hymn
writer, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in use today, and have been translated into many languages.
Born in Southampton
, England
, in 1674, Watts was brought up in the home of a committed religious Nonconformist — his father, also Isaac Watts, had been incarcerated twice for his controversial views.
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.
Lord, in the morning thou shalt hearMy voice ascending high.
Our God, our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come,Our shelter from the stormy blast,And our eternal home.
A thousand ages in Thy sightAre like an evening gone;Short as the watch that ends the nightBefore the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,Bears all its sons away;They fly forgotten, as a dreamDies at the opening day.
From all who dwell below the skiesLet the Creator's praise arise;Let the Redeemer's name be sungThrough every land, by every tongue.
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.
Fly, like a youthful hart or roe,Over the hills where spices grow.
And while the lamp holds out to burn,The vilest sinner may return.