Hymn 153

Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)



The distemper, folly, and madness of sin

Sin, like a venomous disease,
Infects our vital blood;
The only balm is sovereign grace,
And the physician, God.

Our beauty and our strength are fled,
And we draw near to death;
But Christ the Lord recalls the dead
With his almighty breath.

Madness by nature reigns within,
The passions burn and rage,
Till God's own Son, with skill divine,
The inward fire assuage.

[We lick the dust, we grasp the wind,
And solid good despise;
Such is the folly of the mind,
Till Jesus makes us wise.

We give our souls the wounds they feel,
We drink the pois'nous gall,
And rush with fury down to hell;
But Heav'n prevents the fall.]

[The man possessed among the tombs
Cuts his own flesh, and cries;
He foams and raves, till Jesus comes,
And the foul spirit flies.]

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
108

Quick analysis:

Scheme A XXXX BCBC ADXD EFEF XGXG XFXF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 774
Words 148
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was an English Christian minister (Congregational), hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. He is recognized as the "Godfather of English Hymnody"; many of his hymns remain in use today and have been translated into numerous languages. more…

All Isaac Watts poems | Isaac Watts Books

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