"The Rosary" (1898)
Text by Robert Cameron Rogers
Music by Ethelbert Nevin, 25 Nov 1862 - 17 Feb 1901

The hours I spent with thee, dear heart,
Are as a string of pearls to me;
I count them over ev'ry one apart,
My rosary, my rosary.

Each hour a pearl, each pearl a pray'r,
To still a heart in absence wrung:
I tell each bead unto the end,
and there a Cross is hung!

O, memories that bless and burn!
O, barren and bitter loss!
I kiss each bead, and strive at last to learn
To kiss the Cross; sweetheart! To kiss the Cross.