Isaac Watts

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Isaac Watts (July 17, 1674 - November 25, 1748), recognised as the 'Father of English Hymnody', as he was the first both prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today.

Sourced

• Were I so tall to reach the pole,
  Or grasp the ocean with my span,
  I must be measured by my soul;
  The mind's the standard of the man.
  • Horae Lyricae, Book II, False Greatness (1706)

• O God, our help in ages past,
  Our hope for years to come,
  Our shelter from the stormy blast,
  And our eternal home.
  • Psalm 90, st. 1 (1719)

• A thousand ages in Thy sight
  Are like an evening gone;
  Short as the watch that ends the night
  Before the rising sun.
  • Psalm 90, st. 4

• Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
  Bears all its sons away;
  They fly forgotten, as a dream
  Dies at the opening day.
  • Psalm 90, st. 5

• Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
  Let earth receive her King.
  Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
  And heav'n and nature sing.
  • Psalm 98, st. 1 (1719)

• When I can read my title clear
  To mansions in the skies,
  I'll bid farewell to every fear,
  And wipe my weeping eyes.
  • Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II, hymn 65

• There is a land of pure delight,
  Where saints immortal reign;
  Infinite day excludes the night,
  And pleasures banish pain.
  • Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II, hymn 66

Divine Songs Attempted in the Easy Language of Children (1715)

• There's not a place where we can flee,
  But God is present there.
  • Song 2: Praise for Creation and Providence

• Lord, I ascribe it to thy grace,
  And not to chance as others do,
  That I was born of Christian race,
  And not a Heathen, or a Jew.
  • Song 6: Praise for the Gospel

• Just as a tree cut down, that fell
  To north, or southward, there it lies:
  So man departs to heaven or hell,
  Fix'd in the state wherein he dies.
  • Song 10: Solemn Thoughts of God and Death

• A flower may fade before `tis noon,
  And I this day may lose my breath.
  • Song 13: The Danger of Delay

• One stroke of his almighty rod
  Shall send young sinners quick to hell.
  • Song 13: The Danger of Delay

• ...but every lyar
  Must have his portion in the lake
  That burns with brimstone and with fire.
  • Song 15: Against Lying

• Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
  For God hath made them so;
  • Song 16: Against Quarrelling and Fighting

• But, children, you should never let
  Such angry passions rise;
  Your little hands were never made
  To tear each other's eyes.
  • Song 16: Against Quarrelling and Fighting

• Birds in their little nests agree;
  And 'tis a shameful sight,
  When childfen of one family
  Fall out, and chide, and fight.
  • Song 17: Love between Brothers and Sisters

• The wise will make their anger cool
  At least before `tis night;
  • Song 17: Love between Brothers and Sisters

• How doth the little busy bee
  Improve each shining hour,
  And gather honey all the day
  From every opening flower!
  • Song 20: Against Idleness and Mischief
  • Parodied in Alice in Wonderland

• In works of labour or of skill
  I would be busy too:
  For Satan finds some mischief still
  For idle hands to do.
  • Song 20: Against Idleness and Mischief

• Let me be dressed fine as I will,
  Flies, worms, and flowers, exceed me still.
  • Song 22: Against Pride in Clothes

• Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber,
  Holy angels guard thy bed!
  Heavenly blessings without number
  Gently falling on thy head.
  • Song 35: A Cradle Hymn

• 'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain,
  "You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again."
  • The Sluggard

External links

• Works by Isaac Watts at Project Gutenberg

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