“Ave Maria! ’Tis the hour of prayer!
Ave Maria! ’Tis the hour of love!
Ave Maria! May our spirits dare
Look up to thine and to thy Son’s above!
Ave Maria! O that face so fair!
Those downcast eyes beneath th’ Almighty Dove!
What tho’ ’tis but a pictured image strike,
That painting is no idol—’tis too like!
“Ave Maria! Blessed be the hour,
The time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft