Ave Maria! Ave Maria! Maiden mild!
Listen to a maiden’s prayer!
Thou canst hear though from the wild
Thou canst save amid despair
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care
Though banish’d, outcast and reviled —
Maiden! Hear a maiden’s prayer;
Mother, hear a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria! Undefiled!
The flinty couch we now must share
Shall seem this down of eider piled
If thy protection hover there
The murky cavern’s heavy air
Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled;
Then, Maiden! Hear a maiden’s prayer;
Mother, list a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria! Stainless styled!
Foul demons of the earth and air
From this their wonted haunt exiled
Shall flee before thy presence fair
We bow us to our lot of care
Beneath thy guidance reconciled;
Hear for a maid a maiden’s prayer
And for a father hear a child!
Ave Maria!