I Love to Tell the Story Katherine Hankey, 1869
4 verses and a refrain, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and his glory,
Of Jesus and his love!
I love to tell the story,
Because I know it’s true;
It satisfies my longings,
As nothing else would do.
Refrain I love to tell the story!
’Twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love.
Verse 2. 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.
Verse 3. 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.
Verse 4. 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.
Sing the refrain after every verse.
Words copied from The Otterbein Hymnal (1892). They were published in 1869, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind I Love to Tell the Story
Katherine Hankey wrote a long poem on the life of Christ in 1866 while she recovered from a lengthy illness at age 30. A history from the United Methodist Church says Part One, The Story Wanted, was published in January 1866. Part Two, The Story Told, followed in November 1866 and holds the stanzas that became this hymn.
In 1867 Major General Russell quoted the poem at an international YMCA convention in Montreal. William H. Doane was in the audience and set it to music, but his setting did not catch on. William G. Fischer wrote a new tune and a refrain, published in Joyful Songs in 1869, and Hymnary names the tune HANKEY. Ira Sankey and Philip Bliss printed the hymn in Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs in 1875, and the Moody and Sankey crusades spread it.
Hankey was the daughter of a London banker and taught Bible classes for shop girls. She gave the money from her writing to mission work.
Hymnary lists HANKEY in A flat major in most books, including the African American Heritage Hymnal, and in G major in Baptist Hymnal 2008. The United Methodist page spells the composer's name Fisher, and Hymnary spells it Fischer.
Katherine Hankey
1834 to 1911
Katherine Hankey was born in Clapham, England, in 1834 and died in Westminster, London, in 1911. She was the daughter of a wealthy banker and was linked to the Clapham sect of evangelical Anglicans. She taught Bible classes for shop girls, visited the sick and used the money from her writing for missions. In 1866, while recovering from a long illness, she wrote a poem on the life of Christ in two parts. Tell Me the Old, Old Story and I Love to Tell the Story both come from it. Hymnals give her name in several forms, including Kate and Arabella Katherine.
William G. Fischer
1835 to 1912
William Gustavus Fischer was born in Baltimore in 1835 and developed an interest in music at singing schools. He worked in the bindery of a Philadelphia publisher, taught music at Girard College, and co-owned a piano business and music store in Philadelphia. He became a popular director at revival meetings and choral festivals. In 1876 he led a choir of a thousand voices at a revival meeting with Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey. He composed about two hundred tunes for Sunday school hymns and gospel songs. His tune FISCHER goes with Whiter Than Snow. He died in Philadelphia in 1912.
- UMC Discipleship Ministries: History of Hymns, I Love to Tell the Story , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org: HANKEY (Fischer) , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org: Tell Me the Old, Old Story (text and author notes) , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org: African American Heritage Hymnal, number 513 , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in I Love to Tell the Story
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Psalm 89:1
I Love to Tell the Story videos
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I Love To Tell The Story • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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I Love To Tell The Story - 250 voice Mass Choir for Classic Hymns album " Our God Reigns" Classic Hymns, Choir
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I Love to Tell the Story - A Cappella - Chris Rupp (Official Video) ChrisRuppOfficial, A cappella
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I Love to Tell the Story - piano instrumental hymn Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Alan Jackson - I Love To Tell The Story (Live) Gaither Music TV, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Print and project
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in A♭ or G.
Questions people ask
Who wrote I Love to Tell the Story?
Katherine Hankey wrote the words in 1866 while recovering from a long illness. William G. Fischer wrote the tune and refrain in 1869.
Who composed the tune for I Love to Tell the Story?
William Fischer composed the tune HANKEY, published in Joyful Songs in 1869. William Doane had set the words first in 1867, and his tune did not last.
Where does I Love to Tell the Story come from?
It comes from Part Two of Hankey's long poem on the life of Christ, called The Story Told. Part One, The Story Wanted, appeared in January 1866.
Is I Love to Tell the Story in the public domain?
Yes. The words are public domain in the United States. Hankey wrote the poem in 1866, and Fischer's tune and refrain followed in 1869.
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