Classic Poem

Hail, Blessed Virgin; Holy Mary, hail;
To love and honour thee, how can I fail
If I adore thy Son, and would prevail
With him in prayer?

What intercession can there be like thine,
So worthy to approach the throne divine
Of grace, all wants and miseries of mine
To plead for there?

The angel's salutation in our ears
Sounds like the sweetest melody; it bears
A message from the Lord on high, that cheers
The heart of man.

Oh, thou art " Full of grace"; no child of earth
So spotless ever mother did bring forth,
So pure, and so immaculate ere birth.
That wondrous plan,

Mercy divine revealed, and willed that grace
And nature's union should in thee take place,
Most perfect, sinless of the human race,
Humble and meek.

" Our life, our sweetness and our hope," to thee
We fly for refuge in our misery;
Thy Son our Saviour is with thee, and we
That Saviour seek.

In our last moments, Blessed Mary, plead;
" For us, poor sinners," deign to intercede:
Jesus and Mary, be these words decreed
The last I speak.