Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English theologian, logician, and a prolific and popular hymnwriter. Known as the "Father of English Hymnody" he is credited with some 750 hymns, many of which remain in active use today.
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- 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.- "False Greatness" in Horae Lyricae Book II (1706). Compare: "I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man", Seneca, On a Happy Life (L'Estrange's Abstract), chap. i; "It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigour is in our immortal soul", Ovid, Metamorphoses, xiii
- Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear
My voice ascending high.- Psalm 5
- Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.- Psalm 90 "Our God, our help in ages past" 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
- From all who dwell below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise;
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.- Psalm 117
- Do not hover always on the surface of things, nor take up suddenly with mere appearances; but penetrate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and circumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to your own profession. Do not indulge yourselves to judge of things by the first glimpse, or a short and superficial view of them; for this will fill the mind with errors and prejudices, and give it a wrong turn and ill habit of thinking, and make much work for retraction.
- The Improvement of the Mind (1727), Ch. I, General Rules for the Improvement of Knowlege, Rule VII - 1885 edition online
- Maintain a constant watch at all times against a dogmatical spirit: fix not your assent to any proposition in a firm and unalterable manner, till you have some firm and unalterable ground for it, and till you have arrived at some clear and sure evidence.
- Improvement of the Mind (1741), Ch. I, General Rules for the Improvement of Knowlege, Rule X "Avoid a dogmatical spirit"
- Fly, like a youthful hart or roe,
Over the hills where spices grow.- Hymn 79, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I.
- And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.- Hymn 88, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I.
- Strange that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long!- Hymn 19, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
- Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound.
- Hymn 63, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
- The tall, the wise, the reverend head
Must lie as low as ours.- Hymn 63, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
- When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.- Hymn 65 Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
- There is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.- Hymn 66, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
- So, when a raging fever burns,
We shift from side to side by turns;
And 't is a poor relief we gain
To change the place, but keep the pain.- Hymn 146, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II.
- 'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain,
"You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again."- "The Sluggard".
- To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Be honour, praise, and glory given
By all on earth, and all in heaven.- Doxology.
Psalm 98 "Joy to the World!" (1719)
- 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,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.- Stanza 1.
- Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.- Stanza 2.
- No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.- Stanza 3.
- He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.- Stanza 4.
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".
- Whene'er I take my walks abroad,
How many poor I see!
What shall I render to my God
For all his gifts to me?- Song 4.
- 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, when offered in the bud,
Is no vain sacrifice.- Song 12.
- 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".
- And he that does one fault at first
And lies to hide it, makes it two.- Song 15. Compare: "Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie; A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby", George Herbert, The Church Porch.
- ...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;
Let bears and lions growl and fight,
For 't is their nature too.- 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 children 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 by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures 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"
- In books, or work, or healthful play.
- 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"
- I have been there, and still would go;
'T is like a little heaven below.- Song 28
- 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"