Dedicated to Mrs. George W. Olney, Jr., New York
"Waiting for the Loved One" (1866)
Words by Josephine Pollard
Music by Henry Tucker

1.
We have waited for thy coming,
We have watched beside the door,
'Till the bees have ceas'd their humming,
And have gathered in their store,
'Till with drooping heads the flowers bend toward the setting sun,
And the lab'ror home returning tells the toll of day is done,
Still were waiting for the coming of a loved one who may never,
Who may never come again,
And the weary days will tell us of the sorrow that befell us,
When our watching,
And our waiting was in vain.

2.
Ah, how many hearts are yearning
  For a loved one far away?
And they're waiting that returning
  As they've waited many a day;
And the coming years will find them
  Walking paths that sorrow's crossed,
Grieving o're the faded flowers,
  Mourning still the loved and lost.
Still they're waiting for the coming of a loved one
  Who may never, who may never come again,
And the weary days will tell them
  Of the sorrow that befell them
When their watching and their waiting, was in vain.