The hours I spent with Thee, Dear Heart!

Or, as a string of pearls to Thee,

I count them over, every one apart,

My rosary, my rosary . . .

Each hour a pearl, each pearl a prayer,

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 gain and bitter loss,

I kiss each bead and strive at last to learn,

To kiss the cross, Sweet Heart,

To kiss the cross . . .

I kiss each bead and strive at last to learn,

To kiss the cross, Sweet Heart,

To kiss the cross . . . ( to kiss the cross )

Words and Music by

Robert Cameron Rogers and Ethelbert Nevin