Ave Maria! Maiden mild!    O listen to a maiden's prayer!    For thou canst hear amid the wild    Tis thou, tis thou canst save amid despair.    We slumber safely 'til the morrow,    Tho' we, by men, outcast, reviled;    O maiden! See a maiden's sorrow    O mother, hear a suppliant child!    Ave Maria!       Ave Maria! Undefiled!    The flinty couch whereon we're sleeping    Shall seem with down of eider piled,    If thou above, sweet, watch our keeping    The murky cavern's air's so heavy    Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled,    O maiden! Hear a maiden's pleading!    O mother, hear a suppliant child!    Ave Maria!       Ave Maria! Stainless styled!    O fiends of air and earth the essence    From this their wonted haunt exiled    Shall flee before thy holy presence    We bow beneath our care so laden    To thy dear guidance reconciled;    Then hear, O maiden, simple maiden!    And for a father hear a child!    Ave Maria!