I Am Thine, O Lord

The blind poet Fanny Crosby composed many poems on the spur of the moment. A chance remark or an unexpected experience would provide the inspiration for her poetic expressions. 

In 1874 she left New York for a speaking tour that took her as far west as Cincinnati. During her brief visit there she spoke to crowds of people in churches and missions. She was an extremely popular speaker. In Cincinnati she was a guest in the home of William Howard Doane, a wealthy manufacturer of woodworking machinery and an amateur composer. Crosby and Doane had met six years earlier and had already collaborated in writing hymns. Crosby enjoyed the fellowship with the Doane family. 

One evening she and Doane talked at length about the nearness of God in their lives. When Fanny went to her room, her mind and heart were flooded with ideas from their conversation. Before she went to sleep, the lines of “I Am Thine, O Lord” were in her mind. The next morning she recited the words to Doane, who wrote down the stanzas and composed the tune.