REFRAIN

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,

To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems

Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.

I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;

And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.

REFRAIN

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,

To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat

What seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.

I love to tell the story, for some have never heard

The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.

REFRAIN

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,

To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best

Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.

And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,

’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

REFRAIN

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,

To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

"This is from a long poem on the life of Jesus that was written in 1866. It is in two parts. The first part is a poem of fifty stanzas, and is titled, “The Story Wanted,” being dated January 29, 1866. The second part is titled “The Story Told,” and is dated November 18, 1866. It is said that the author had a serious spell of sickness just before this poem was composed, and that she occupied the long days of convalescence in writing the poem. Certain verses were taken from Part I by Dr. W. H. Doane in 1867 to make the popular and familiar hymn beginning, “Tell me the old, old story,” for which he composed the familiar tune to which those words are commonly sung. From Part II certain verses have been selected to make the above hymn, “I Love to Tell the Story,” the tune to which was composed by W. G. Fischer. This is one of the most popular of all modern hymns, and has been translated into several different languages. These and other hymns by the author have been published from time to time in different forms, sometimes accompanied by tunes composed by herself. Many of her hymns are found in a little volume which she published in 1870, titled Heart to Heart. Very few hymns written in the last fifty years have so taken hold of the hearts of the people, both the young and the old, as has this simple little song." Nutter, Charles S. and Wilbur F. Tillett. The Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church. New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1911.