Watts, Isaac

Watts, Isaac, 1674–1748, English clergyman and hymn writer, b. Southampton. He was one of the most eminent Dissenting divines of his day. As a pastor in London he was known for his sermons, but beginning in 1712 poor health caused him to live in semiretirement. His several hundred hymns embody a stern Calvinism assuaged with a gentleness and sympathy. The few hymns that are included in present-day hymnals are among the finest examples of English metrical hymnody. Those beginning "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun," "When I survey the wondrous cross," "Joy to the world," and "O God, our help in ages past," appeared in his Psalms of David Imitated (1719).

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Watts, Isaac

(born July 17, 1674, Southampton, Hampshire, Eng.—died Nov. 25, 1748, Stoke Newington, London) English Nonconformist minister, regarded as the father of English hymnody. Watts studied at the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington, London, and he later became pastor of Mark Lane Independent (i.e., Congregational) Chapel. His collections of sacred lyrics include Horae Lyricae (1706), Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), and The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719). His hymns, numbering more than 600, became known throughout Protestant Christendom; they include “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “Joy to the World,” and “Jesus Shall Reign.” A man of great erudition, he published books on a range of subjects.