To my Friend B. W. Boatwright Esq.
"I Have No Home" (1874)
Song and Chorus
Words and Music
by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907
For Guitar, by W. L. Hayden

[Source: x003@LoC;
New York: J. L. Peters, Plate No. 10,500-2.]

1.
Oh! how the merciless winter winds blow,
As onward I tread through the "beautiful snow,"
Asking a penny from each one I meet,
To buy me some shoes from my little cold feet.
No one takes pity, or hears my appeal,
God alone knows how I suffer and feel;
Half starved and shivering, sadly I roam,
No place to shelter me--- I have no home.

CHORUS
Angels in Heaven, look down from the skies,
Oh! go to our Father with tears in your eyes,
And tell him to call me, I'm ready to come,
For I have no home,--- I have no home.

2.
Father and mother now sleep in the grave;
I gave to the poor all they told me to save;
But how little I dreamed when they come to the door,
That I would be penniless, homeless, and poor.
Teardrops now freeze on my colorless cheek,
I tremble with weakness whenever I speak,
No one seems caring wherever I roam,
What will become of me? I have no home.

(CHORUS)

3.
Oh! where shall I go? tell me, what can I do,
Is there no one to tell me what course to pursue?
With my little dress torn, and no shoes on my feet---
Oh! I'm hungry and cold--- must I die in the street?
When my journey is over, and Death calls me to go,
Let me die in the street in the "beautiful snow."
When I wake, it will be with the angels to roam,
For I'll then have a home--- I'll be at home.

(CHORUS)