Robert Cameron Rogers: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Rosary

Robert Cameron Rogers

“The Rosary” as printed in The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book (1918).

Robert Cameron Rogers: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1918 · historical text
Public domainSoldier songHistorical song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

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.

Verse 2

Each hour a pearl, each pearl a pray'r

To still a heart in absence wrung,

I tell each bead unto the end,

And there a cross is hung.

Verse 3

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, Sweet-heart,

To kiss the cross.

Credits

Written by Robert Cameron Rogers

Words by Robert Cameron Rogers. Historical text published in The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book (1918); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Canadian Soldiers' Song Book (1918), “The Rosary”

The 1918 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; other entries are held.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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