1000 Songs/Jesus keep me near the cross (William H. Doane)

Jesus keep me near the cross (William H. Doane)

1000 Songs

Author
Fanny Crosby (1820 - 1915) wrote the text of "Jesus keep me near the cross". The hymn was originally written as a Sunday School song and was first published in Bright Jewels for the Sunday School which was compiled by William Bradbury in 1869.

Translations/Challenges
There are no challenges with the translation considering the text was originally written in English.

Editor's Choice
A complete version of the text can be found here.

Tune
The tune of "Jesus keep me near the cross" was written by William H. Doane. Doane was born in Preston, Connecticut and lived from 1832 - 1915. Doane was the musical composer who most frequently collaborated with Fanny Crosby. He is know for writive more than 2,000 tunes, many of which are found in Modern Hymnas today, such as "I Am Thine, To God Be the Glory and Pass Me Not".

Arrangements
An arrangement of the hymn can be found here.

Editor's Choice
The tune can be heard here.

Author biography
Crosby was perhaps one of the most prolific hymnists in history, writing more than 8,000 hymn texts in her lifetime. Crosby became blind from a very young age. She received a very good education from New York Institute for the Blind, where she also became an instructor. As a child, she began taking voice lessons and then later began studying music under George Frederick Root from the New York institute for the Blind. Both of these events sparked an inspiration to write her own songs and hymns.

Author's circumstances
Despite her condition, she remained positive throughout her life and realized that much of who she became was a direct result of her blindness. She once reported that she may not have devoted as much time to hymn writing if she was distracted by all of the beautiful things around her. She continually wrote hymns up until the year of her death in 1915.

Historical and Cultural setting
In 1849, a cholera epidemic broke out in New York City. Rather than fleeing the city for her own well-being, she stayed to help out the sick. Crosby became influenced by the church through the strong revivals that were occurring in America during this time.