To Miss Belle Hayner
"Pity the Poor Beggar Girl" (1873)
Words by 'A'
Music by Thomas Martin Towne, 1835-1912

1.
Out in the cold she wandered sad,
Child tho' she was, and thinly clad,
Shrinking she bends at the rich man's feet,
Charity asks in tones so sweet,
But she was jostled pushed aside,
Tho' her own voice in sorrow cried,
"Oh, I am cold, and I'm hungry, poor,
And my young heart is breaking sure."

CHORUS
Pity, oh, pity the poor beggar girl,
Listen and catch her low cry.
"Oh, I am hungry and homeless and poor,
Save me, or surely I die.

Refrain
Save... (Save me, or surely I) me (die.)
Save (Save...) me, or surely I die. (me.)

2.
Still wand'ring through the cold bleak streets,
Ever she begs of those she meets,
Now she pleads softly of girls so fair,
Showing the proof if Mother care,
But with their lives of happiness,
How could they feel her loneliness?
So gay and careless, they pass her by,
Nor hear her sad and plaintive cry.

(CHORUS)
(Refrain)

3.
And others frown in haughty pride,
Gather their dresses from her side,
Lest she would soil their costly things,
That rustle not like angel wings,
Ah, thus her heart, her wounded heart,
That of life's ills has borne its part,
Hardened with hate and is calloused o'er,
For now she vows she'll beg no more.

(CHORUS)
(Refrain)

4.
Oh, she is hungry, famished, sad,
With trobbing head that's nearly mad,
So now she steals, for she cannot die,
When there is bread enough close by
Who now condemns the beggar girl,
And most contempt at her doth hurl?
'Tis those who passed her in thoughtlessness,
And those who feared their cosly dress.

[No Chorus between 4th and 5th verses]

5.
Those with the rich, illgotten gold,
Called her a "thief so mean and bold,"
But up in Heav'n, the Judge weighs the bread,
In His true scales with the golden lead,
The greaterst sin is in the gold,
That left the beggar in the cold.
He knew she stole, but oh! who could die,
When there was bread enough close by?

CHORUS
Pity, oh, pity the poor beggar girl,
Listen and catch her low cry.
Pity and save her from sin and from woe,
Sarve her, or surely she'll die.

Refrain
Save... (Save her, or surely she'll) her (die.)
Save (Save...) her, or surely she'll die. (her.)