Scholarly study of Charles Wesley has been hampered by the absence of a reliable and accessible standard source for his published verse. The original works published during his lifetime are quite rare, scattered among research libraries. The 13-volume collection of The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley by George Osborn (1868–72) is more broadly spread; however, several features of the Osborn collection restrict its adequacy as a standard source.

The present online collection of the poetical works of John and Charles Wesley is intended to provide the standard for scholarly study and citation that has been needed. It was developed under a set of guidelines to maximize reliability and usefulness.

This subsection of the collection gathers the nearly 4,400 distinct poems and hymns published during Charles Wesley’s life that scholarly consensus traces to his pen.

The items included are organized in chronological order of their initial publication. Secondary collections in which Charles gathered poems which appeared first elsewhere are placed at the end. The text is available in two forms:

1. retaining the original spelling and contractions
2. with modern spelling and contractions

A list of the short titles and abbreviations for Wesley publications that are used throughout this collection.

The texts are in a (pdf) format that is searchable using Adobe Reader 7.0 and above.

Download a zipped file containing a complete set of the original transcripts of these hymns (.zip file).

Primary Sources in Chronological Order

Secondary Collections (likely) gathered by Charles Wesley