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Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Isaac Watts

Also known as: Hymns and Spiritual Songs in Three Books · Watts Hymns

1707 · 18th Century · Poetry · English

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Abstract

Written: 1707 (enlarged 1709)
Setting: Early eighteenth century; London
Author: Isaac Watts
Country: England
Language: English
Genre: Hymns
Form: Hymns in three books
Recommended: Grades 9–12 (Short hymns in eighteenth-century spelling (dy'd, Saviour).)

Purpose. A young Dissenting pastor in London believed congregations deserved songs that spoke plainly of Christ instead of only rhymed versions of ancient Psalms. In 1707 he published his own.

Arrangement. Part one paraphrases particular Bible passages. Part two, the longest, takes up themes of his choosing: creation, fleeting time, death, judgment, heaven and the crucifixion. Part three supplies songs for Communion.

Style. Most pieces use common, long or short metre so that well-known tunes would fit. The language is direct, sometimes stark, with memorable pictures of passing years and future glory.

Famous pieces. Still sung are his meditation on surveying the cross, a hymn of grief that the Sovereign bled, and songs about a land of pure delight and about joyful believers marching to Zion.

Reception. Some churches long resisted replacing inspired texts with new compositions, but the collection spread through Britain and America and earned Watts the title father of English hymnody.

This edition. The library uses an 1818 printing, keeping its old spellings and the author's brackets around optional stanzas. Each hymn carries a number, a title and usually a Bible reference, so readers can move easily between a song and the passage behind it.

Key figures

Isaac Watts: Author, Dissenting minister

Summary

Hymns and Spiritual Songs, first published in London in 1707 and enlarged in 1709, is the collection that made Isaac Watts the most influential hymn writer in English. At the time most English congregations, especially among Dissenters and Presbyterians, sang only metrical versions of the Psalms, often in stiff, literal verse. Watts argued in his preface that Christians should be able to sing their faith in their own words and with the gospel made explicit, and he set out to provide hymns that ordinary congregations could sing to familiar tunes. The collection is divided into three books. Book I contains hymns based closely on passages of Scripture. Book II, the largest, is composed on divine subjects of Watts's own choosing: creation, the shortness of life, death and judgment, heaven, the cross, and the Christian life. Book III consists of hymns prepared for the Lord's Supper. Most use common, long or short metre so that they could be sung to tunes the congregation already knew, and each is headed by a title and often a biblical reference. Among the hymns still widely sung are 'When I survey the wondrous cross', which Matthew Arnold reportedly called the finest hymn in English, 'Alas! and did my Saviour bleed', 'Come, we that love the Lord', and 'There is a land of pure delight'. The verse is simple and direct but often vivid, with sharp images of time, death and heavenly glory. Watts marked some stanzas with brackets as optional, a practice the text preserves. Watts was criticized in his own day for replacing inspired Psalms with human compositions, and some churches resisted his hymns for decades. Over the eighteenth century, however, they spread through Dissenting, Methodist and evangelical Anglican congregations in Britain and America, preparing the way for the Wesleys and the Olney hymn writers. Watts is often called the father of English hymnody.

Plot or Argument

Preface
Watts's case for new hymns and his aim of plain, singable verse.
Book I: Collected from the Holy Scriptures
Hymns closely paraphrasing biblical passages.
Book II: Composed on divine subjects
Hymns on creation, mortality, the cross, heaven and the Christian life.
Book III: Prepared for the Lord's Supper
Hymns written to be sung at the celebration of Communion.

Lessons

Singing in one's own words
Watts believed worship songs should express Christian faith directly and clearly.
- What did Watts think was lacking in the metrical psalms?
- Is it better for worship to use ancient texts or new words?
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Plain style and strong images
Simple metre and vocabulary carry striking imagery.
- Find a stanza with a vivid image of time or death. How does it work?
- How does 'When I survey the wondrous cross' move from sight to response?
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- Is adapting an ancient text a form of respect or of change?
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For the Christian reader
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- Compare 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross' with Galatians 6:14.
- Why did Watts think congregations should sing hymns as well as metrical psalms?
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Context

After 1662 Dissenters were excluded from the Church of England and faced legal penalties until the Toleration Act of 1689. Their worship relied heavily on metrical psalms.

