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Divine and Moral Songs for Children
Divine and Moral Songs for Children is a collection of songs written by the most famous English hymn writer. It was written in the early 18th century.
46 pages, Paperback
Published May 28, 2016
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About the author
Isaac Watts
1,237 books49 followersIsaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 650 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in use today, and have been translated into many languages.
Watts was the author of a text book on logic which was particularly popular; its full title was, Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences. This was first published in 1724, and its popularity ensured that it went through twenty editions. Isaac Watts' Logic became the standard text on logic at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale; being used at Oxford University for well over 100 years.
[wikipedia]
Watts was the author of a text book on logic which was particularly popular; its full title was, Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences. This was first published in 1724, and its popularity ensured that it went through twenty editions. Isaac Watts' Logic became the standard text on logic at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale; being used at Oxford University for well over 100 years.
[wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 25, 2020
First appearing in 1715, Isaac Watts' Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children, which has also been published as Divine and Moral Songs for Children, as well as just Divine Songs, was one of the most popular English-language collections of children's poetry and hymns throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. It attempts to educate children on the conduct that Watts, a Congregationalist minister, considered proper to a young Christian. In his preface the author describes the four advantages of using the medium of poetry to teach children, and then he presents twenty-eight hymns and two sonnets, all on moral themes. From giving thanks to God for his creation, to praising the fact that one was born in a Christian country, from warning against fighting and name-calling to cautions about the evils of swearing, many topics are covered by Watts in his slim volume. One of the most enduringly famous of his poems is "Song XX - Against Idleness and Mischief," which begins:
"How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!"
Many readers will perceive, in this poem, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's parody verse, "How Doth the Little Crocodile," which appears in the Victorian classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . British and American children of the 18th and 19th centuries were made to memorize these poems, and they crop up in all sorts of places, in addition to Carroll's work. Song XVII, which warns against fighting amongst siblings, contains the line: "Birds in their little nests agree," which any reader of Louisa May Alcott's American children's classic, Little Women , will immediately recognize as a line spoken by Beth March during an argument between her sisters. These and other connections make Watts' book a fascinating read for those with an interest in children's books. It was an assigned text, in fact, in one of my masters courses, on early children's literature. I have seen some reviewers comparing it unfavorably to more recent children's titles, and it certainly won't be to the taste of most of today's adults, let alone children. That said, it is an important book, in the history of Anglophone children's literature, and it paved the way for later work. Recommended to those interested in religious Christian children's books, and/or 18th-century English children's literature.
"How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!"
Many readers will perceive, in this poem, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's parody verse, "How Doth the Little Crocodile," which appears in the Victorian classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . British and American children of the 18th and 19th centuries were made to memorize these poems, and they crop up in all sorts of places, in addition to Carroll's work. Song XVII, which warns against fighting amongst siblings, contains the line: "Birds in their little nests agree," which any reader of Louisa May Alcott's American children's classic, Little Women , will immediately recognize as a line spoken by Beth March during an argument between her sisters. These and other connections make Watts' book a fascinating read for those with an interest in children's books. It was an assigned text, in fact, in one of my masters courses, on early children's literature. I have seen some reviewers comparing it unfavorably to more recent children's titles, and it certainly won't be to the taste of most of today's adults, let alone children. That said, it is an important book, in the history of Anglophone children's literature, and it paved the way for later work. Recommended to those interested in religious Christian children's books, and/or 18th-century English children's literature.
August 12, 2016
Most churches seem to have moved away from singing hymns to praise songs, and the use of the hymnal has been displaced with PowerPoint slides to project the lyrics at the front of the sanctuary (or should I say auditorium?). To some extent I suppose it's just a matter of preference and personal taste, but I have to say that the lyrics of many of the contemporary worship songs I hear seem so shallow and repetitive and lacking in content. And the melodies are often really tough to catch on to. I think it's really sad that a whole new generation of church goers are no longer learning the old hymns, song with lyrics that teach theological truths and focus on who God is and what He has done, not on man's feelings and needs.
