The Rosary
by Robert Cameron Rogers

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 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.