Composition

Watts wrote many of these hymns while young, reportedly after complaining about the singing at his Southampton chapel. They were published in 1707 and expanded in 1709, with many later editions; this text follows an 1818 printing.

Reception

The hymns spread through Britain and colonial America, where Benjamin Franklin printed The Psalms of David Imitated and New England congregations gradually adopted Watts. Many remain in hymnals today.

Faith / Religion Death / Mortality Art / Creation Nature / Landscape

Comparisons

Olney Hymns
Newton and Cowper built on Watts's example two generations later.
Psalm 23
The Psalms Watts sought to supplement as the basis of congregational song.
The Collar
Herbert's devotional lyric is more complex and personal than Watts's congregational verse.
Sermons on Several Occasions and Primitive Physick
The Wesleys' revival adopted and extended Watts's hymn tradition.
The Pilgrim's Progress
Bunyan, a Dissenter like Watts, gives the same themes in allegorical prose.
Holy Sonnet X: "Death, be not proud"
Donne's sonnet treats death with the confidence Watts's funeral hymns share.

Quotes

Frequently cited

“When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory dy'd, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.”

— Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book III: Prepared for the Lord's Supper (Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), text of an 1818 London printing, via Project Gutenberg #13341).Quote card

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Frequently cited

“Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head For such a worm as I?”

— Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II: Composed on Divine Subjects (Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), text of an 1818 London printing, via Project Gutenberg #13341).Quote card

Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, ch. 19, secs. 18-21
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Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, chs. 8-9
Bearing the cross and meditating on the future life as a discipline for sickness, loss and mortality.
Confessions, Books IX–XII
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A Tale of Two Cities, Lesson: Love that restores
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For Students

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

Reading Guide

Watch for

The preface's argument for new hymns.
The three-book structure.
'When I survey the wondrous cross' in Book III.
Bracketed stanzas marked as optional.

Key terms and names

Dissenter: An English Protestant outside the Church of England.
Metrical psalm: A Psalm turned into rhymed verse for singing.
Long metre: Four lines of eight syllables each (8.8.8.8).
Hymnody: The writing and singing of hymns.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension What are the three books of the collection?
Comprehension Which hymn is based on Galatians 6:14?
Interpretation Why does 'When I survey' end with a demand on the singer?
Interpretation How does Watts use the word 'worm', and why might later hymnals change it?
Interpretation Why might Watts have marked some stanzas with brackets as optional?
Big Question Should the words of worship change over time?

Faith Connections

Galatians 6:14 (Scripture)
'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross': the text of 'When I survey'.
Colossians 3:16 (Scripture)
'Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs', the source of the title.
The Psalms of David Imitated (1719) (Great Conversation)
Watts's versions of the Psalms rewritten in the light of the New Testament.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Christians should sing their faith in clear words of their own, centred on the cross, the shortness of life and the hope of heaven.

Rhetorical device: simple metre and vivid imagery. Familiar metres let congregations sing at once while concrete images fix the ideas.

Debate: Resolved: that Watts was right to replace exclusive psalm singing with new hymns.

Memory Work

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory dy'd, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Book III: Prepared for the Lord's Supper. Often named among the greatest hymns in English.

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head For such a worm as I?
Book II: Composed on Divine Subjects. A classic stanza of personal response to the cross.

Writing Prompts

Essay: How does Watts make complex Christian teaching accessible in Hymns and Spiritual Songs? Use two hymns as evidence.

Comparison with Olney Hymns: Compare Watts's hymns with the Olney Hymns in voice and purpose.

Creative Prompts

Essay
Compare a metrical version of a psalm with one of Watts's hymns on the same theme and explain what Watts changed.
Poetry
Write a hymn of three stanzas in long metre (8.8.8.8) on a subject of your choice.
Essay
Write an essay analysing one stanza of 'When I survey the wondrous cross', focusing on its contrasts.