
wrote
Wide as the world is thy command,
Vast as eternity thy love,
also wrote the familiar little cradle song,
Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber;
Holy angels guard thy bed.
He became pastor of an Independent Church in London in 1702.
He was so feeble that much of the time the work of the parish was done by an
assistant, but he held the place nominally until his death.
Dr. Watts never married. In 1713 he was invited to the
elegant and hospitable home of Sir Thomas Abney. Years later he wrote to Lady
Huntingdon: "This day thirty years I came hither to the house of my good
friend, Sir Thomas Abney, intending to spend but one single week under his
friendly roof; and I have extended my visit to exactly the length of thirty
years." He [wrote] many works in prose as well as in poetry, amounting
altogether to fifty-two publications. He lived to be seventy-five years of age,
and was for many years before his death recognized as a patriarch among the
Dissenting clergy. He died November 25, 1748. Westminster Abbey, that vast
mausoleum of England's heroes, statesmen, poets, and saints, has been honored
with a memorial of this great, good man. Underneath a bust of the poet the
artist has sculptured Watts sitting at a table writing, while behind and above
him an angel is whispering heavenly thoughts. The design is artistic and very
appropriate. This Hymnal contains fifty-three hymns by Dr. Watts.
Hymns:
—A broken heart, my God, my King
—Alas! and did my Saviour bleed
—Am I a soldier of the cross
—Awake, our souls! away our fears
—Before Jehovah's awful throne
—Begin, my tongue, some heavenly
—Behold the glories of the Lamb
—Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove
—Come, let us join our cheerful
songs
—Come, sound his praise abroad
—Come, ye that love the Lord
—Eternal Power, whose high abode
—Father, how wide thy glory
shines
—From all that dwell below the
skies
—Give me the wings of faith to
rise
—God is the name my soul adores
—God is the refuge of his saints
—Great God! attend, while Zion
sings
—Hear what the voice from heaven
—He dies, the Friend of sinners
dies
—How pleasant, how divinely fair
—How sad our state by nature is
—How shall the young secure their
—I'll praise my Maker while I've
—I'm not ashamed to own my Lord
—Jesus shall reign where'er the
sun
—Jesus, thou everlasting King
—Joy to the world! the Lord is
come
—Let all on earth their voices
raise
—Long have I sat beneath the
sound
—Lord, how secure and blest are
they
—Lord, in the morning thou shalt
hear
—My dear Redeemer and my Lord
—My God, the spring of all my
joys
—My soul, repeat his praise
—Now let the Father and the Son
—O God, our help in ages past
—Plunged in a gulf of dark
despair
—Salvation! O the joyful sound
—Show pity, Lord, O Lord forgive
—Sweet is the work, my God, my
King
—The God of mercy be adored
—The heavens declare thy glory,
Lord
—The Lord Jehovah reigns
—There is a land of pure delight
—Thus far the Lord hath led me on
—Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb
—Welcome, sweet day of rest
—When I can read my title clear
—When I survey the wondrous cross
—Why do we mourn departing
friends
—Why should the children of a
King
—Why should we start and fear to
die
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