==Schubert's setting==
The words are often sung to a musical setting by [[Franz Schubert]]. Curiously, although his original song was inspired by his devotion, it was not entitled ''Ave Maria,'' but "''Ellens dritter Gesang" '' (Ellen's third song), and was a setting for a German translation of a portion ''The Lady of the Lake,'' a long poem by [[Sir Walter Scott]]. In the original, Scott's heroine is praying to the Virgin Mary, and opens her plea with the phrase "Ave Maria," but continues in her own words:
Ave Maria! maiden mild!<br>
Listen to a maiden's prayer!<br>