Hail, holy Queen, all hail, Ladie,
Life, sweetness, hope and love;
To thee we raise our ceaseless wail,
Mourning and weeping, faint and pale,
Eve's children, in this tearful vale
We cry to thee above, Marie,
We cry to thee above.
Sweet Queen of Mercy, deign, Ladie,
To turn thine eyes below;
And when we've o'er life's treacherous main,
Poor exiles, sailed in grief and pain,
Thy womb's blest Fruit, our Jesus slain
To us in glory show, Marie,
To us in glory show.
War is our lot below, Ladie,
Whether that war we wage
With sickness, poverty, dearth, or woe,
The passions within that surge and glow
With human tyrant, or fiendish foe—
'Tis the same from age to age, Marie,
The same from age to age.
Peace is an idle dream, Ladie,
'Tis deadly strife around:
Bitter and red is time's turbid stream,
Round us the phantoms of cloudland scream,
And rarely the swords of the angels gleam
Till the soul is bound, or crowned, Marie,
Till God is lost, or found.
But we call thee not in vain, Ladie,
To the mortal strife of souls,
To walk through this fiery battle-plain,
To teach the weakest to fight amain,
Saying, ‘Who slays not shall be surely slain,’
And the combat onward rolls, Marie,
The combat onward rolls.
While this earthly vesture mars, Ladie,
The ascent to our native sphere,
And the yearning soul, through her dungeon bars,
Gazes aloft on her home of stars,
And the discord of life's unceasing wars
Grates on her tender ear, Marie,
Grates on her tender ear.
Oh, turn thy gracious eyes, Ladie,
When grace seems all withdrawn,
And the heart, like a tomb where the dead Christ lies,
Shall be angel-thronged, and the soul shall rise
And immortal god through the joyful skies,
In a resurrection dawn, Marie,
In a resurrection dawn.
At thy feet proud heads incline, Ladie,
In contrition's joy of woe:
Than the Holy of Holies, a holier shrine
The Heart of Jesus has found in thine,
Whence his mercies beam and his glories shine,
And the tears of repentance flow, Marie,
And the tears of repentance flow.
From broken faith and truth, Ladie,
Protect our souls alway;
From the crimes of age and the snares of youth,
From slander's poisonous serpent-tooth,
And the pitiless Pharisee's scorn of ruth,
Defend our lives, we pray, Marie.
Defend our lives, we pray.
Hark, that triumphal hymn, Ladie,
‘Behold thy Queen, my soul’:
Her chariot wheels, like those of him
Whose Throne is rapt by cherubim,
Adown the dawn like music swim
And sparkle while they roll, Marie,
And lighten while they roll.
Victorious o'er and o'er, Ladie,
In heaven is hymned thy praise
To golden lyres, on the starry floor,
Where the white-robed lords of light adore
Thy Son, who gave his lustral gore
Our fallen thrones to raise, Marie,
A fallen foe to raise.
On earth for evermore, Ladie,
Shall man resume the strain;
All nations bow thy shrine before,
And the organ-clang of the ocean's roar
Implore thee more from shore to shore,
Star of the restless Main, Marie,
Star of life's lonely Main.
Life, sweetness, hope and love;
To thee we raise our ceaseless wail,
Mourning and weeping, faint and pale,
Eve's children, in this tearful vale
We cry to thee above, Marie,
We cry to thee above.
Sweet Queen of Mercy, deign, Ladie,
To turn thine eyes below;
And when we've o'er life's treacherous main,
Poor exiles, sailed in grief and pain,
Thy womb's blest Fruit, our Jesus slain
To us in glory show, Marie,
To us in glory show.
War is our lot below, Ladie,
Whether that war we wage
With sickness, poverty, dearth, or woe,
The passions within that surge and glow
With human tyrant, or fiendish foe—
'Tis the same from age to age, Marie,
The same from age to age.
Peace is an idle dream, Ladie,
'Tis deadly strife around:
Bitter and red is time's turbid stream,
Round us the phantoms of cloudland scream,
And rarely the swords of the angels gleam
Till the soul is bound, or crowned, Marie,
Till God is lost, or found.
But we call thee not in vain, Ladie,
To the mortal strife of souls,
To walk through this fiery battle-plain,
To teach the weakest to fight amain,
Saying, ‘Who slays not shall be surely slain,’
And the combat onward rolls, Marie,
The combat onward rolls.
While this earthly vesture mars, Ladie,
The ascent to our native sphere,
And the yearning soul, through her dungeon bars,
Gazes aloft on her home of stars,
And the discord of life's unceasing wars
Grates on her tender ear, Marie,
Grates on her tender ear.
Oh, turn thy gracious eyes, Ladie,
When grace seems all withdrawn,
And the heart, like a tomb where the dead Christ lies,
Shall be angel-thronged, and the soul shall rise
And immortal god through the joyful skies,
In a resurrection dawn, Marie,
In a resurrection dawn.
At thy feet proud heads incline, Ladie,
In contrition's joy of woe:
Than the Holy of Holies, a holier shrine
The Heart of Jesus has found in thine,
Whence his mercies beam and his glories shine,
And the tears of repentance flow, Marie,
And the tears of repentance flow.
From broken faith and truth, Ladie,
Protect our souls alway;
From the crimes of age and the snares of youth,
From slander's poisonous serpent-tooth,
And the pitiless Pharisee's scorn of ruth,
Defend our lives, we pray, Marie.
Defend our lives, we pray.
Hark, that triumphal hymn, Ladie,
‘Behold thy Queen, my soul’:
Her chariot wheels, like those of him
Whose Throne is rapt by cherubim,
Adown the dawn like music swim
And sparkle while they roll, Marie,
And lighten while they roll.
Victorious o'er and o'er, Ladie,
In heaven is hymned thy praise
To golden lyres, on the starry floor,
Where the white-robed lords of light adore
Thy Son, who gave his lustral gore
Our fallen thrones to raise, Marie,
A fallen foe to raise.
On earth for evermore, Ladie,
Shall man resume the strain;
All nations bow thy shrine before,
And the organ-clang of the ocean's roar
Implore thee more from shore to shore,
Star of the restless Main, Marie,
Star of life's lonely Main.