"Pity Our Tears" (1876)
(Song of the City Orphans)
by Henry Tucker

1.
Fatherless, motherless, --
Pity our tears!
Think of our loneliness all through the years.
Shelterless, comfortless,
Out in the cold.
Open your hearts to us,
Toilers for gold!
Lift you robes daintily,
'Tis here we dwell,
Lowed by afflictions that no words can tell.
Narrow and damp, with the mould of a vault,
Look not so loathingly,
Is it our fault?

CHORUS
Fatherless, motherless, --
Pity our tears!
Think of our loneliness all through the years.
All who e'er lov'd us are under the sod.
Pity us, pray for us,
People of God!

2.
Once we were happier,
Long, long ago!
Only to think of it adds to our woe.
Vainly we lift up our eyes to the light,
Here in the shadow of sin and of night;
Born to be buffeted,
Hunger and morn
Are but our daily bread, children forlorn.
All who e'er lov'd us are under the sod.
Pity us, pray for us,
People of God!

(CHORUS)