A sentimental ballad with Catholic imagery, 1898.
words by Robert Cameron Rogers
music by Ethelbert Nevin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
The hours I spent with thee, dear heart
Are as a string of pearls to me
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, sweetheart!
To kiss the Cross
Sung here by Fred Feild: