Walter Scott’s English Translation (Lady of the Lake)
Ave Maria, Ave Maria, maiden mild
Listen to a maiden’s prayer
Thou canst hear though from the wild,
Thou canst save amid despair.
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care,
Though banish’d, outcast and reviled —
Maiden hear a maiden’s prayer;
Mother, hear a suppliant child
Ave Maria, Ave Maria, undefiled
The flinty couch we now must share
Shall seem this down of eider piled,
If thy protection hover there.
The murky cavern’s heavy air
Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled;
Then, Maiden hear a maiden’s prayer;
Mother, list a suppliant child
Ave Maria, Ave Maria, stainless styled
Foul demons of the earth and air,
From this their wonted haunt exiled,
Shall flee before thy presence fair.
We bow us to our lot of care,
Beneath thy guidence reconciled;
Hear for a maid a maiden’s prayer,
And for a father hear a child
Ave Maria