To my excellent friend
John Berry Esq., Mount Vernon, N.Y.
from "Henry Tucker's Favorite Songs"
"The Song of 'Maud,'
the Beautiful Seamstress" (1878)
Words from the "New York Weekly"
Music by Henry Tucker

1.
Wan and weary, sick and cheerless,
By a feeble taper's light;
Sat and sang the never tearless,
At the dreary dead of night;
And the burden of her lay,
Was: work, and work away;
Thro' the night and thro' the day,
Ever work, and work away.

CHORUS
Oh! it's work, work! and work, work away!
Work, work! we've little time to pray.

2.
We are many, in the city,
Who the busy needle ply;
None to old and few to pity,
Tho' we sicken down and die.
Hearts are breaking, souls are sinking,
Neath the homey land they bear;
Yes, live christians, never thinking,
What our many sorrows are.

(CHORUS)