One of the greatest hymn writers of all time was Isaac Watts. Never heard of him? Have you heard of the song, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"? Or "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"? And if not those, then certainly you know, "Joy to the World." In the hymnbook our church uses, Watts has authored 42 hymns.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was an English Non-conformist pastor (one who separated from the Church of England) and hymn writer, and has been called the "Father of English Hymnody". He wrote over 600 hymns praising the triune God, His works and His Word. Watts paraphrased most of the Psalms and adapted them into hymns. Besides hymns Watts also wrote many other works including catechisms, theological treatises, three volumes of sermons, essays on psychology, philosophy and astronomy, and a logic textbook.
As a child, Watts showed an unusual ability for languages and verse. He would sometimes get in trouble for rhyming too much. This is an acrostic poem that Watts wrote as a seven-year-old boy, using his name:
I am a vile polluted lump of earth,
S o I've continued ever since my birth,
A lthough Jehovah grace does daily give me,
A s sure this monster Satan will deceive me,
C ome therefore, Lord from Satan's claws relieve me.
W ash me in thy blood, O Christ,
A nd grace divine impart,
T hen search and try the corners of my heart,
T hat I in all things may be fit to do
S ervice to thee, and sing thy praises too.
Clearly he had been strongly taught biblical doctrine already by this age!
As the story goes, Isaac Watts wrote his first hymn as a teenager after complaining about the dry, boring songs and unenthusiastic singing at church, to which his father issued a challenge: "Well then, young man, why don't you give us something better to sing?" Young Isaac took up the challenge, and not only wrote his first hymn, but proceeded to write a new hymn every week for the next two years for the congregation to sing. These hymns were collected and published with the title Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707). He wrote in the preface of this collection, "While we sing the praises of God in His Church, we are employed in that part of worship which of all others is the nearest akin to heaven, and 'tis pity that this of all others should be performed the worst upon earth."
While he never married or had children of his own, Watts wrote many instructional poems and songs for children, which can be found in his collection of Divine and Moral Songs for Children (1715), the first hymnal written specifically for children. In the preface to this hymnal, Watts wrote,
"...children of high and low degree, of the Church of England or dissenters, baptized in infancy or not, may all join together in these songs. And as I have endeavored to sink the language to the level of a child's understanding, and yet to keep it, if possible, above contempt, so I have designed to profit all, if possible, and offend none."
It was said of Isaac Watts that, "He gave to lisping infancy its earliest and purest lessons."
Watts commends his book of divine and morals songs, "To all that are concerned in the education of Children" with these words:
"The seeds of misery or happiness in this world, and that to come are oftentimes sown very early; and therefore whatever may conduce to give the minds of children a relish for virtue and religion ought, in the first place, to be proposed to you."
When our children were young, we read many of Watts' children's poems with them and found them to be instructive and useful for disciplinary purposes. For example, when the kids started quarreling or say unkind things to each other, we might sit them down and read "Against Quarrelling and Fighting" or "Love Between Brothers and Sisters":
Whatever brawls disturb the street,
There should be peace at home;
Where sisters dwell, and brothers meet,
Quarrels should never come.
Birds in their little nests agree,
And 'tis a shameful sight,
When children of one family
Fall out, and chide, and fight.
We actually had our children learn a few of those poems by heart, so we didn't have to get the book out, but just had them face each other and recite the words, "Our tongues were made to bless the Lord, And not speak ill of men..." Got a kid who tends to be lazy? Watts wrote a poem about it. How about one who has trouble with lying or profanity? There's one for those too. Teaching kids why it's wrong to steal , or the importance of choosing good friends? Yep. There are also songs that teach truths about God, creation, the Bible, heaven and hell, providence, and general praise for God's goodness and mercy. Now I admit, the language is a bit antiquated, having been written in the 18th century, but the poems provide opportunity to teach children the meaning of some new words: sluggard, mock, scoff, railing, brawl, profane, and wanton.
