Watts, Isaac

(1674-1748)

   Born in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of a tradesman, he was educated at a Nonconformist academy at Stoke Newington, London, and in 1702 he became minister of the Mark Lane Chapel, London. His health was undermined by long hours of study, and for several years he lived at the home of Sir Thomas and Lady Abney. In 1728, Edinburgh University awarded Watts a doctor of divinity degree. He was buried in Burnhill Fields Cemetery, London; a monument stands in the nave of Westminster Abbey in 1779, and another is in Watt's Park, Southampton. He wrote educational, scriptural, philosophical, and divinity books, and published four poetry collections: Horæ Lyricæ (1706); Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707); The Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children (1715); and The Psalms of David Imitated (1719). A few of his 500 hymns are: "Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun"; "When I Wurvey the Wondrous Cross"; "Joy to the World"; and "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past." Some of his poems: "A Cradle Hymn," "Few Happy Matches," "Kind Deeds," "Sincere Praise," "The Adventurous Muse," "The Golden Rule," "The Sluggard."

   Sources: A Treasury of Poems for Worship and Devotion. Charles L. Wallis, ed. Harper, 1959. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). English Poetry: A Poetic Record, from Chaucer to Yeats. David Hopkins, ed. Routledge, 1990. Folksinger's Wordbook. Irwin Silber and Fred Silber, eds. Oak Publications, 1973. Freedom's Lyre: or Psalms, Hymns, and Sacred Songs, for the Slave and His Friends. Edwin F. Hatfield, ed. S.W. Benedict, 1840. Microsoft Encarta 2006 (DVD). Microsoft Corporation, 2006. Samuel Johnson's Lives of the English Poets, 1779-1781 (http://www2.hn.psu.edu/Faculty/KKemmerer/poets/preface.htm). The Book of a Thousand Poems: A Family Treasury. J. Murray Macbain, ed. Peter Bedrick Books, 1983. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Cyber Hymnal (http://www.cyberhymnal.org/index.htm). The Home Book of Modern Verse. Burton Egbert Stevenson, ed. Henry Holt, 1953. The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth Century Verse. Roger Lonsdale, ed. Oxford University Press, 1984. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Unity Hymns and Chorals. William Channing Gannett, ed. Unity Publishing Company, 1911. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).