To the Rev. Mr. Newton, on his return from Ramsgate
(Written in October, 1780)
That ocean you have late survey’d,
Those rocks I too have seen,
But I, afflicted and dismay’d,
You, tranquil and serene.
You from the flood-controlling steep
Saw stretch’d before your view,
With conscious joy, the threatening deep,
No longer such to you.
To me the waves, that ceaseless broke
Upon the dangerous coast,
Hoarsely and ominously spoke
Of all my treasure lost.
Your sea of troubles you have past,
And found the peaceful shore;
I, tempest-toss’d, and wreck’d at last,
Come home to part no more.
WILLIAM COWPER
Sent to sea at the age of eleven (his father was a sailor), Newton spent a dissolute youth. Having deserted the navy, for which he was flogged, he was appointed captain of a ship that was engaged in the slave trade between Britain, West Africa and the West Indies. His conversion to Christianity was kindled on a voyage across the Atlantic. He was reading Thomas à Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ when a violent storm blew up. He spent the best part of a day either manning the pumps or alone at the ship’s wheel; as the ship was battered, he prayed aloud to God for protection and, when the storm abated, was ripe for conversion. He eventually abandoned the slave trade, associated himself with William Wilberforce’s campaign to abolish slavery, met John Wesley and spent nine years training for the Anglican ministry. His conversion is reflected in his ‘Amazing Grace’, which first appeared in Olney Hymns. In 1764 he became curate of Olney, where he worked with William Cowper, a fellow Evangelical. At the weekly prayer meetings (which became so popular that they had to be moved to a mansion near the church) Newton and Cowper took it in turns to produce a new hymn each week, which finally resulted in the publication of the Olney Hymns, 280 of which were by Newton. After sixteen years at Olney, he became rector of St Mary Woolnoth, where he worked until his death.
This celebrated hymn, printed here as it appeared in the Olney Hymn Book (1779), draws heavily on the Bible. The first line is based on the third verse of Psalm 87; the seventh line on Isaiah xxvi. 1; and the ninth line echoes Psalm xlvi. 4.
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He whose word cannot be broken
Formed thee for his own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
See, the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord the Giver,
Never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hov’ring,
See the cloud and fire appear
For a glory and a cov’ring,
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which he gives them when they pray.
Bless’d inhabitants of Zion,
Wash’d in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, whom their hopes rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God.
’Tis his love his people raises
Over self to reign as King,
And, as priests, his solemn praises
Each for a thank-offering brings.
Saviour, if2 of Zion’s city
I, through grace, a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in thy name:
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.