Of course, God's Word should be our first and primary resource for addressing issues of the heart and teaching children about sinful behavior. But since Watts' Divine and Moral Songs are based on scripture, they are useful for reinforcing these lessons and Biblical truths and for character building.
One of the greatest hymn writers of all time was Isaac Watts. Never heard of him? Have you heard of the song, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"? Or "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"? And if not those, then certainly you know, "Joy to the World." In the hymnbook our church uses, Watts has authored 42 hymns.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was an English Non-conformist pastor (one who separated from the Church of England) and hymn writer, and has been called the "Father of English Hymnody". He wrote over 600 hymns praising the triune God, His works and His Word. Watts paraphrased most of the Psalms and adapted them into hymns. Besides hymns Watts also wrote many other works including catechisms, theological treatises, three volumes of sermons, essays on psychology, philosophy and astronomy, and a logic textbook.
As a child, Watts showed an unusual ability for languages and verse. He would sometimes get in trouble for rhyming too much. This is an acrostic poem that Watts wrote as a seven-year-old boy, using his name:
I am a vile polluted lump of earth,
S o I've continued ever since my birth,
A lthough Jehovah grace does daily give me,
A s sure this monster Satan will deceive me,
C ome therefore, Lord from Satan's claws relieve me.
W ash me in thy blood, O Christ,
A nd grace divine impart,
T hen search and try the corners of my heart,
T hat I in all things may be fit to do
S ervice to thee, and sing thy praises too.
Clearly he had been strongly taught biblical doctrine already by this age!
As the story goes, Isaac Watts wrote his first hymn as a teenager after complaining about the dry, boring songs and unenthusiastic singing at church, to which his father issued a challenge: "Well then, young man, why don't you give us something better to sing?" Young Isaac took up the challenge, and not only wrote his first hymn, but proceeded to write a new hymn every week for the next two years for the congregation to sing. These hymns were collected and published with the title Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707). He wrote in the preface of this collection, "While we sing the praises of God in His Church, we are employed in that part of worship which of all others is the nearest akin to heaven, and 'tis pity that this of all others should be performed the worst upon earth."
While he never married or had children of his own, Watts wrote many instructional poems and songs for children, which can be found in his collection of Divine and Moral Songs for Children (1715), the first hymnal written specifically for children. In the preface to this hymnal, Watts wrote,
"...children of high and low degree, of the Church of England or dissenters, baptized in infancy or not, may all join together in these songs. And as I have endeavored to sink the language to the level of a child's understanding, and yet to keep it, if possible, above contempt, so I have designed to profit all, if possible, and offend none."
It was said of Isaac Watts that, "He gave to lisping infancy its earliest and purest lessons."
Watts commends his book of divine and morals songs, "To all that are concerned in the education of Children" with these words:
"The seeds of misery or happiness in this world, and that to come are oftentimes sown very early; and therefore whatever may conduce to give the minds of children a relish for virtue and religion ought, in the first place, to be proposed to you."
When our children were young, we read many of Watts' children's poems with them and found them to be instructive and useful for disciplinary purposes. For example, when the kids started quarreling or say unkind things to each other, we might sit them down and read "Against Quarrelling and Fighting" or "Love Between Brothers and Sisters":
Whatever brawls disturb the street,
There should be peace at home;
Where sisters dwell, and brothers meet,
Quarrels should never come.
Birds in their little nests agree,
And 'tis a shameful sight,
When children of one family
Fall out, and chide, and fight.
We actually had our children learn a few of those poems by heart, so we didn't have to get the book out, but just had them face each other and recite the words, "Our tongues were made to bless the Lord, And not speak ill of men..." Got a kid who tends to be lazy? Watts wrote a poem about it. How about one who has trouble with lying or profanity? There's one for those too. Teaching kids why it's wrong to steal , or the importance of choosing good friends? Yep. There are also songs that teach truths about God, creation, the Bible, heaven and hell, providence, and general praise for God's goodness and mercy. Now I admit, the language is a bit antiquated, having been written in the 18th century, but the poems provide opportunity to teach children the meaning of some new words: sluggard, mock, scoff, railing, brawl, profane, and wanton.
