Amazing Grace

The poem is a Christian hymn, or a religious lyric that expresses the emotions of the speaker. It is also didactic, featuring a specific lesson for readers: They should follow the model of the speaker by embracing the healing powers of God’s grace. In other words, the poem provides readers with spiritual guidance, promising the rewards of Christian faith. 

The authorial context indicates that the speaker is Newton, though a closed reading of the poem—examining only the text—produces an anonymous speaker. Within the hymn, the speaker doesn’t have a name or gender. Their only marker of identity is their relationship to belief: The speaker starts fraught, outside of belief, but once they find God, God saves the speaker and brings them “home” (Line 12).

Throughout the poem, the speaker uses a hyperbolic tone when referring to their live before and after God and God’s grace, eschewing nuance. God is a categorically life-changing influence, and the speaker lavishes God with praise. At the same time, they’re intentionally dramatic about their pre-faith life: Without God, their life was unequivocally horrible.

The hyperbole starts when the speaker states, “Amazing grace (how sweet the sound) / that saved a wretch like me!” (Lines 1-2). The exclamation point reinforces the speaker’s keen feelings for the affirming nature of “grace”—a Christian concept that in Newton’s time was thought of as the “free and unmerited favour of God shown towards man” (Turner, Steve. Amazing Grace. New York, Ecco, 2002, p. 63). Now that the speaker believes, they’re “saved” and a “wretch” no more (Line 2). Expanding upon the theme of transformation, the speaker makes several metaphorical comparisons of the before and after: “I once was lost, but now am found, / was blind, but now I see” (Lines 3-4). The lines are figurative. The speaker could see, but couldn’t perceive life’s dignity. They knew where they were geographically, yet without God, they felt unstable. 

The speaker attributes to grace a measure of paradox: “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, / and grace my fears relieved” (Lines 5-6). The juxtaposition of the external force of grace and internal fear showcases the power of God. The speaker’s first understanding of God prompted them to reconsider their sinful existence—the speaker’s “heart” Line 5) now “feared” (Line 6) the repercussions of continuing. But through belief, grace vanquishes the speaker’s fears about the future and death. The speaker needn’t be afraid because they’re under the influence of a holistic, all-consuming power whose might isn’t subtle: The speaker realized God’s transformative effects immediately—“the hour I first believed!” (Line 8). 

The speaker has already survived “many dangers, toils and snares” (Line 9). The diction—the words Newton’s speaker uses—is nonspecific. The speaker doesn’t detail a particular battle or struggle, but the term “many” indicates that their life has had ample adversity. Yet “grace” (Line 11) has kept the speaker “safe” (Line 11), and “grace” (Line 12) will take the speaker “home” to heaven (Line 12). Here, the repetition of the omnipresence of “grace” reinforces God’s power: Even when the speaker was not a believer, God kept them safe to eventually bring them “home” (Line 12)—to unite the speaker with the paradisiacal realm.

In Stanza 4, the diction becomes transactional. In exchange for accepting God’s grace, the speaker receives benefits. It’s as if the speaker and God have signed a contract: “The Lord has promised good to me, / his word my hope secures” (Lines 13-14). God must give the speaker a worthy life and serve as their “shield and portion” (Line 15). As part of the symbolic contract, God will protect the speaker and play a central role in their identity. 

Noting the inevitability of aging and death, the speaker says:

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

and mortal life shall cease:

I shall possess, within the veil,

a life of joy and peace (Lines 17-20).

The “yes” is conversational, reflecting the hymn’s informal appeal. The vivid imagery of “flesh and heart” (Line 17) deteriorating until the speaker’s life “ceases” (Line 18) makes the inevitability of death immediate, while the “veil” (Line 19) offers a contrast between the material world and the unknowable—and thus “veil[ed]” (Line 19)—afterlife where the speaker will have the endless “joy” and “peace” (Line 20) that the contract with God ensures after death.

Stanza 6 introduces apocalyptic imagery, with the speaker speculating on the end of the world, in keeping with the strains of Christian belief in Newton’s time: “The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, / the sun forbear to shine” (Lines 21-22). The simile—comparing the earth to melting snow—ties to the theme of mutability versus permanence. The earth is liable to change or stop existing altogether, yet God is permanent. The speaker concludes, “God, who called me here below, / will be forever mine” (Lines 23-24). While the Earth may “dissolve” (Line 21), God isn’t going anywhere: God will be with the speaker indefinitely.