Words and Music by

Words and Music by 
Robert Cameron Rogers and Ethelbert Nevin
 
 
The hours I spent with Thee, Dear Heart! 
Are 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. 

Oh, memories that bless and burn, 
Oh, 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.