Of course, God's Word should be our first and primary resource for addressing issues of the heart and teaching children about sinful behavior. But since Watts' Divine and Moral Songs are based on scripture, they are useful for reinforcing these lessons and Biblical truths and for character building.
March 16, 2024
17 February 2023
Evenings And Roses: A Comparison of Isaac Watt’s and Anna Barbauld’s poetic Songs for Children
John Watts, whose poetry is largely inspired by his Puritan background, covers, in his works, similar topics in both comparable and contrasting ways to the ideas explored by Anna Barbauld, the protestant poet born just five years before his death. Both geared towards children of their respective times, Watts’s Divine and Moral Songs for Children and Barbauld’s Hymns in Prose for Children both serve as poetic anthologies devoted to instructing and inspiring children to praise the same God, though each poet differs in their approach. Both poets, in Watts’s An Evening Song and The Rose, and in Barbauld’s fourth and fifth hymn, explore lessons on sleep and beauty that differ in key ways. Watts, in addition to his stylistic differences, contrasts Barbauld’s Psalm inspired style approach, which focuses mostly on the presence of God in the natural world, by pointing children towards a God that exists outside of the world Barbauld praises.
Watts's An Evening Song, which rhymes in an ABAB pattern and contains lines of repeating iambic tetrameter and trimeter, pays tribute to God in the night time in some similar ways to Barbauld's fifth hymn, though they differ in poetic element and ultimate message. Barbauld's lyrics have no particular rhyme scheme or meter, and they rely more heavily on poetic imagery evoked through word choice rather than sound or rule. They are reflective of and contain consistent allusions to David’s psalms. In both works, the narrator, turning in for the night, basks in the calm and peace of God's forgiving and watchful eye. I lay my body down to sleep," Watt writes, "Let angels guard my head! / And through the hours of darkness keep / Their watch around my bed. / With cheerful heart, I close mine eyes /Since Thou will not remove"(57). Barbauld Mirror's Watts, as her hymn sings, "Who taketh care of all people when they are sunk in sleep; when they cannot defend themselves, nor see if danger approacheth... You may sleep, for He never sleeps”(23-25). In similar fashion, Watt’s and Barbauld charge their young readers to fall asleep in good faith, knowing that their Father in heaven watches over them from above.
Their poems differ distinctly as well. As the narrator of Watts’s hymn bunkers down for the night, his mind races in desperation in order to escape the sins and shortcomings of the previous day: “But how my childhood runs to waste! / My sins, how great their sum! / Lord, give me pardon for the past, / And strength for days to come”(56). For Barbauld, the sins and subsequent pines for forgiveness are excluded in her narration of children about to go to bed, and the focus is primarily aimed at praises in the childrens’ wake. Barbauld continually compares the children going to bed to how the natural world behaves at night, spinning beautiful lines about flowers closing, birds sleeping, and bees stopping their busy work as night descends. Upon the natural world’s wake, Baubauld writes of how the scent of the flowers and song of the birds is synonymous with the morning prayer: “Flowers, when you open again, spread your leaves, and smell sweet to His praise,” she writes, “Birds, when you awake, warble your thanks amongst the green boughs; sing to Him before you sing to your mates. Let His praise be in our hearts, when we lie down; let His praise be on our lips, when we awake”(25-26). While Watt’s teaches that the time before bed should be sent in prayerful repentance, Barbauld focuses on an likens the children to the innocent lambs and beautiful birds outside, who revere God in their trust as they sleep and in their purpose upon their wake, and she charges her child readers to follow suite.
