Work record

Hymns of Charles Wesley (selection)

Charles Wesley

Also known as: Hark! the Herald Angels Sing · And Can It Be · O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing · Jesus, Lover of My Soul · Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

1739–1740 · 18th Century · Poetry · English

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Abstract

Written: 1738–1740
Setting: Evangelical revival; London and Bristol
Author: Charles Wesley
Country: England
Language: English
Genre: Hymns
Form: Five hymns from two collections
Recommended: Grades 9–12 (Short hymns in regular metre; some 18th-century diction.)

Origin. A young Anglican clergyman who had just experienced an evangelical conversion began writing songs for the new religious societies he and his brother led. The brothers printed them in two small volumes in 1739 and 1740.

Christmas. A carol begins with the whole sky ringing with angels' praise and goes on to pray that the newborn Christ will restore ruined human nature. Later editors rewrote its famous opening line.

Easter. A resurrection hymn moves from the broken seal of the tomb to the believer rising with Christ and seeking the things above.

Grace. Two personal hymns marvel that God should die for the singer, describe conversion as chains falling away in a dungeon flooded with light, and pray for shelter while the storms of life pass.

Anniversary. A poem marking the first anniversary of the writer's conversion wishes for a thousand tongues to praise his Redeemer and calls everyone, however guilty, to believe.

This edition. The hymns follow their first printing, as reprinted in 1868, with every original stanza. Comparing them with the shorter versions in modern hymnals shows how much later editors have cut and adapted them.

Key figures

Charles Wesley: Hymn writer and preacher
John Wesley: His brother and publisher

Summary

This selection gathers five hymns by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) as they were first printed in Hymns and Sacred Poems, the volumes he and his brother John published in London in 1739 and 1740, at the start of the Methodist revival. Charles recorded an evangelical conversion in May 1738, a few days before John's experience at Aldersgate Street, and he began writing hymns almost at once; over his life he wrote some six thousand. The text here follows the reprint in volume one of The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, edited by George Osborn in 1868, as transcribed by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The Hymn for Christmas Day opens 'Hark how all the welkin rings', an old word for the sky. Later editors, beginning with George Whitefield in 1753, reworked the opening into the familiar 'Hark! the herald angels sing', and the hymn is now sung in a shortened and altered form; the original ten stanzas end with prayers that Christ will restore fallen human nature. The Hymn for Easter Day begins 'Christ the Lord is risen to-day' and moves from the empty tomb to the believer's own rising with Christ; the Alleluias sung today are not in this first printing. Free Grace, beginning 'And can it be, that I should gain', is a personal hymn of amazement that the Son of God should die for the speaker, and its fourth stanza pictures conversion as a prisoner's chains falling off in a dungeon flooded with light. In Temptation, beginning 'Jesu, Lover of my soul', is a prayer for shelter in the storms of life. For the Anniversary of One's Conversion celebrates the first anniversary of Wesley's own conversion; its seventh stanza, 'O for a thousand tongues to sing', later became the first hymn of the 1780 Methodist Collection, and the hymn is usually sung in a few selected stanzas. Read together, the five hymns show how Wesley set Christian doctrine — the incarnation, the resurrection, grace, and assurance of forgiveness — in short, memorable verse that ordinary congregations could sing.

Plot or Argument

Hymn for Christmas Day (1739)
The original of 'Hark! the herald angels sing', in ten stanzas.
Hymn for Easter Day (1739)
'Christ the Lord is risen to-day', in eleven stanzas without the later Alleluias.
Free Grace (1739)
'And can it be, that I should gain', six stanzas on grace and conversion.
In Temptation (1740)
'Jesu, Lover of my soul', a prayer for refuge.
For the Anniversary of One's Conversion (1740)
Eighteen stanzas, including 'O for a thousand tongues to sing'.

Lessons

Doctrine in song
Wesley puts the incarnation, the resurrection and the doctrine of grace into verse a congregation can memorize.
- Which beliefs does the Christmas hymn state most clearly?
- Why might singing a belief teach it better than hearing a sermon?
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Original and adapted texts
Modern hymnals shorten and alter these hymns; the first printings show what Wesley actually wrote.
- How does 'Hark how all the welkin rings' differ from 'Hark! the herald angels sing'?
- Is it right for editors to change a poet's words for singing?
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Personal experience
Free Grace and the Anniversary hymn turn Wesley's own conversion into words others can sing as their own.
- How does the dungeon image in Free Grace describe conversion?
- What changes when a personal 'I' is sung by a whole congregation?
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For the Christian reader
These hymns are still sung in many churches. Students can read every stanza, trace the Scripture behind phrases such as 'healing in His wings' (Malachi 4:2) and 'Where, O Death, is now thy sting?' (1 Corinthians 15:55), and ask what the familiar shortened versions leave out.
- Which omitted stanza would you restore to the version sung today, and why?
- How do these hymns speak of assurance of forgiveness?
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Context

The evangelical revival in 1730s England, led by the Wesleys and George Whitefield, spread through religious societies, open-air preaching and congregational singing.

Composition

Charles Wesley wrote these hymns soon after his conversion in May 1738; John Wesley published them in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739) and (1740).

Reception

The hymns entered Methodist and other hymnals, usually shortened and altered. Whitefield's 1753 revision began the transformation of the Christmas hymn into 'Hark! the herald angels sing', and 'O for a thousand tongues' opened the 1780 Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists.

Faith / Religion Guilt Sin Death / Mortality

Comparisons

Olney Hymns
Newton and Cowper's hymns came out of the same evangelical revival a generation later.
Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Watts's earlier hymns showed the way for Wesley's.
Sermons on Several Occasions and Primitive Physick
John Wesley's sermons set out the teaching his brother's hymns put into song.

Quotes

Frequently cited

“O for a thousand tongues to sing My dear Redeemer’s praise! The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace.”

— Charles Wesley, Hymns of Charles Wesley (selection), For the Anniversary of One’s Conversion (The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, ed. G. Osborn, vol. 1 (London, 1868), via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library).Quote card

Olney Hymns, Summary
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Frequently cited

“My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and follow’d Thee.”

— Charles Wesley, Hymns of Charles Wesley (selection), Free Grace (The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, ed. G. Osborn, vol. 1 (London, 1868), via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library).Quote card

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For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

The original opening line of the Christmas hymn.
The absence of the later Alleluias in the Easter hymn.
The prison and dungeon imagery in Free Grace.
Where 'O for a thousand tongues' falls in the Anniversary hymn.

Key terms and names

Welkin: An old word for the sky or the heavens.
Incarnation: The Christian belief that God became human in Jesus.
Assurance: The Methodist teaching that a believer can know his sins are forgiven.
Methodist: A name first given in mockery to the Wesleys' Oxford circle.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension In which two years were these hymns first published, and by whom?
Comprehension What was the original first line of the Christmas hymn?
Comprehension What event does the Anniversary hymn celebrate?
Interpretation What does 'Amazing love! how can it be' express about the speaker's view of himself?
Interpretation How does In Temptation use storm and shelter imagery?
Big Question Should old hymns be sung as written or adapted for each new generation?

Faith Connections

Luke 2:13-14 (Scripture)
The angels' song behind the Christmas hymn.
1 Corinthians 15:55 (Scripture)
'O death, where is thy sting?', echoed in the Easter hymn.
Acts 12:7 (Scripture)
Peter's chains falling off in prison, echoed in Free Grace.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Grace freely given to the undeserving calls for grateful, whole-hearted praise.

Rhetorical device: rhetorical question. 'And can it be, that I should gain An interest in the Saviour’s blood?' opens with wonder rather than statement.

Debate: Resolved: that hymnals should print hymns in their original wording.

Memory Work

O for a thousand tongues to sing My dear Redeemer’s praise! The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace.
For the Anniversary of One’s Conversion. The most famous stanza of Wesley's best-known hymn.

My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and follow’d Thee.
Free Grace. A vivid picture of conversion as freedom.

Writing Prompts

Essay: How do Wesley's hymns turn Christian doctrine into personal experience? Use at least two hymns.

Comparison with Olney Hymns: Compare Wesley's hymns with Newton's in Olney Hymns in style and in how they describe conversion.

Creative Prompts

Essay
Compare the 1739 'Hymn for Christmas Day' with a modern hymnal's 'Hark! the herald angels sing' and explain what was changed.
Poetry
Write a hymn of four stanzas in seven-syllable lines on a turning point in your life.
Essay
Explain how Free Grace uses the image of a prisoner set free.