Both poets also offer commentary on beauty. Using a rose, Watts comments on how the flower will eventually wilt and so will its beauty:“How fair is the Rose: what a beautiful flower! / The glory of April and May: / But the leaves are beginning to fade in an hour, / And they wither and die in a day”(Watts 69). With that in mind, Watts charges children to focus on serving God–the manifestation of true beauty–instead of holding their metaphorical rose petals in the highest esteem:“Then I’ll not be proud of my youth or my beauty, Since both of them wither and fade, / but gain a good name by well doing my duty; / this will scent like a rose when I’m dead”(Watts 70). Barbauld’s poem about beauty differs from Watts by claiming that the rose is not merely the “glory of April and May,” but the glory of God himself. “He made all things, " she writes, “but He is himself more excellent than all which He hath made: they are beautiful, but He is beauty; they are strong, but He is strength; they are perfect, but He is perfection”(Barbauld 20). For Barbauld, because God made the beautiful rose, the rose itself is an extension of that transcendent beauty. Barbauld's literature geared towards children focuses more on praise and appreciating beauty, while Watts’s focuses on more applicable and action-oriented lessons for the youth.
For both Watts and Barbauld, their work is dedicated towards helping children know and worship God better, and they both accomplish their goals in different ways. For Watts, he focuses on charging children to find forgiveness in Christ and escape their inherited fallen state; he charges them to seek escape from the world. For Barbauld, her poetry aims at celebrating the natural world as a creation of God’s and finds lessons in relationship with Him through observance of how the natural flowers and animals surrounding us reflect the nature of their creator.
Evenings And Roses: A Comparison of Isaac Watt’s and Anna Barbauld’s poetic Songs for Children
John Watts, whose poetry is largely inspired by his Puritan background, covers, in his works, similar topics in both comparable and contrasting ways to the ideas explored by Anna Barbauld, the protestant poet born just five years before his death. Both geared towards children of their respective times, Watts’s Divine and Moral Songs for Children and Barbauld’s Hymns in Prose for Children both serve as poetic anthologies devoted to instructing and inspiring children to praise the same God, though each poet differs in their approach. Both poets, in Watts’s An Evening Song and The Rose, and in Barbauld’s fourth and fifth hymn, explore lessons on sleep and beauty that differ in key ways. Watts, in addition to his stylistic differences, contrasts Barbauld’s Psalm inspired style approach, which focuses mostly on the presence of God in the natural world, by pointing children towards a God that exists outside of the world Barbauld praises.
Watts's An Evening Song, which rhymes in an ABAB pattern and contains lines of repeating iambic tetrameter and trimeter, pays tribute to God in the night time in some similar ways to Barbauld's fifth hymn, though they differ in poetic element and ultimate message. Barbauld's lyrics have no particular rhyme scheme or meter, and they rely more heavily on poetic imagery evoked through word choice rather than sound or rule. They are reflective of and contain consistent allusions to David’s psalms. In both works, the narrator, turning in for the night, basks in the calm and peace of God's forgiving and watchful eye. I lay my body down to sleep," Watt writes, "Let angels guard my head! / And through the hours of darkness keep / Their watch around my bed. / With cheerful heart, I close mine eyes /Since Thou will not remove"(57). Barbauld Mirror's Watts, as her hymn sings, "Who taketh care of all people when they are sunk in sleep; when they cannot defend themselves, nor see if danger approacheth... You may sleep, for He never sleeps”(23-25). In similar fashion, Watt’s and Barbauld charge their young readers to fall asleep in good faith, knowing that their Father in heaven watches over them from above.
Their poems differ distinctly as well. As the narrator of Watts’s hymn bunkers down for the night, his mind races in desperation in order to escape the sins and shortcomings of the previous day: “But how my childhood runs to waste! / My sins, how great their sum! / Lord, give me pardon for the past, / And strength for days to come”(56). For Barbauld, the sins and subsequent pines for forgiveness are excluded in her narration of children about to go to bed, and the focus is primarily aimed at praises in the childrens’ wake. Barbauld continually compares the children going to bed to how the natural world behaves at night, spinning beautiful lines about flowers closing, birds sleeping, and bees stopping their busy work as night descends. Upon the natural world’s wake, Baubauld writes of how the scent of the flowers and song of the birds is synonymous with the morning prayer: “Flowers, when you open again, spread your leaves, and smell sweet to His praise,” she writes, “Birds, when you awake, warble your thanks amongst the green boughs; sing to Him before you sing to your mates. Let His praise be in our hearts, when we lie down; let His praise be on our lips, when we awake”(25-26). While Watt’s teaches that the time before bed should be sent in prayerful repentance, Barbauld focuses on an likens the children to the innocent lambs and beautiful birds outside, who revere God in their trust as they sleep and in their purpose upon their wake, and she charges her child readers to follow suite.
Both poets also offer commentary on beauty. Using a rose, Watts comments on how the flower will eventually wilt and so will its beauty:“How fair is the Rose: what a beautiful flower! / The glory of April and May: / But the leaves are beginning to fade in an hour, / And they wither and die in a day”(Watts 69). With that in mind, Watts charges children to focus on serving God–the manifestation of true beauty–instead of holding their metaphorical rose petals in the highest esteem:“Then I’ll not be proud of my youth or my beauty, Since both of them wither and fade, / but gain a good name by well doing my duty; / this will scent like a rose when I’m dead”(Watts 70). Barbauld’s poem about beauty differs from Watts by claiming that the rose is not merely the “glory of April and May,” but the glory of God himself. “He made all things, " she writes, “but He is himself more excellent than all which He hath made: they are beautiful, but He is beauty; they are strong, but He is strength; they are perfect, but He is perfection”(Barbauld 20). For Barbauld, because God made the beautiful rose, the rose itself is an extension of that transcendent beauty. Barbauld's literature geared towards children focuses more on praise and appreciating beauty, while Watts’s focuses on more applicable and action-oriented lessons for the youth.
For both Watts and Barbauld, their work is dedicated towards helping children know and worship God better, and they both accomplish their goals in different ways. For Watts, he focuses on charging children to find forgiveness in Christ and escape their inherited fallen state; he charges them to seek escape from the world. For Barbauld, her poetry aims at celebrating the natural world as a creation of God’s and finds lessons in relationship with Him through observance of how the natural flowers and animals surrounding us reflect the nature of their creator.
November 27, 2019
Poor Isaac, you'd be spinning in your grave if you could see what children are reading today. Spin on, because the literary diet you thought appropriate for children included some seriously sick stuff like ravens picking out kids' eyes and eternal hellfire galore. You believed, to twist a bit of Hobbes, that children are "nasty, brutish and short," in dire need of correction and improvement.
A kid's imagination counts for nothing with you - it'a all about obedience and fear. No wonder Lewis Carroll had so much fun parodying some of your poems, "The Busy Bee" and "The Sluggard." I'm with him!
And may I come back and add that you wrote the world's most lugubrious hymn, "Oh, God, Our Help In Ages Past?" The draggiest of draggy church tunes!
A kid's imagination counts for nothing with you - it'a all about obedience and fear. No wonder Lewis Carroll had so much fun parodying some of your poems, "The Busy Bee" and "The Sluggard." I'm with him!
And may I come back and add that you wrote the world's most lugubrious hymn, "Oh, God, Our Help In Ages Past?" The draggiest of draggy church tunes!
January 20, 2021
After reading the wonderful biography of this man of God I thought I would buy this to see what his songs were like for children. Amazing to think theses are for children as even I could take a lot from these songs, this man of God was definitely very intelligent, just it's too intelligent for me, but still some can get a lot from these songs, just not sure kids could in these days.
November 15, 2016
I did enjoy the book although some of the hymns would be politically incorrect today. Watts was writing for the time in which he lived. Very interested to see "How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour"
November 26, 2015
Nothing very special. Has a kind of Victorian moral tone which I don't like, but they are clearly decently crafted moral songs/poems.
Liked it.
Liked it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews